Log of two trips to Mexico

LOG OF TWO TRIPS TO MEXICO

DECEMBER 13, 1975: Alan Johnson (Ga.), Neil Montgomery (New South Wales,
Australia), Charlotte Rogers (Tenn.), Jim H. Smith (Ga.), Marion 0. Smith (Tenn.),
and Mark Stock (Tenn.) leave Austin, Texas, in Marion's truck for the border. At 1AM,
CST, 1,100 feet of rope is jettisoned at the home of Dr. Stanley Bittinger in Kingsville
in order to make additional room. At 4AM they stop to sleep on side of the road south
of Haringen, Texas.

‘DECEMBER 14: Neil was not allowed to cross the border at Brownsville because he
was trying to enter Mexico on an old visa. Consequently he was left behind to get a
new one and to cross the next day. By 11AM the red tape was surmounted by the others
and the drive was continued South. Seven hours later they were eating supper at La
Condesa Restaurant in Valles. Continuing South, Marion left a note on Mike Saunders' ~*\
truck at Aquismon (Mike, JJ Williams, Tim Walker, Dwight Drennan, and Michele Gaigon
were at Sotano de las Golondrinas), and about 8:45PM they arrived at La Pimienta, where
they soon sacked out on side of the road. Within minutes Harry White's truck from
Nashville, Tenn., appeared with Harry, Ed R. Yarbrough, Nick Nichols, Steve Lawler, and
Bob Binkley. They also camped by the road.

DECEMBER 15: By 9:30AM all ten people started the trek to Hoya de Guaguas, carrying

600; 7005 90} 7503 and 100' lengths of rope (Jim Smith alone carried a 600). It-was

a warm day and the abrupt change from riding to walking under heavy loads caused the
_ Sroup to take three hours to reach Guaguas. Once a camp site was selected, the high
side, about 615-620 feet free, was double rigged, and all but Bob entered this extremely
impressive pit. A 600’ rope was rigged in the second 400' drop and Jim, Marion, Mark,
‘and Charlotte rappelled it. Only Jim prusikked it while the other three free climbed it.
- By the time everyone was out it was dark. White's crew pulled up their rope and by 10PM

camp was quiet.

STR DECEMBER 16: In the early morning Marion yo-yoed the entrance drop of Guaguas a
. .second time. Thousands of swifts spiralled out of the pit as he climbed, dozens hitting
_- the rope. White's crew left as the pit was being derigged. Soon, in a misting rain, the
trek to the truck began, broken by a stop to wash in a large spring at the base of the
mountain. From La Pimienta the Smith crew drove to 386 foot deep roadside Sotano de
San Antonio just west of Xilitla and all five yo-yoed the pit. Then after eating at La
Principal Restaurant in Xilitla, they drove to the Xilitla turnoff and at 9:30PM picked
up Neil Montgomery, Dr. Julia James (Sydney, Australia), and Martyn Farr (Wales).
Returning toward Xilitla, they took the Tlamaya road and csc has next to a 25 foot high
bluff.

DECEMBER 17: After a very leisurely morning involved with getting gear ready and
packing, the eight person crew moved to the town of Tlamaya and by 1:30PM start into the
_.. lower entrance of Sotano de Tlamaya. Everyone eventually reached the bottom of all the
=. xope drops (of which there were about nine), with Neil and Martyn swimming to the "bitter
_end," at about -1,410 below the entrance. Unknown to any of them at the time, Nick
“Nichols and others of the Harry White crew yo-yoed the first couple of entrance drops.
En route out Jim Smith killed a coral snake on a ledge below the 279' entrance pit. -By
4:25AM all are out, but the entrance rope got snagged on bottom. It was drizzling rain.

DECEMBER 18: After a miserable night in the rain, Mark Stock rappelled the entrance

shaft and freed the rope. The crew then went to Xilitla to eat at the Principal, then
continued driving westward. Beyond Jalpan a roadside camp was located on the mountain
and everyone crashed early (6:30 or 7PM) for a long night's rest.

C167

DECEMBER 19: Drizzle conditions continued and it was noon before the town of

Ahaucatlan (Queretaro) was reached. After further delays the new road to Guilota was
driven part way to a refresca stand on the left. By late afternoon Sotanito de Ahaucatla
was located and about dark it was rigged. Marion and Jim yo-yoed the 946' shaft that
night and were back to camp (in the pasture below the Sotanito) by 11:25PM.

DECEMBER 20: At 9:25AM Neil and Julia entered the Sotanito. Later Alan, Mark,
Martyn, and Charlotte practiced going over a knot in the 71' entrance pit. By 1:30PM
no one was yet on rope in the 946.' Concerned that something might be wrong, Martyn,
with an assortment of first aid articles and food, rappelled down. On bottom he found
both Neil and Julia okay. Julia explained that while on rappel, the rope dropped a foot
and came off the top rope pad. Consequently they had been afraid to climb until the pad
was secured. They then prusikked out and Alan started down. At the knot Alan's light
went out so he signaled Martyn to start climbing while he changed over and also started
climbing. At 8PM, as soon 434 Mark and Charlotte entered the Sotanito, Jim and Marion
pulled up the 160' entrance rope and walked 1/3 mile away and yo-yoed well-decorated 125'
Sotano de Amistad. The 160' was rerigged and:at 12:50AM Mark and Charlotte returned to
camp.

DECEMBER 21: By 8:30AM Marion, Jim, Alan, and Mark had entered the 71" drop to deri
the Sotanito. While they pulled the rope there, Neil, Julia, and Martyn coiled it on the
surface. By noon the group was back in Ahaucatlan where a fine meal of eggs, rice,
tortillas, beef, and beans was had for a total price of 130 pesos in a small restaurant
just west of the bridge. After shopping in Ahaucatlan and Jalpan, the crew split up.
Neil and Julia caught the bus for Valles, Charlotte caught the bus for the U. S., and the
rest drove to the river at Ayutla where they bathed and reorganized. That night a large
assortment of people met them there: Buddy Lane (Tenn.), Donna Mroczskowski (Calif.),
Jack Wheat (Tenn.), Rick Bridges (Tenn.), Mary Saunders (Ga.), E. T. Davis (Ga.), Tommy
"Teddy Bear" Thurman (Ga.), Bill, Donna, and Hether Bauman (Ohio), Dennis Vogler (Ohio),
Phil Collett (Binbury, Oxon, Peer ene): Peter J. Lord (England), John Bassett (Ind.), and
Sam Frushour (Ind.)

DECEMBER 22: At 9:20AM eighteen people (all but Donna and Hether Bauman who drove
to Valles) started hiking from Puerta Ayulta toward Rancho de Barro and El Sotano. The
1,500' rope was carried in one backpack. By nightfall four sub grotps had been formed.
The main body (Bridges, Bassett, Frushour, Wheat, Bauman, Thurman, Lane, and Davis) had
followed the correct trails and camped at the river; Farr, Mroczskowski, Saunders,
Collett, and Johnson also camped at the river: further upstream; Lord, Stock, Vogler, and
the two Smiths took a wrong turn at a pond and eventually started down the mountainslope
via an arroyo directly into Canon de Ayutla. When a 40' cliff was encountered with
prospects for a longer one ahead, Lord, J. Smith, and Vogler elected to climb the 1,500 -
2,000 vertical feet back to the top of the mountain while Stock and M. Smith elected to —
fight the dense vegetation and scurry along the edge of the cliffs until a route down
could be found. Both parties were successful. The Lord group spent the night on top of
the mountain and the Stock group spent the night in Caifion de Ayulta about 1/2 hour's walk
from the Bridges group.

DECEMBER 23: In the AM everyone made it to Rancho Barro and loaded up on refrescas
and by about 1:30PM began reaching El Sotano itself. En route a light airplane buzzed tt
area. It later proved to be Bill Stone (Ariz.), Henry Schneiker (Ariz.), and Bob Stuckle
(Colo.) A 1,180 or 1,200 foot rappel was rigged in the pit and that afternoon and evenir
M. Smith, Farr, Lord, Lane, and Collett yo-yoed it. Frushour failed to walk past Barro
and Bassett left to walk him back to the highway.

DECEMBER 24: During the day Vogler, Bauman, Bridges, Wheat, Thurman, Davis, J. Smit

Stock, Saunders, and Mroczskowski yo-yoed the pit. Vogler and Bauman left about noon to
walk back to the highway to meet Donna and Hether for Christmas. By 7:45PM the pit was
derigged and most settled in for the night by 8;30PM.

C168

DECEMBER 25: At 6:55AM the remaining fourteen people began their walk to the
highway, taking turns carrying the rope, which was tied in six coils. At 3:07PM the
rope crew reached Puerta Ayutla. The two Smiths and Stock washed in the river at
Ayutla and by 8:30PM all twenty people arrived at the La Condesa in Valles (after
Marion's truck had fuel filter problems) for a Christmas supper. Then all but three
got hotel rooms. Stock and the two Smiths camped at Los Sabinos north of Valles where
many other cavers were. Only Jim Rodemaker (I1l.) and Mike McEachern (Tex.) were still
up when they arrived.

DECEMBER 26: Reorganization day. Much shopping was done in Valles by various
people and in the late afternoon Marion's truck was cleaned out at Los Sabinos. Some
of the many people at Los Sabinos included Neil Montgomery, Julia James, Tracy and
Sheila Johnson (Ariz.), Bill Stone, a load of British Columbia cavers, Peter Stickland
(Tex.), Peter Sprouse (Tex.), plus most of the El Sotano crew of twenty (except Lord
who left on a bus for Mexico City), etc., etc.

DECEMBER 27: Bridges, A. Johnson, Saunders, Thurman, Davis, and many others visit
Hoya de Guaguas. At 10:45AM Montgomery, J. James, Stock, J. and M. Smith, Henry
Schneiker, and T. and S. Johnson leave in Marion's truck. At Xilitla they ate at the
Principal and by 3:30PM had reached Tancoyal, at the end of a 22km dirt road west of
Ahaucatlan (San Luis Potosi). There T. Johnson acquired the necessary permission and
at 4:35PM the group started hiking up the steep trail toward Mesa de los Pinos. Dark-
ness forced a trailside bivouac, though most of the 1,500 foot elevation gain had been
accomplished.

DECEMBER 28: The hike was resumed at 7:30AM and continued until about 4:30PM when
the village of LaParada was reached. LaParada, which has about 90 adults and over 100
children, has only been visited by gringos twice before, both times in 1974 by cavers.
Local officials allowed the eight cavers to sit up camp in the pasture near the pond
and large numbers of locals clustered about to see the various gadgets and pieces of
equipment the "invaders" brought. The distance from Tancoyal to LaParada is variously
estimated from 14 to 20 miles, probably closer to the former.

DECEMBER 29: At 9:10AM all but Sheila set out to find the “black hole" spotted
from the air on December 23. After the first ridge was a 500 foot high second ridge
with steep cliffs. Jim, Neil, and Julia went to the right to find a trail up while
Tracy, Mark, Henry, and Marion climbed the cliffs and started chopping a trail. Mark
turned back, but about 2:40PM Henry found the “black hole" which was a pit about 80' X
110' and 150' deep. It was nice, but a far cry from the minimum drop of 300 feet that
Stone had promised. All eventually returned to camp, Tracy, Henry, and Marion via a
trail which should have been used in the first place. Camp had been augmented by the
arrival of Bill Stone, Pat Wieden (N. Y.), Kelly and. Sally Kellstadt (N. Mex.), Bob
Stucklen, and Alexia Cochrane (I1l.) It rained during the night.

DECEMBER 30: Since the day was overcast and cool, the checking out of the "black
hole" was postponed. - Everyone but Sheila and Sally walked toward the village of San
Isidro to tour Sotano de San Isidro (220 and 25 foot drops with a total depth of over
300 feet). On the way some of the people’ toured a short cave called Cueva de San Isidro.
Sotano de San Isidro was toured by M. Smith, J. Smith, Montgomery, Stone, Wieden,
Schneiker, Stucklen, K. Kellstadt, and Stock. Cochrane backpacked to Tamapatz and
Golondrinas, and T. Johnson and Julia acquired some pit leads. Once ropes were available
from S. de San Isidro T. Johnson, the two Smiths, and Stock checked out two pits, 160'
Sotano de Saucito and 220' Sotano de Puerco Muerto. The camp at LaParada had two new
people that night: Ira Estin and Penelope Singer from Arizona.

4 ~

4
oh 2 “a

*

(2169

DECEMBER 31: Stone, Wieden, Stock, J. Smith, Schneiker, J. James, Estig,
and Montgomery checked out the "black hole" and found no leads. They named it Sotano
de Piedra Horizontal (Flatrock Pit). T. and S. Johnson and M. Smith were guided by Sr.
David Pedrasa Servin (of Rancho Saucito de Tancoyal, Queretaro) and others around San
Isidro to three short cuevas; Regino, Don Pedro, and Palmilla, and two shallow pits;
60' Chuchumbe and 100' Lindero. The Kellstadts, Stucklen, and Singer left La Parada
for La Pimienta. That evening a nice campfire was going for a while, but everyone sackec
out by 11PM.

JANUARY 1, 1976: Stock, M. and J. Smith, James, Montgomery, and Estin walk
several miles and yo-yo 560 foot Sotano de El Socavon, which had a 600 foot diameter
room at the bottom. T. and S. Johnson toured S. de San Isidro, and Stone, Wieden, and
Schneiker started the hike back to Tancoyal.

JANUARY 2: Hikeout day and M. Smith has a case of the turistas. At 4:45AM he
starts his walk, but immediately gets on the wrong trail in the dark. At 8 he is only
1/2 mile from La Parada. The day is hot and at 11AM he is saved by Tracy Johnson who
carries his pack two hours (T. and S. Johnson's packs were on a burro belonging to a
Mexican who was going part way to Tancoyal). By 5:30PM everyone reaches Tancoyal.

N. Montgomery collapsed with the turistas near town. Stock, J. and M. Smith leave,
drive via Xilitla to Valles where they ate at La Condesa. They then proceeded to Los
Sabinos for the night. Hordes of cavers are still there, including Wil Howie (Miss.)
and Dr. John P. Sevenair (La.)

JANUARY 3: Stock, J. and M. Smith start back for the states, giving a hitch hiker,
Fred Allen (oil worker at Cook Inlet, Alaska), a lift to Brownsville.

il.

MARCH 14, 1976: 7PM, CST, Mark Stock, Jim H. Smith, and Marion O. Smith arrive,
in Marion's Toyota Corolla, at the river at Ayutla, Queretaro, and camp for the night.

MARCH 15: The trio drive to La Purisma and 2.9 miles to the temporary end of the
new dirt road toward the village of San Juan, then hike the remaining four or so miles
via San Juan to the AMCS cavers’ camp next to the entrance of Joya de las Conchas. Thirt
cavers preceeded them: Gill Ediger (Tex.), Don Broussard (Tex.), Shari Larason (Tex.),
Steve Zeman (Tex.), Bill Stone (Ariz.), Steve Ward (Pa.), Bill Steele (Ind.), Terry
Sayther (Tex.), Terry Tracey (Ind.-Tex.), Peter Sprouse (Tex.), Andy Eavis (England), Jil
Dorman (Tex.), Bob West (Tex.), Roy Jameson (Tex.), Peter and John Strickland (Tex.),
Walt Peters (I11.), Thomas Moore (Tex.), Blake Harrison (Tex.), Maureen Kavanaugh (Tex.),
Andy Grubbs (Tex.), Logan McNatt (Tex.), Robert Hemperly (Tex), Alexia Cochrane (Il1l.),
Paul Fambro (Tex.), Mike McKee (Tex.), Pam Lynn (Tex.), Ron Ralph (Tex.), Tracy Johnson
(Ariz.), and Henry Schneiker (Ariz.) Two mapping crews were,Conchas: Peter Sprouse(?)
and others surveying from the entrance to a depth of -600 feet, and Tracy Johnson, Eavis,
Kavanaugh, and one other mapping from -600 feet to -1,170 feet. Others, including
Harrison, Dorman, and Lynn, penetrated only to a depth of about 200 feet. Jameson, T.°
Tracey, Broussard, and Larason surveyed overland 2 miles from Conchas to various cave
entrances, including Javelina (1,093 feet deep). Ron Ralph and others entered one of
the other pit caves, and Stone did some cave hunting. [Conchas was entered March 14 by
Ward, Stone, Steele, Ediger, Zeman, and Sprouse, and rigged. Ediger, Zeman, and Sprouse
turned back at -1,000 feet, and the rest pushed downward, with only Steele reaching the
bottom. It was a 22 hour trip].

CHO

MARCH 16: At 9:30AM, CST, Hemperly, Harrison, Dorman, Steele, Stock, and the two

Smiths enter Conchas. The first four check a parallel 280-300 foot pit at the -1,000
foot level. The last three survey from -1,170 feet to the end at -1,693 feet, including
an estimated four meters of water. The last people out of the cave are Stock and M.
Smith at 3AM. Cochrane, Grubbs, and others toured the top levels of Conchas. Conchas,
with its 22 or 23 rope drops, is determined to be the western hemisphere's 4th deepest
cave. [Ropes were pulled up to the -1,000 foot level by Stock and the Smiths. ]

MARCH 17: Stock, Stone, Cochrane, and Ward went to check a pit near Rancho Mojerner
Sotano de la Mesa. Only Stock and Stone dropped this 150 footer. Later they went to
Sotanito de Canoas near San Juan where Mark descended 90 and 65 foot drops only to be
stopped by a third drop. Ten people (J. and M. Smith, J. Stickland, Kavanaugh, Schneike
Sayther, Lynn, T. Tracey, Sprouse, and T. Johnson) beat around in the scrub brush on top
of the mesa to the west of camp looking for an earth crack pit. They find it only to
decide it was a karst feature and leave without rappelling it. Eavis, P. Strickland,
Broussard, and one other spend about 12 hours in Conchas pulling up ropes to ~200 feet
and photographing. Jameson and others cave hunted. Don Speer (Tex.) reaches camp.

MARCH 18: Stock, T. Johnson, J. and M. Smith bottom S. de Canoas at -344 feet and
map out. Stone, Ward, and Steele (after helping to derig Conchas) map in and complete
the survey. Stock, the Smiths, and Steele tour 150 foot long Cueva de Canoas. Jameson,
Grubbs, Cochrane, and perhaps others discover a 250 foot pit with good potential. Casey
McGill, Eric Valainis, and Barbara Ransom (all Ind.) reach camp in the afternoon, bringi
the total number of people up to 37.

MARCH 19: The Conchas camp begins to break up, with the Smiths, Stock, T. Johnson,

and Schneiker starting back for the U. S. Jameson and a group went to investigate furth
the 250 foot pit located the day before.