Photo Pages

Adam leads the way by climbing up above the SRS survey level.

A very delicate shelf-stone on the edges of what used to be a pool at MX5. On the pool bottom are pieces of a calcite raft that sank to the bottom.

Near MX6 Adam looks up into a passage with shelf-stone, where the calcite formed towards the middle of a pool

Near MX7, cavers have to step very carefully in such delicate areas.

Cavers can walk on the sides of the passage as long as you don’t get close to the edge of the fragile shelf-stone.

 

This pool near MX7 has very delicate crystals that formed under water

Rene and Derek sketch the passage near MX8

Finally near MX8 the delicate shelf-stone area offers a flat floor. Knobby walls suggest that this area is in a brecciated zone above the bedded unit that most of the cave follows.

The weight of the calcite raft on the surface of the water finally sank the deposit when it was not strong enough to remain connected to the edge.

As the pool water evaporated, the calcite rafts slowly reached the bottom, only to be replenished again when the pool filled.

Adam grabs a cat nap at MX8 while the sketchers catch up. Its 2:20 AM!

Could the white circles on the orange flowstone be caused by an evaporating water drip from above?

Shelf-stone on shelf-stone at MX9

An orange trail marker shows the path

A unique calcite “ear” along the wall near MX13

Look closely in the bottom center to see a long soda straw stalactite that appears to have fallen and landed straight up in the clay floor below.

Derek plans his sketch for these soda straws and a flowstone cascade near MX17.

“Toadstools” – shelfs-tone variant in a dry pool near MX17

A really deep sediment pile near MX17

Rene sets a station at MX20

Broken soda straws near MX22. (Note that this breakage is natural – not human caused.) The soda straw "columns" on the left indicate the center soda straw may have been a much taller formation that cemented to the floor. Possibly an earthquake could have broken these soda straws. Also sometimes crystal-wedging can contribute to breakage.

Near station MX22

Rene places the next station at MX26, under a large ceiling dome.

Near MX25 the ceiling has some interesting cracks.

 

Gypsum on the floor near MX27.

 

Gypsum flowers and gypsum hair. The gypsum hair is so delicate that it will move by the motion of the air when you breathe. In order to capture this photograph it is necessary to hold your breath.

Gypsum flower near MX29.

 

Twisted gypsum flower near MX30.

 

The ceiling near MX29 appears to have nodules in the limestone. Then just below the ceiling is a thick layer of clay.

Derek sketching and Adam using a clipboard as a target for the laser range finder. They are in dirty mode near MX33.