Exploration and survey of Buckeye Cave (AL 779), Alabama

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EXPLORATION AND SURVEY OF BUCKEYE CAVE (AL 779), ALABAMA
ae 4 By Marion 0. Smith
Relatively Few Current cavers remember former Huntsville and Paint Rock

Valley Grotto member Larry Ray McLennan, but for several years in. the 1960s he
was one of the leading cave finders in Alabama, Valhalla being perhaps his most
notable discovery. Sometime during the late 1966-early 1967 period, he found a
shallow pit near the head of Rousseau licollow north of Gurley.

His discovery was a fortyish foot pit beneath an overhanging bluff at the
edge of a streambed, and because a large tree of that name was nearby, he named
it Buckeye Cave. There was obvious passage at the bottom, and although it is
uncertain how many times McLennan visited the cave, on one early trip he and Bill
Cuddington reached a high level lead about 1150 feet from the entrance. Each
time McLennan went to the cave he got a little further than Heargre.s > Tae Cactic
of grabbing six ropes and pushing hard on the initial trip would not become
routine for nearly another ead

since Richard Schreiber knew McLennan, he arranged rer with him to Buckeye.
On June 23. 1967, Richard, oxy Stafford [Ferguson], Dennis Blankenship, and Il
ook Larry and nie Geether Tom in Paint Rock. This was to be my only meeting with
Larry, but it would be a memorable one. It was not a good period in his life. He
had recently been divorced and Eat iter to drink. He haa consumed ebheie oeabie
aicohel betore we met him that morning, but nevertheless all six of us piled into.
his Scout and we headed for the cave. Over a mile up the ioe road we had two
flats at once, the left rear tire coming completely off the rim. Having no spares,
Larry used his mobile phone and called Bob Clark in Huntsville, explained the
situation, and said he would call again when we got out of the cave. We went to
the cave and “explored” it, Larry leaving a bottle of scotch at the entrance. Once
out, he began to work on the scotch, chasing it with water from our cantcens and

from the streambed. He phoned Clark, and as we walked off the mountain, became

|— Dies

more obnoxious, firing his pistol a time or two, and making advances toward
Foxy. At Jasty Boo Clark, Biii Garrison ae David Young met us at the foot of
the mountain and took us to our own vehicles.

Events in the cave were dull by comparison with the outside activity, but
at the time I thought the cave was “tough.” It was of the stairstep variety
with one eight foot drop besides the entrance pit being rigged. We did consid-
ate ee and explored a couple hundred feet of virgin passage. My room-
mate, Dennis, was the First to reach a 20 foot pit in the main stream passage,
We had no rope but could see that there were more climbs x drops ahead. We
had actos a depth of about 225 feet, although we did not know it at the time.

McLennan onde return trips to the cave. Apparently, after descending the
20 Foot pit, he by-passed a 42 foot pit and descended via a freeclimb route.
-The stream disappeared through breakdown and after probing a room above it,

Me Lennan ceased exploration in Buckeye. He and his followers had reached
approximately 340 feet vertically below the entrance.

Lhe next recorded trip to Buckeye was by the Huntsville Grotto. On.
November 7, 1970, Bill Torode, Harold Tinsley, George Frohwein, Cari Craze,
Reynolds Duncan, and David Cloyd had a long day in the cave, mapping a total of
3,414 feet. Torode and Cloyd mapped the wet route while the others did the
dry route. They too by-passed the 42 foot pit and reached the breakdown zone.
No virgin passage was explored, but still it was quite an effort to map in one
day as much as they did. However, they made no return trips.

The cave was forgotten until 1979 when, trying to find another 400 foot
deep cave for Alabama, I remembered et Buckeye was probably already deep, and
perhaps had not been bitter ended.

On June 2 Jill Dorman, piphared Scheetber, David Teal, Dan Twilley, Bobby
Whorton, and I met and started the long walk to the cave. En route, Teal got

sick, and he and Whorton dropped out. The rest of us entered Buckeye and sur-~

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veyed 1,089.2 feet before stopping to explore. We followed the lower wet crawl
route and rigged the 20 and 42 foot pits, soon reaching the breakdown "terminus.
We each probed the Pere In time Dan managed to dig his way through to a
series of climbs for a vertical loss of fifty + feet. Beyond that we got into
regular stream passage, which we fcllowed for about 800 fect before we were
stopped by a 25ish foot wet pit above a sizeable room. Delighted at our suc—
cess, we elected not to do the drop then but to return later with two survey
teams.

Accordingly, on June 30, the same four plus Jim Smith, Will Chamberlin,
Gerald Moni, Steve Attaway, and Stella Iwilley entered the cave. Dan, Richard,
Jill, and Steve proceeded to top of the 42 foot pit and began their survey there,
and the rest of us, after a few photcs were taken, mapped from the last June 2
station through the lower water crawl to the 42 foot pit. Moni, who was not
feeling well, soon aborted and left the cave. Bill Torode, Dick Sears, and Tom
Cleland, all of Huntsville, also came into the cave and toured to the pools just
below the Twilley breakdown climbs.

When the second crew reached the 42 footer, they rappelled it and went in
en of the first crew which they found mid-way through the Twilley Extension
on their way out. The cave had ended 500 feet from the bottom of the wet 2/7
foot plt, wath the last 200 teer being very wet and low, and explored only by .
Jill. They stopped their survey at the start of this super wet section.

Stella joined Team A in their quest for the entrance, but Jim and I des-
cended the 27 footer and proceeded ahead. Will yoyoed the drop and moved back
a few hundred feet in the Twilley Extension to wait. Jim ane I took the survey
eee bitter end, getting quite CII.LED in the process, and then we too headed

for the entrance. For some it had been a fourteen hour trip. Team A had

mapped 1,332 feet and Team B 1,211.5 feet.

The cave was now bottomed and the virgin passage explored. Consequently,

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enthusiasm waned and the obtaining of mop-up survey crews proved to be somewhat
of a problem. On July 14, after visiting nearby Smith Pit, Greg McGill, Lynn
Wright, Gerald Moni, and lL entered at 5:18 PM for a short trip. We mapped the
upper level dry route, for a total of 374.1 feet, and exited sy 10 PH.

fonths later, October 27, a Knoxville, Tennessee, crew composed of Chris
Kerr, Darlene Anthony, Jim Nicholls, John Yust, and I had a bottoming trip. We
mapped the by-pass route around the 42 foot pit and short leads in vicinity of

the Twilley breakdown climbs, for a total of 443.7 feet. Then everyone except

Darlene (who had no wetsuit) did the very wet 27 foot pit for sporting and

photographic purposes.

Finally, February 23, 1980, Jack Chasiett., a 26 year old Georgia Tech
graduate student, and I spent nine hours mapping upper and intermediate level
leads between the second and third rigged dogs! far a total of 809.6 fooE.
With this, the cave was declared "Finished."

Buckeye, though it has some nasty spots, is one of the paaiee "deep" caves
in Alabama. Only four short drops have to be rigged (and one of these, the
second from the entrance, could be free climbed), but the many climbs and
gradient bring its total depth to a respectable 457.6 feet with over a mile

(5,460.1 feet) of passage. Yet it was thirteen years after its discovery before

cavers reached its unpleasant terminal syphon.

TO DRY PASSAGE

PLAN

LOW
AIRSPACE

BYPASS
FREE CLIMB
ROUTE

20' PIT
SIMPLI

ee 42" PIT

YPHON STREAM PASSAGE
BITTER STREAM CRAWL

te, se,

- 27' PIT

TOO TIGHT

NSS 7192 C LOGS

ede

NSS 2177 Be

20' STAIRSTEP
PIT

TAPE AND COMPASS SURVEY
JUNE 2, S30, JULY 14, OCTOBER 27, 19795
AND FEBRUARY 23, 1980 BY:

DARLENE ANTHONY JIM NICHOLLS
STEVE ATTAWAY RICHARD W. SCHREIBER
WILL CHAMBERLIN JIM SMITH
JACK CHISLETT MARION Q. SMITH
JILt DORMAN DAN TWILLEY
CHRIS KERR STELLA TWILLEY
GREG MCGILL LYNN WRIGHT
GERALD MONI © JOHN YUST

LENGTH ¢THC): 5,460.1 FEET
DET CIV ss 457.6 FEET

PREPARED FOR PUBLICATION BY:
JOE DOMNANOVICH

Ou 100, 200° S00. -eT.
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‘&

SCALE

44" PIT

NSS 7192
20'

STAIRSTEP
oe Bl

SSS

SIMPLIFIED VERTICAL PROFILE
N-S AXIS

BUCKEYE CAVE
AL 779