Lost River - Karst Information Portal

visibility out was normal, about 3 feet. On the
way out Mark was alone and when his primary
light went out without his secondary light on;
it got very dark. Working the switch on and off,
he was able to get it functioning again. When
Noel and Mark reached their drop tanks Noel
switched his on, only to find that the O-ring in
the pressure gauge had developed a leak. Not a
bad leak, but a leak just the same. Both divers
were glad to see the entrance. Although they
were both cold they still had 20 minutes to
decompress. Mark brought along a 10- by10foot
shelter tent from work and an LP gas
heater to have a place to get warmed up. Both
were cold to the point of shaking and were very
glad to have a heated tent to warm up in.
TEAM 1. Dive time: 55 minutes.
Decompression time: 4 minutes. Warm Water
Passage: New line: 0 feet; total line: 450 feet.
TEAM 2. Dive time: 70 minutes.
Decompression time: 18 minutes. Cold Water
Passage: New line: 250 feet. Total line: 1,450
feet.
Dive 19, October 15, 1995: Noel’s
Scooter
Noel brought along his underwater
scooter to see if it would fit through the
second tight spot at the entrance. Nobody
else wanted to do a second dive so he had
to go alone, which was fine with him. The
entrance area was no problem so he headed
in, making a right turn to go down the Warm
Water Passage. He was able to travel to the
point at which it lowered to 2 feet in less than
10 minutes. Returning to the main line he
continued on, deeper into the cave. Noel was
able to get 800 feet back from the entrance on
a pair of 72-cubic-foot tanks. Afterwards, he
said that the scooter was the way to make the
most out of the dive, using less air and keeping
the silt down to a minimum.
Dive 20. October 29, 1995: 1,900 Feet
of Line, 75 Feet Deep
Dave planned to do a solo dive to start, with
Mark and Ralph coming in about 10 minutes
behind him. The plan for the dive was to go
The Exploration of Harrison Spring
up the Warm Water Passage to the end of the
line, where the breakdown blocks most of the
passage. After 125 feet of 2-foot-high passage,
Dave tied on a new line reel and moved to the
spot where there was an opening in the rocks;
after moving some of the smaller ones he was
able to squeeze through. This was the tightest
passage in the cave so far. After taking a few
minutes to get through The Crack, Dave tried
to go up the passage, which was now only 18
to 20 inches high. Struggling to move around,
with no place to tie off the line after 30 feet and
no easy way forward due to visibility of less
than 10 feet, Dave decided to head back.
Mark and Ralph were on the way in,
working their way up the low passage with
Mark in the lead. Dave and Mark met 20 feet
from The Crack. Dave told Mark that he was
not able to lay any new line; Mark headed for
The Crack to see if it was really that bad. On
the way out Dave ran into Ralph, who is bigger
than the other two; he was not having much
luck getting up the low passage. Dave asked
him if he was okay and he answered that he was
all right but not having much fun. He would
wait there for Mark. By now, Mark had worked
his way through The Crack and was trying to
find an easier way on but after 30 feet, decided
to turn around and squeeze back through. The
passage continued but it was going to take
better visibility to find an easier way.
The trip out was quick and easy, so Dave
checked his air at the junction of the main line.
Finding he had enough for 10 more minutes,
he started to go up the main line just to look
around. Not more than 20 feet from the
junction the water was as clear as it had ever
been. With visibility of more than 20 feet,
Dave decided to wait for Mark and Ralph to
make sure they would see the nice clear water.
Dave could hear their tanks banging on the
floor but had waited as long as he could and
had to leave.
Team 1. Dive time: 67 minutes.
Decompression time: 8 minutes.
Team 2. Dive time: 50 minutes.
Decompression time: 3 minutes. Warm Water
Passage: New line: 0 feet. Total line: 450 feet.
69