[trip] Memorial Day Expedition: Mammoth X-Loop

Entered Doyle Vallley Entrance as part of Mammoth Cave Memorial Day Expedition; the six of us carried four 4-foot sections of aluminum ladder to scale several high leads along the X-Loop. We traveled up Logston River for several miles, where the first team turned off to the downstream leg of the X-Loop; our team of three continued upriver for 2000’ to the upstream X-Loop - a low, wet lead branching off to the right where Logston makes a sharp turn to the left, and marked by an obvious hanging poker chip.

Our objectives included several leads heading towards South Toohey Ridge, the first being at station L9, which was supposed to have been marked by a dogtag. We found the lead within several-hundred feet, which branches off the left-hand side as a wet hands-and-knees crawl for approximately 60 feet, until it becomes a dry bellycrawl. At the bellycrawl, notable airflow blowing towards the X-Loop passage was felt. Unfortunately, we were unable to locate station L9 for the tie-in, and traveled further along the loop to a small dome, where we found station L14 marked with a poker chip. Of interesting biological note, we found a live frog in this passage (and saw countless unpigmented crayfish here and in Logsdon).

We started the ~250 foot tie-in survey, but immediately had problems with inconsistent forward and back compass readings. Much time was spent surveying several stations along the tie-in route, as well as “sanity check” compass shots, and no backup compass was on-hand. Trip leader made the decision to abort the survey.

We then traveled back down Logsdon to X-Loop downstream to attempt to find the other survey team (in the hopes of borrowing another compass), who had promised to mark their route with flagging in the case that we should need to find them. We waded through a low-airspace water crawl for 150 feet and noted the disturbing lack of footprints at the following dry sandbar. We backtracked through the water crawl and noticed the other team’s flagging at a breakdown climbup at the very start of the passage, followed it up and located the other team within minutes. Not only did the other team have an additional set of instruments, but their own lead had “multiplied”, and they tasked us with surveying an adjacent lead.

The EA survey branches off of their E survey at a marked piece of breakdown, follows a short connector passage to a junction, where it follows a narrow, winding, ~5-foot-tall canyon. We surveyed approximately 75 feet in this canyon until time ran out. No water or air was noted; one spot appeared to have many cricket holes in the mud, but no crickets or beetles were observed. We then continued ahead to verify that the passage continues, and found that it very shortly grows in height to ~20-foot-tall, has complex airflow, and branches off into several additional going leads, including:

• - Low muddy drain that doubles back under the canyon with several small infeeders from above, itself intersected by a going 15-foot-high canyon
• - Perpendicular canyon lead which goes to a pit ~25 feet deep, opposite direction not checked
• - Main canyon passage continues

The two joined teams then descended and derigged the ladder, rigging a webbing sling with cord in place so that a future team can pull a rope through for climbing up to the E survey. We then headed out of the cave, with the 6-man party slowed by brief party separation, exhaustion from the long, hard trip, and by the need to shuttle team members and gear up the Doyle Valley road. We arrived back at Hamilton Valley 1 hour late, at 26:00, after an approximately 15 hour trip.