AMCS

A C T I V I T I E S
NEWSLETTER
Number 36 June 2013
 AMCS
ACTIVITIES NEWSLETTER
NUMBER 36 JUNE 2013

The AMCS Activities Newsletter is published by the

Association for Mexican Cave Studies, a Project of the
National Speleological Society. The AMCS is an informal,
nonprofit group dedicated to the exploration, study, and
conservation of the caves of Mexico.

The Activities Newsletter seeks articles and news items

on all significant exploration and research activities in
the caves of Mexico. The editor may be contacted at the
address below or at [email protected]. Exceptional
color photographs for the covers are also sought. They
need not pertain to articles in the issue, but need to be
high-resolutions scans or digital originals.

This issue was edited by Michael Pugliese, with help from

Bill Mixon, Mark Minton, and Yvonne Droms.

All previous issues of the Activities Newsletter are available,

as are various other publications on the caves of Mexico.
Contact [email protected], see www.amcs-pubs.org,
or write the address below.

ASSOCIATION FOR FRONT COVER

Mud cracks in Anthodite Hall,
MEXICAN CAVE STUDIES Sistema Huautla, Oaxaca.
BOX 7672

A M CS
Photo by Elliot Stahl.

AUSTIN, TEXAS 78713

REAR COVER
www.amcs-pubs.org Stream passage of Sistema
Huautla, Oaxaxa.
© 2013 AMCS Photo by Elliot Stahl.
All rights reserved.
Authors, photographers, and cartographers
retain copyrights to their individual contributions.
Printed in the United States of America.
 CONTENTS
5 MEXICO NEWS BILL MIXON
38 LONG AND DEEP CAVES OF MEXICO MARK MINTON
41 BOOK REVIEW
42 AT THE BORDERS OF CIOCHIMÍ:
A FORGOTTEN ROCK ART CARLOS LAZCANO
49 2013 HUAUTLA EXPEDITION CHRIS JEWELL
54 CHECKING LEADS NEAR CAMP 1 OF SAN AGUSTÍN BILL STEELE
57 FIRST CAVING IN HUAUTLA JOHN FISH AND WILLIAM RUSSELL
63 NEW CAVE SURVEY AT GRUTAS DE JUXTLAHUACA LAURA ROSALES
66 ASTYANAX INTERNATIONAL MEETING 2013 WILLIAM R. ELLIOTT
70 PHOTO ESSAY: CUEVA DEL REY CONDOY ELLIOT STAHL
79 UEYOLBASTLE GUSTAVO VELA
82 SUMMER CAVING IN THE RIVIERA MAYA
BEV SHADE, DEVRA HEYER, PETER SPROUSE
90 2013 – A BUSY TIME IN THE QUINTANA ROO JUNGLE
EXPEDITION MEMBERS
102 END OF THE WORLD CAVING EXPEDITION DEC. 2012 CHRIS LLOYD
111 EXPLORATIONS IN THE SUMIDERO DEL HIGO KALEB ZÁRATE GÁLVEZ,
GILBERT SALINAS PÉREZ, ALESSANDRA LANZETTA
118 2013 TZONTZECUICULI EXPEDITION GUSTAVO VELA
124 PHOTO ESSAY: ANTHODITE HALL ELLIOT STAHL
128 USING THE MICROSOFT KINECT TO CREATE
A 3-D CAVE MAP JON BEACH
132 EXPEDITION IXTACXOCHITLA 2012 RAMSÉS MIRANDA GAMBOA,
ANGELES VERDE RAMÍREZ, ULISES RIVERA ARROYO
139 EXPLORATION OF ACTUN JAALEB RAÚL E. MANZANILLA

SC M A
 NEWS

BILL STEELE SURVEYING FORMATIONS IN SISTEMA HUAUTLA.

PHOTO BY ELLIOT STAHL
 5

MEXICO NEWS
COMPILED BY BILL MIXON

the passage continues as a large borehole. A through-

CHIAPAS trip in Cueva del Río La Venta enabled a team to finish
There is a short video by the Italian group La Venta rigging the stretches of rapids along the main stream
on its 2010 project in Chiapas, during which they ex- with Raumer stainless-steel hardware.
plored Cueva del Puercoespín and others in the vicin- Two more expeditions are planned, one focused on
ity of Tuxtla Gutiérrez (see “Mexico News” in AMCS diving in November 2012 and one in April 2013. Source:
Activities Newsletter 35), at http://vimeo.com/15429782. Francesco Sauro in Speleologia 67, December 2012, page
77, translated by Yvonne Droms.
AMCS Bulletin 23, Heart of Earth: Studies in Maya
Ritual Cave Use, contains the article “Cueva del Sapo: In the Spring of 2012, the Grupo Espeleológico
A GIS Spacial Analysis of Surface Remains in a Classic Jaguar A.C. explored and surveyed many thousands
Ritual Cave in Western Chiapas, Mexico”, by Davide Do- of meters of new passage in the Sumidero del Higo,
menici and Cristina Pongetti. Cueva del Sapo is located located in the high plateau of San Fernando, near Tuxtla
in the Selva El Ocote, north of the Río La Venta. Gutié-rrez. This cave, found in 2010 and first explored
together with the Associazione La Venta in 2011, is re-
An international expedition, coordinated by the vealing its significant potential. The entrance opens as
Associazione di Esplorazioni Geografiche La Venta a large pit covered with vegetation. Soon a series of pits
and composed of forty members from Italy, Mexico, drops down 200 meters, then a river can be followed
Spain, Costa Rica, and the United States, took place in downstream for over one kilometer, ending in a sump.
April 2012. Its goal was to explore leads remaining from Upstream, a sump is encountered after about 500 meters.
explorations in the 1990s along the left bank of the Río It points in the direction of the Cueva del Puercoespín,
La Venta in the state of Chiapas. The high plateaus near which was explored by La Venta and the Jaguar group for
La Florida have concealed one of the most important 3.5 kilometers and whose terminal siphon lies just a few
hydrological systems in the area. Entering through meters away as the crow flies (see Speleologia number
sinkholes in the southernmost sector, the team explored 64 [and pages 6–8 in AMCS Activities Newsletter 35]).
4.5 kilometers of large passages along the main stream Sumidero del Higo is now over 3 kilometers long and
of Sistema Castillo, which ended in a series of sumps. close to 400 meters deep. There is still plenty of work
A few kilometers farther downstream, they finished the ahead to find a connection with Cueva del Puercoespín,
exploration of the Cueva del Convento, a resurgence to together with which it would form a large system. A
the system that had already been identified in Novem- new entrance in the deep Cañon del Sumidero is also
ber 2011. It was not possible to connect them, despite possible, although it is a few kilometers away. Explora-
repeated attempts at diving the sumps. tion in this area is slowly revealing a complex under-
Other caves were also explored in that area, among ground hydrological system, much of which remains
them Sistema Aguacerca (1.6 kilometers), a fossil tunnel to be uncovered. Source: Alessandra Lanzetta and Kaleb
containing exceptionally beautiful formations. In the Zárate Gálvez in Speleologia 67, December 2012, pages
canyon below Colonia Nueva Jerusalém, a large resur- 76–77, translated by Yvonne Droms. See also article
gence was explored and named Cueva San Vincente; about Sumidero del Higo in this issue.
it ended in a sump after 350 meters of large passage.
A small group continued prospecting in the El Ocote The expedition Selva Chiapas 2013 of the La Venta
forest, discovering a new deep pit that could not be Esplorazioni Geografiche group from Italy had two
descended due to lack of time. A lot of effort was put parts. The first part was focused on the forest around
into underwater exploration, adding 320 meters to a Veinte Casas, where re-exploration of Cueva Chute Re­
water depth of 20 meters in Cueva del Naranjo, where dondo is a La Venta project. They also were committed
AMCS ACTIVITIES NEWSLETTER 36
to locate a large pit, which they call Chiccivà, seen on history of Mónica Ponce’s interest in caves and caving,
aerial photographs. After three days of chopping, they including her organizing the EspeleoCoahuila confer-
reached the pit, but had to postpone descent until next ences and her participation in the La Venta group’s
year because of lack of rope. The second part of the work at Cuatro Ciénegas. The post is at www.zocalo
expedition was in the forests around Colonia Rabasa .com.mx/seccion/articulo/monica-ponce-en-el-corazon
in the protected area of the Selva El Ocote. From a base -de-la-tierra.
at Tierra Colorada, they reached a pit, Oaxaca de las
Huellas, about two hours into the forest. It proved to GUERRERO
have a drop of 60 meters to a breakdown slope into a The cave La Mariposa, also called El Mogote because
room with nice decorations. The total length of the of its closeness to that town, has been developed for
cave is about 700 meters. The remaining days of the tourists. The first 200 meters is prepared for families;
expedition were devoted to trying to establish routes to the rest of the route has been dubbed “extreme.” Usually
remote valleys, not an easy task in the dense vegetation cavers can reach the pool nearly 700 meters from the
growing among large blades of karren, not to mention entrance fairly easily. However, in early summer 2012,
the venomous nauyaca (fer-de-lance) and assorted nasty there was high CO2, and of the party of five, three gave
spiders and scorpions. Source: post at www.laventa.it by up at 340 meters, and the other two turned back shortly
Francesco Lo Mastro dated May 23, 2013. thereafter. They photographed a white centipede dur-
ing their visit. Source: June 1, 2013, on Tlamaqui e-mail
CHIHUAHUA list by Homero Reséndiz.
Dr. Penny Boston, in collaboration with Dr. Diana
Northup and Michael Spilde, both of the University of Abstract: Caving Projects in Tamaulipas and Guer-
New Mexico, Albuquerque, and Cameron McMillan, rero, Mexico, on Indefinite Hold, by Bill Steele.
Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, continue to In December 2009, the Mesas Juárez Expedition
analyze materials collected during the 2008 and 2009 launched a project to explore pits in search of the high-
Naica expeditions to Chihuahua, Mexico. Based on est possible entrance to the 95-kilometer-long Sistema
analyses of DNA, the nearest relatives to microorganisms Purificación, which could add as much as 600 meters to
found in this remarkable cave system include microbes its current 957-meter depth and much length. Sistema
from other caves elsewhere in the world, volcanic soils, Purificación is in the state of Tamaulipas, one of the
heavy-metal environments, and other unusual environ- worst for violence in the Mexican drug war, and after
ments. New results show that some of the cultured more than thirty-five years of caving, cavers have quit
strains have extreme tolerance to high-osmotic-pressure going there.
conditions, which may fit them uniquely for life in the Also in 2009, the Grutas de Guerrero project was
hot calcium-sulfate-saturated fluid environment of the started, to explore and map caves in the Omiltemi area
Naica caves. Source: National Cave and Karst Research west of Chilpancingo. Preliminary work was done
Institute 2011–2012 Annual Report, p. 4. there by French cavers in 1976 and Mexican cavers in
the ‘80s. The French cavers mapped over 5 kilometers
COAHUILA in Sima del Borrego, leaving many large side passages
An article on the web site of El Zócalo Saltillo by unexplored.
Rosy Revuelta, posted November 12, 2012, outlines the Grutas de Guerrero expeditions took place in March

New tourist entrance and centipede, Cueva La Mariposa,

El Mogote, Guerrero.
 7

Petroglyphs at Tlayacapan, Morelos.

2009 and April 2010 and started remapping Sima del

MORELOS
Borrego, began exploring and mapping Cueva del
Tigre, and explored and mapped Grutas Acatatlaca. Petroglyphs have been found in rock shelters in
However, criminal activity was evident, so a return volcanic rocks at Tlayacapan, near Oaxtepec. Source:
expedition in spring 2011 to camp underground for a Enrique Méndez Torres.
week in Sima del Borrego was canceled.
NUEVO LEÓN
These two Mexico caving projects are on indefinite
hold, as is most caving in Mexico by U.S. cavers, due to A part of show-cave Grutas de García, near Mon-
lawlessness and violence. This presentation will discuss terrey, can now be rented for social events and celebra-
the caving potential of these areas, results to date, and tions for up to 130 people. The cave is operated by the
why it may be a long time before expeditions return government of Nuevo León, and arrangements can be
to them. made through the Operadora de Servicios Turísticos de
Source: 2012 NSS convention program book, page Nuevo León. Source: SexenioNuevoLeón post at http://
85. www.sexenio.com.mx/nuevoleon/articulo.php?id=12400,
November 15, 2012.
Cavers from Mexico City have made a nice ten-minute
video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_9dkTzqeok) On April 19, 1988, Cueva del Cañón at Bustamante
of a cleanup of the “bottle sump” in Resumidero de was visited and surveyed. It is about 2 kilometers back
Acahuizotla, Chilpancingo. Source: Tlamaqui post by toward Bustamante from the Manantial de San Lorenzo,
Ramsés Miranda. the karst spring in the canyon. The cave is 18.69 meters
long and small, with an entrance 1.7 by 0.7 meters. The
HIDALGO cave is dry, but there were locusts, flies, harvestmen, and
In pursuit of a pit said to be 220 meters deep, cav- butterflies in it. A brown frog was seen at the back end
ers visited Zimapán, Hidalgo, in May 2012. It turned of the cave. Source: Oliver Knab.
out to be 85 meters deep and full of used diapers and
other trash. Two other pits were not descended because
they were right in town and even more disgusting. The party room at Grutas de García.
Source: posts to Tlamaqui e-mail list by Gustavo Vela
and Arturo Robles.

JALISCO
There is a report by John Pint on a visit to Cueva
de los Monos, Toxín, Jalisco, at www.saudicaves.com/
mx/monos/. Emphasis is on the difficulty of reaching
this highly decorated cave. A map of the cave appears
in Carlos Lazcano’s Las Cuevas de Cerro Grande, AMCS
reprint 4, page 126.
AMCS ACTIVITIES NEWSLETTER 36
Park Zoo, Jimenez plans to do small, interac-
tive skits in one of the towns near the caves
to teach children and their parents about the
bats that live in that area.
Rachel Saker, a senior wildlife and fisheries
and vertebrate zoology double major, has been
caving with the Aggie Speleological Society
for more than a year. Her interests in caving
and bat biology are the main reasons she was
chosen for the team. Saker’s area of research
pertains to the foraging habits of the bats in
Laguna de Sánchez. With help from the rest
of the team, she will be netting bats at ranges
of 20, 40 and 50 kilometers from the cave and
tagging them with different UV powders that
react under black light. During the day, they
will go into the caves and try to find the bats
that are tagged. Based on the UV colors they
find most often, the team will be able to deter-
mine how far the bats forage during the night,
as well as the possibility of other roosting
places. Source: http://www.thebatt.com/students
-research-team-to-further-conservation-aware
ness-of-bats-in-mexico-1.2983763.
A unique group of student researchers with a variety
of interests, from botany to caving to theatre arts, have Philip Russell (William Russell’s brother) recently
one unifying goal: bat conservation. This spring, a team visited Bustamante. He spoke with Sr. Martín Rico, the
of three [Texas] A&M students will head to Mexico superintendent of the Grutas de Bustamante Park. Sr.
to conduct research on a species of bat known as the Rico said that he would roll out the welcome mat for
Mexican long-nosed bat. any cavers who wanted to come visit the cave.  Sr. Rico
Ph.D. student Emma Gomez, who received her can be contacted at phone number 8291010143. Source:
master of science degree in environmental management, Bill Russell, 12 March 2013
will lead the research team. She will leave in April and
stay in Mexico through August. Her major focus is the OAXACA
habitat conditions of the Mexican long-nosed bat in Cueva Rey Condoy, at San Isidro Huayapan east of
its northern range. Oaxaca City, was discovered by cavers when Jason and
Mexican long-nosed bats eat nectar and migrate to Tamara Ballensky visited the town in January 2011. The
follow the blooming of the agave plants, which serve cave, with its long and well-decorated river passage, had
as their main food source. The agave plants play an been familiar to the local people, and it had been gated
important role in the ecosystem and have other uses, in 2004 to avoid looting. The cave contains pottery and
such as tequila production. The bats pollinate the agave human bones. The Ballenskys returned in December
and help diversify the genetic makeup of the plants. with Elliot Stahl, Philip Rykwalder, and Rob Spangler.
Based on the location of the agave plants, it is pos- On this trip, the cave was photographed and surveyed,
sible to predict potential roosting sites of the bat. Gomez and the numerous large mud sculptures were noted.
hopes to find some of these sights and protect them. These make the cave one of the most notable archaeo-
The social aspect of the project will be tackled logical finds in recent years. INAH archaeologist Marcus
by Citlally Jimenez, an undergraduate who is double Winter attributes the sculptures to the Mixe-Zoque
majoring in wildlife and fisheries and theatre arts. cultures and estimates their date at Late Preclassic,
She will be spending her time in Mexico raising bat approximately 200 BC. The local people have become
conservation awareness through theatre performance. even more protective of the cave, with preservation
Inspired by the Wildlife Theatre in the Central as the primary goal, and perhaps ecotourism in the
 9
future. Source: article in the September 2013 NSS News predicted to have a fault parallel to the J2 and Cheve
by Tamara Ballensky. See the photographs by Elliot faults. A new shaft series was discovered in Last Bash,
Stahl elsewhere in this issue. leading off from the base of the first pitch. This was
initially pushed by Mark Minton, Yvonne Droms, Ka-
On March 13, 2013, Marcin Gala and Phil Short sia Biernacka, Bill Stone, and Nico Escamilla. Further
cracked Sump 4 in J2. They had been underground exploration found that it reconnects with the estab-
for 15 days when the first exploration dive took place. lished route down Last Bash into J2, unfortunately not
Approximately 150 meters into the dive they had to bypassing the tightest section. Considerable progress
repair a broken guide line laid by Jose Morales in was made upward in From Russia with Love, but noth-
2009, but otherwise were able to use the 2009 dive line ing major was found.
to the limit reached by Jose in the right hand tunnel Later, during a twenty-one day trip into the cave,
at 300 meters penetration from dive base. There Phil Marcin Gala and Phil Short returned through Sump
Short led on laying a full 120-meter spool of Cortland 4 and set a bivouac beyond. The river passage that had
dive line followed by 2/3 of a second spool before they been discovered on the first dives was explored down
several short drops to a point where the water disap-
peared into finger-width slots in the floor. A thorough
search found no way on.
Sump 4 was surveyed to 510 meters long, and the
sides of the sump were examined for side passages.
The only one found reconnected nearby. The new part
of Sump 4 and the cave beyond add up to roughly a
kilometer of cave. The new depth of Sistema J2 (J2
and Last Bash) is 1229 meters, and the length is 14.84
kilometers.
Sources: www.usdct.org/j2_2013.php; www.philshort
technical.co.uk/blog/?p=26; Bill Stone.

Nicholaus Vieira has posted a long report on his

caving during the 2013 J2 expedition at http://www
.crazycaver.com/content/j2-mexico-2013. Another long
were confronted with a travertine wall blocking the report, this one by Phil Short, one of the lead divers,
underwater tunnel. After some searching, they discov- is at http://www.philshorttechnical.co.uk/blog/?p=26.
ered a small opening through a stalactite curtain that We hope to have a real article on the expedition after
allowed them to get out of the water onto a travertine the Discovery Channel video has been shown and the
platform. They left their dive gear there and proceeded embargo on photographs ends.
onward for 100 meters in a large air-filled tunnel that
included travertine walls and large stalactites and one Abstract: 2012 Huautla Expedition, Oaxaca, Mexico,
significant swim that they did in their Santi drysuits. by Ernie Garza and Jon Lillestolen.
Ultimately they reached a large borehole tunnel where Exploration on the Huautla Plateau has a rich his-
the river descended into a fractured vertical fissure. tory. Building on nearly fifty years of exploration in
Lacking vertical gear, they terminated the recon effort the more than 62 kilometers of passages that make up
there. The inbound swim had been 71 minutes in a very Sistema Huautla, cavers of the Cave Diving Group of
large tunnel (12 × 6 meters with crystal-clear turquoise Great Britain have decided to pursue Huautla’s most
water, white sandy floor, and no silt). The return dive famous lead and find what lies beyond Sump 9. This
was 40-minute continuous swim. The maximum depth talk will discuss the history of Huautla caving, the re-
was 12 meters. cent 2012 Huautla reconnaissance expedition, and the
Peripheral to the diving work, surface reconnais- future 2013 expedition to explore beyond the sumps
sance work in the upper Aguacate canyon by Paweł in Sistema Huautla.
Skoworodko, Artur Novak, and David Rickel resulted Source: 2012 NSS convention program book, page
in the discovery of a karst capture zone approximately 84. See article in this issue.
1 kilometer west of the Last Bash entrance, in an area
 CUEVA REY CONDOY
United States
Oaxaca, Mexico
COMPASS and DISTO SURVEY By: MEXICO Cueva de
Rey Condoy

Jason Ballensky, Tamara Ballensky, 9

Philip Rykwalder, Rob Spangler, Elliot Stahl. 2 Mexico City
0 500
10 kms
Belize

l
Mud 8

l
SURVEY DATE: 21 December 2011

l l l
Guate- Hon-

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State of Oaxaca

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Figures l mala duras

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9
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CARTOGRAPHY BY: Bob Richards. l l l
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6 CAVE SURVEYED LENGTH: 1035 meters

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CAVE VERTICAL EXTENT: 22 meters

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Squeeze to 20m 22 9 10
5 14 8 ? Draperies Pottery 12
of passage Upper 16 Rock Paintings l Sherds
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AMCS ACTIVITIES NEWSLETTER 36

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Dome 4
Goes to
24 ?
SCALE Not Surveyed Ceiling Drop (lower on right) Animal 10 10 Skylight
Hand Print Cont. 3 4
on Wall small Pottery Breakdown Blocks Water and flow direction Bones 3 ?
0 10 20 40 60 2 ? 3 Pottery
Sand, Slit or Mud Pottery and/or Sherds 7
l

l 3
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Bedrock Floor Bones ? 2 l l

METERS Gate 2 Skylight

Flowstone Mud Figures
Stalactites 6 Ceiling height in meters
Entrance
Flowstone Columns 22 Height above entrance datum ENTRANCE
0.0 datum
Slope (splays down) ? Lead

Projected Profile
30 30

20 20
Meters

Meters
l l l l 10
10

0 0

ENTRANCE

c 2012, Jason Ballensky

 11

0
J2
[datum]

Sistema J2
Municipio de San Francisco Chapulapa
Distrito de Cuicatlan
Oaxaca, Mexico

June 7, 2013 Last Bash

[-170m]
New dry cave discoveries in 2013
are shown in red

Underwater tunnels are shown in blue

1 km
Length: 14,840 m
Depth: 1,229 m
Camp 2A

Plan

Camp 3

2 km

North
Russia
Sump 2 with
Love

Sump 4

3 km 2 km 1 km

3 km
Limit of Exploration 2013
(dry borehole tunnel)

Limit of Exploration 2013

(river tunnel)

Depth
J2 (m)
[datum] 0
Last Bash
[-170m]

Profile
Emerald Shaft
Route 500
Camp 2A

Russia
with
Love
Sump 2
1000
Camp 4

Camp 3
1229

Sump 4
(see Plan)
[-1,229m]
AMCS ACTIVITIES NEWSLETTER 36
Abstract: Casa Carlota Caving in the Sierra Mazateca, The article is on pages 64–66, with some color photo-
Oaxaca, Mexico, by Tony and Marion Akers. graphs elsewhere in the magazine. There is an English
Another year brought a group of fourteen cavers abstract.
from California, Colorado, Indiana, and Texas to the
ranch—an old coffee plantation community called A recently discovered cave in the Oaxaca Valley
“La Carlota” in the Sierra Mazateca, Oaxaca, Mexico. contains several new and exciting examples of Zapotec
We have tales of cave exploration in several municipal visual culture, including rock paintings, lithics, and
regions, survey of both horizontal and vertical caves, wonderful over-life-size mud sculptures of human
and backpacking exploration of the upper regions in and supernatural figures. The cave, named Cueva Rey
a cloud forest. We finished the survey of a 980-meter Condoy by the Zapotecs to commemorate the defeat of
horizontal cave, found five pits, a small cave, and a a Mixe ruler, is located in the eastern highland region
vertical multi-drop cave with beautiful formations and of Oaxaca, outside the town San Isidro Huayapan. Al-
more passage left to explore. Regarding permission from though the massive cave complex appears to have been
local authorities, we had both successes and failures. well-known to locals, it seems to have been unknown
We encountered tombs, bats, excellent mountain-top to the wider world until an article was published in
vistas, rain and fog, several snakes—one of which is rare the September 2012 NSS News.
and little known—and learned and experienced (that Previously unexplored passages of the cavern
means work!) how coffee and sugar are made. Caving yielded some forty figures sculpted from mud directly
Mazatec style, hand-made tortillas included. on the cave floor. The majority of the figures appear
Source: 2012 NSS convention program book, page to be female, and the ancient sculptor who modeled
84. them paid particular attention to emphasizing their
sexual characteristics or erotic poses. A particularly
José Montiel Castro’s report (in Spanish) on the remarkable set of sculptures depicts two individuals
rescue of Polish caver Josef Cuber from Sótano de San lying on the cave floor embracing one another. Other
Agustin in 1980 that was originally printed in number sculptures take the forms of supernatural figures, such
3 of Base Draco’s magazine in 1983 has been put on the as jaguar-humans and saurian creatures. The paintings
web at http://1980sanagustinoax.blogspot.mx. Source: on the rock walls above show series of human hand
Tlamaqui e-mail list; Mark Minton. prints and dots, as well as more detailed images of hu-
man and supernatural faces, hunting scenes, and local
The road from Cuicatlán has been paved to Con- topography, all illustrated in black and red pigments. In
cepción Pápalo and beyond. A caver register has been addition to the sculptures and paintings, the explorers
left in the Comedor San Bartolo in San Bartolomé also found pottery, human remains, and various bone
Ayautla for visiting cavers to sign and leave notes. and obsidian implements.
Source: Mike Frazier. The team of cavers who documented the initial dis-
covery was aided in their analysis of the finds by INAH
There is an excellent presentation about the Cave archaeologist Marcus Winter, who will be publishing
Diving Group’s expedition to Sótano de San Agustín his study in the Journal of Cave and Karst Studies. Based
in Sistema Huautla in 2013 at http://www.youtube on preliminary stylistic analysis, Winter suspects a late
.com/watch?v=aM4vh6zvBpk. Terry Holsinger prepared formative dating for the artifacts discovered.
the video, over an hour long, from a PowerPoint pre- Source: revised from www.utmesoamerica.org/news/
sentation that Chris Jewell, leader of the expedition, major-discovery-cueva-rey-condoy, by the Mesoamerican
presented at the UT Grotto meeting on April 17 when Center at the University of Texas. This seems to be the
he was in Austin packing up gear for shipment back only published reference to the site besides the NSS
to the UK. There are some video clips in the show. See News article. See Elliot Stahl’s photographs of the cave
the article about the expedition elsewhere in this issue. elsewhere in this issue.
The AMCS will publish the full expedition report as
an AMCS bulletin. Jason Mallinson describes his dive in Sump 9 in
Sistema Huautla in an article at www.underwater-
Number 29, for 2010, of Speleofórum, the annual journal.com/cave-depth-record-achieved-using-kiss
magazine of the Czech Speleological Society, contains -rebreather/. The dive returned to that system the record
an article by Petr Čáslavský on the 2009 J2 expedition. of deepest in Mexico; Cheve had been deeper by an
 13
unconvincing 9 meters. See the article on the expedi- to the previous 995. The cave is relatively shallow, with
tion elsewhere in this issue. The complete expedition depth estimated at under 180 meters. Some good leads
report is to be published as an AMCS bulletin. remain, four downsteam toward OZ20 and Tepetzala
and one upstream toward OZ21. In Cueva Escondida
PUEBLA (OZ41), approximately 500 meters of river passage led to
On Sunday, August 19, 2012, members of Espeleo an unexplored 120-meter pit overlooking an enormous
Rescate México recovered the body of nineteen-year-old room that could well be the bottom of Tepetzala. In
Efraín Martínez Martínez from Sumidero Atlalaquia, the Ocotepetl area, above Cruztitla, a local guide led
San Sebastián Alcomunga, Mpo. Ajalpan, Puebla. He the team to a 100-meter-wide, 100-meter-deep pit that
had been swept into the cave nine days earlier. Water was not descended. Participants: Guido Debrock, Jean-
in the cave was high due to the rainy season, and Luc Nandancé, Luis Álvarez, Marie-Hélène Grandjean,
much rigging was required. The body was found about Geneviève Sinn, Gustavo Vela, Nicolas Soetaert, Joseph
200 meters from the entrance. Source: http://xa.yimg. Dewulf, Fernand Decock, Dédé Dawagne, Serge Delaby,
com/kq/groups/27864331/1628325727/name/Reporte Roland Gillet, and Richard Grebeude. Source: Report
_Operativo_Atlalaquia%2Epdf. in French at https://sites.google.com/site/speleogsab/
resultats-mexplo-2011 [sic], summarized by Yvonne
The October 2012 issue of México Desconocido con- Droms.
tained on pages 76–80 the article “Sistema Tepetzala:
Otra Aventura bajo Tierra” by Gustavo Vela. This cave Abstract: Mexpe 2011 and 2012, Sierra Negra, Mexico,
in the Sierra Negra has been explored by cavers from by Christian Chenier.
Mexico and the Groupe Spéléo Alpin Belge to over 17 The Mexpé project was started twenty-five years ago
kilometers long and 500 meters deep. The photo on the in the Sierra Negra, Puebla, Mexico. Some 90 kilometers
first page of the article, is actually from a nearby cave. of cave passages have been surveyed since, including
Source: Gustavo Vela on Tlamaqui e-mail list, October Sistema Tepepa (now 29.4 kilometers long, 900 meters
9 and 14, 2012. A map of the system is in “Mexico News” deep), Sótano Tres Quimeras (815-meter-deep through-
in AMCS Activities Newsletter 35. trip) and several others.
The Mexpé project continued recently with expedi-
The Mexpé 2013 expedition of the Groupe Spéléo tions in 2011 and 2012 to the Tequixtepec community,
Alpin Belge took place in March in the Sierra Negra. The to the southwest of the study area. Caves are plentiful
group of mostly Belgian cavers continued exploration right in the village, with Cueva Futbol at –555 meters
in Tepetzala, adding about 2500 meters of passage in the being the deepest. Several caves with through-trips,
remote Fuyez Pauvres Fous (flee, poor fools) area, where large passages, and multiple entrances were also sur-
Camp 3 was placed. The cave is now over 20 kilometers veyed, ranging from tens of meters to La Traversita at
long, with some side-leads remaining that might con- 2.2 kilometers.
nect to other caves in the area. Continued exploration Source: 2012 NSS convention program book, page 84.
in Cueva Clandestina (OZ40) added about 2200 meters Sous Terre, volume 23, number 1, winter
2013, contains an article by Eric Légaré on
Ricardo Pacheco and Miguel Barragan rigging during the recovery
the Société Québécoise de Spélélogie’s ex-
operation at Sumidero Atlalaquia, Puebla. Ángel García.
pedition to Puebla, Mexpé 2011, on pages
7–11. See “Mexico News” in AMCS Activities
Newsletter 35 for a nice Web source on that
expedition. The Sous Terre issue also con-
tains a centerfold map of Cueva Cañón S,
explored during that expedition and the
2012 one. It is reproduced here.

Richard Grebeude has provided a

couple of corrections to the material on the
Groupe Spéléo Alpin Belge (GSAB) work
in Puebla that appeared in “Mexico News”
in AMCS Activities Newsletter 35. Gustavo
AMCS ACTIVITIES NEWSLETTER 36
 15
Vela’s photograph that contains Grebeude on page 14 children and adults alike. Source: article by Jesse Martin
was taken in OZ21, not OZ20. Their work area extends in Canadian Caver 77, pages 18–25, December 2012.
into a small part of Veracruz, not Oaxaca. The heading
on the table of principal caves on page 13 should state The Société Québécoise de Spélélogie has a sum-
that they are in the Sierra Negra, municipios Zoquitlán, mary in French of its Mexpé expeditions to Puebla
Coyomeapan, Ajalpan, and San Miguel Eloxochitlán, over the years at http://mexpe.org.
in the states of Puebla and Veracruz.
QUERÉTARO
The Mexpé 2012 expedition of the Société Québé- There are some nice photographs of military ma-
coise de Spéléologie occurred in late February. Camp caws (Ara militaris) at Sótano de El Barro at http://
was established in the village of Tequixtepec, currently hockingphotography.smugmug.com/keyword/sotano
reachable only by trail. Cueva Fútbol, the entrance to %20del%20barro. Source: David Locklear.
which is near the soccer field, was finished at a depth
of 555 meters; its length is 1176 meters. As part of the The Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro is going
cavers’ effort to befriend the local Mazatecs, a zipline to publish an updated version of Carlos Lazcano’s Las
was put up over the soccer field, and it was enjoyed by Cavernas de la Sierra Gorda. The AMCS made a facsimile
AMCS ACTIVITIES NEWSLETTER 36
reprint of that 1986 book as AMCS reprint 5.
Lazcano seeks information on explorations
and discoveries since the original edition
was produced, with maps (either sketches or
surveys), locations, and any available informa-
tion on fauna, archaeology, etc. He also seeks
photographs of caves in Querétaro, including
caves included in the original edition, because
the university is planning an extensive photo
section to enrich the book. Contact Lazcano at
[email protected] or jorgeretz@
yahoo.com.mx.

QUINTANA ROO
There is now a dry-cave connection between
Sistema Dos Ojos and Sistema Sac Actun. As
reported in the December 2012 NSS News, Don
Arburn, Gill Ediger, Aida Ferreira, Devra Heyer,
Carrie Hutchins, Pat Kambesis, Chris Lloyd,
Rene Rogers Ohms, Bev Shade, Peter Sprouse,
Terri Sprouse, Germán Yáñez, and Jacinto Vela
surveyed this connection during August 2012.
The connection was made between Sistema Dos
Ojos’s Don’s $100 Cenote entrance and Sistema
Sac Actun’s (Nohoch Nah Chich) Pet Cemetery
entrance. It follows a similar path to that taken
by Kay Walten, Gary Walten, and Dan Lins over a
decade ago. Source: http://www.caves.org/project/
qrss/new.htm. See article in this issue.

The Quiet Diver Team and the Dominican

Republic Speleological Society have connected
Cenote Herradura, Cenote K’oxul, Cenote Maya,
Sistema Ak Tulum, Sistema Sand Crack, and
Cenote Little Fish into one underwater cave
system. The entire cave system is named as
Sistema Sand Crack. There is quite a bit more
cave survey that is part of the overall length of
these connected caves. Source: http://www.caves.
org/project/qrss/new.htm.

Francisco Solís-Marín of the Instituto de

Ciencias del Mar y Limnología at UNAM re-
ports that the fauna in Cenote Aerolito on the
island of Cozumel includes twenty-three species
of echinoderms, including the only known un-
derground starfish. The large cenote entrance to

Susana Kaji (top) and Ulises Rivera is Sistema

Ilama Coatl–Tomakak in the Sierra Norte, Puebla.
David Cilia García.
 17
the cave is 240 m from the shore, and the total length
of the cave is about 6100 meters. The cave is an anchia-
line environment, with a halocline. Various sources
of pollution threaten the life in the cave, including
fertilizer from golf courses that may affect this and the
other seventeen caves on the island. Source: La Jornada
en línea, April 20, 2013, http://www.jornada.unam.mx/
ultimas/2013/04/20/152137555-peligra-cueva-donde-se
-hallo-la-primera-estrella-de-mar/.

Abstract: Cavers from the Czech and Slovak Spe-

leological Societies organized two more expeditions to
the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico in 2011, where they
continued exploration in the K’oox Baal Cave System.
The first trip took place in February, and 7 kilometers of
new, partly huge passages were discovered, so the total
length of the cave reached 36,364 meters. A 2400-meter-
long passage was discovered in neighboring system We are pleased to announce the formation of the
Tux Kupaxa, which reached a length of 18,918 meters. Círculo Espeleológico del Mayab A.C., a civil associa-
The second expedition took place in December. Some tion created by cavers, cave divers, and supporters to
1,460 meters of new passages were discovered in three promote exploration, conservation, and research within
new and previously unexplored cenotes, all of which the subterranean environment of the Yucatán peninsula.
were connected to the Tux Kupaxa system. Our goals are to be a repository of knowledge about
On December 9 at 11 a.m., Daniel Hutňan and Miro- Yucatán speleology and to have a positive influence on
slav Manhart connected 19,850-meter Tux Kupaxa and cave conservation and education. Integrating the efforts
36,741-meter K’oox Baal into one cave system. So the of local caving groups, institutions, and individuals
fourth-longest underwater cave system in the world was into a regional union is at the core of the CEM ideal.
created, and the total length is now [2011] 56,591 meters. Planned programs of the association include regular
K’oox Baal is also the longest completely surveyed and training courses, work sessions, conferences, rescue
drawn underwater cave system in the world, because practice, archeological awareness training, and of course
in the longer flooded systems only about 20 percent cave exploration and mapping. Please join us in these
of the passages have been completely mapped, the rest activities, since the participation of all who are inter-
being only a survey of the line. ested in the marvelous world of Yucatán caves will be
Source: English abstract to an article by Zdeně k what makes this association successful.
Motyčka in Speleofórum number 31, for 2012, pages 63–65 As an initial effort, we have scheduled the lecture
and color plate. The 2009 map of the Tres Estrellas part Vida Cavernícola en las Cuevas de Yucatán by cave-
of Tux Kupaxa is from Speleofórum number 29, 2010, page biologist Luis Mejía-Ortíz to be held in Playa del Car-
61; while impossible to reproduce clearly here, it is an men on June 8, 2013.
example of the detail in the map of Tux Kupaxa. The CEM has a Facebook page at https://www
.facebook.com/pages/Circulo-Espeleologico-del-Mayab
Six divers from the Speleoaquanaut Caving Club -AC/483051891765711?ref=hl and a blog at http://speleo
spent a month mapping in the beautiful cave system mayab.blogspot.mx. They also have Internet addresses
of Tux Kupaxa, Quintana Roo, Mexico. They discovered www.speleomayab.mx and contacto@speleomayab
more than 10 kilometers of new underwater cave. By .mx.
connecting the cenotes of Sac Xiquin and Coop One Sources: Mario Zabaleta; notice posted by Roberto
into Sistema Tux Kupaxa, the cavers extended the length Rojo.
of the system to 15,144 meters, the eighth-longest un-
derwater cave in Mexico at that time. Source: English At around 9:30 p.m. [April 19, 2012] I received a
abstract to article by Daniel Hutňan in Spelefórum call from Alejandro Mata, telling me about some div-
number 29, 2010, pages 59–63 plus color plate. ers missing at Cenote Chac Mol. On my way to the
cenote I had to pass by the dive shop I work for, Protec,
AMCS ACTIVITIES NEWSLETTER 36
 19
to collect my diving equipment. Cenote Chac Mol is full-cave equipment with wing and harness and a
located close to the village of Puerto Aventuras, by the reel clipped to the D-ring or attachment point of the
federal highway 307. I arrived on site at around 10:00 harness. His primary light has no more power and is
p.m., followed by Danny Riordan, cave-diving instruc- resting on the floor of the cave. His back-up lights are
tor, and Gonzalo Larraña, cenote guide and open-water still stored on the harness. His left chest D-ring holds
instructor. We agree to a protocol to start a search for his personal directional and non-directional markers.
the missing divers or, most probably, a body recovery. The body is resting on the floor of the cave, a meter and
Only Gonzalo and I decide to take part in the a half away from the permanent cave line, in a position
underwater search, while Danny stays at the surface to indicating that he was swimming into the cave at the
coordinate the operation. Our first dive takes us along time of his death. We note that his primary regulator,
the cavern line and the most probable places where the on the long hose, was deployed, indicating a possible
divers could be. This first search-and-recovery dive gives air-sharing situation may have occurred during the
no positive result. We therefore decide to surface and dive. His mask was around his neck, with blood from
plan to search another area of the huge cavern zone of his mouth and nose. His pressure gage was on zero.
Chac Mol. On the second dive, we enter on the Kukul- His air supply was depleted. At around 3 meters from
kan part of this complex cavern zone. We also agree on the guide, we found the third diver, female, wearing
taking the search farther, onto the cave line located in recreational scuba diving equipment, with a single tank.
this area. Unfortunately, we finished this dive without Her body was lying close to the line, on the floor of the
having been able to locate the missing divers. As it was cave. The position indicates that she was diving into
our second dive, we decide to change tanks and get a the cave at the moment of her death, with the diving
full set of doubles to resume the search. But this time, light in the right hand, still on. Small lacerations on
we agree that we need to extend our search into the cave the hands could indicate contact with the rocks of the
area, a section of the cavern only properly accessible to cave, possibly during the gas sharing or attempt at gas
certified cave divers using appropriate equipment. Our sharing. Her mask was in place, and blood was around
plan is for me to go downstream, where the cave flows the nose and the ears.
into the passage, and Gonzalo will search the upstream The divers were found at a depth of 14 meters, 200
passage, where the flows come from. The dive starts at meters into the cave system. The area of recovery is
12:14 a.m. After swimming for twenty-three minutes a huge room approximately 50 meters wide and 30
without having found any traces of the missing divers meters high, with a strong halocline or mixing zone
in the downstream section, I return and meet Gonzalo where the fresh water meets the deeper salt water. This
in the open-water area of the main entrance of Chac creates a blur when disturbed and reduces the vis-
Mol. Using cave-diving hand signals, Gonzalo tells me ibility. We must note that they were found in an area
that he found one of the missing divers, dead. Once we not suitable for recreational divers. Only certified and
are both at the surface and with the help of Danny, we properly equipped divers should penetrate a cave like
prepare for what is going to be the recovery dive and the one at Chac Mol.
take a break to allow our bodies to recover from these Source: Fernando Del Valle Prieto, IANTD safety
repetitive dives. officer, posted at facebook.com/groups/cavediving-
On the fourth dive, started at 1:40 a.m. approximately, markers/. A shorter note on this accident appeared in
we encounter the first body after an eight-minute swim “Mexico News” in AMCS Activities Newsletter 35.
from the surface. The body is floating in mid-water. The
diver is male, equipped with recreational scuba-diving The caves of the Riviera Maya are wonderful and
equipment and in a position possibly indicating that unique, not only because of their speleothems but also
at his last moment he was swimming into the cave. because of the fauna. If you are a lucky cave diver, you
According to the procedure that we follow, I take the may encounter a fish that has adapted perfectly to live in
time to note the remaining gas in the scuba tank. I read complete darkness: the Mexican blind brotula (Ogilbia
500 PSI. His diving light in his right hand is switched pearsei). A U.S. team from the TV show Jonathan’s Blue
on, and his mask is on the face. Blood has come from World was here in 2010, and they have created a ten-
the nose and ears. No obvious signs of struggle. minute documentary about this blind fish in the Cenote
After the first body was recovered, the team finds Pet Cemetery part of Sistema Sac Actun. My work was
the second diver around 80 meters farther into the cave to be their guide, but I also was invited to suggest the
passage. It is the guide, equipped with his complete theme and choose the appropriate cenote, and I am very
AMCS ACTIVITIES NEWSLETTER 36
honored and happy to have earned the confidence of in 1999 by expats living in the Paamul trailer park. They
Jonathan Bird. Over the last years, however, this cenote explored and made line surveys of dozens of kilometers
has been used for snorkel excursions more and more, of “dry” (non-underwater) caves, including what is now
and the artificial illumination of the dark but open- the 14-kilometer-long Río Secreto tour cave. An influx
water cavern area has pushed the blind cavefish back. of new cavers to the grotto has undertaken detailed
If you are lucky, you may still see the fish during the mapping of these and other caves. Two recent efforts
slow season on a cavern dive, but if not you will have resulted in 20.5 kilometers surveyed in multiple caves.
another reason to start your cave-diving  training in Expeditions in November 2011 and February 2012 con-
order to be able to safely dive into the dark zones of centrated on the Xcaret and Puerto Aventuras areas. In
the cave. Source: Christine Loew. The video is at http:// November, Sistema Sac Muul was largely resurveyed
www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOvcB30Yvrg or http:// and connected to Sistema Fuera de Lugar and Cueva
diving-caves.com/pet-cemetery/. Picadura de Hormiga to become 11,145 meters long. In
February, Sistema Dos Árboles was extended to 5,441
Abstract: Recent Underwater Cave Explorations in meters, and three new caves were mapped near Puerto
Quintana Roo, Mexico, by James G. Coke IV. Aventuras that exceed 1 kilometer in length thus far. At
The Quintana Roo Speleological Survey (QRSS) Akumal, Cueva de Camaras was extended to 1298 meters
supports safe exploration, conservation, and survey and continues. Few cave surveys have been completed,
documentation of the underwater and dry caves in and many caves are expected to eventually connect. The
Quintana Roo, Mexico. Our present study area incorpo- Quintana Roo Speleological Survey now has data on
rates 6,300 km2 in northeastern Quintana Roo. At this 76 kilometers of dry cave passage, in addition to 1,018
time we archive over 1,018 km of confirmed underwater kilometers of underwater passage.
survey data for 226 underwater caves and cave systems. Source: 2012 NSS convention program book, page
We have added over 100 km of new underwater survey 85.
data during the past year.
Significant connections were made between Siste­ma Abstract: A New Genus of Speleophriid Copepod
K’oox Baal, Sistema Tux Kupaxa, and smaller satellite (Copepoda: Misophrioida: Speleophriidae) from a
caves in the Chemuyil region. Sistema K’oox Baal is now cenote in the Yucatan, Mexico, by Geoff A. Boxshall,
over 65 kilometers in length. The Czech Speleological Damiá Jaume, Thomas M. Iliffe, and Eduardo Suárez-
Society continues to maintain valuable dry and under- Morales.
water exploration efforts within this cave region. CSS Here we report the discovery of a new genus and
underwater explorations in K’oox Baal progress south species of speleophriid from a cenote in Mexico and
towards Sistema Dos Ojos. examine its relationships with the existing genera. The
Explorations in the northwest region of Sistema Ox new genus was collected in 2004 from Cenote Carwash,
Bel Ha (Sistema Naranjal area) continue. The city of near Tulum, Quintana Roo.
Tulum is expanding its urban boundaries within this Source: Extended Abstracts from the 2nd International
cenote-rich area. Outlying Ox Bel Ha cave entrances Anchialine Symposium (Natura Croatica, vol. 21, suppl. 1,
are used to stage explorations to the frontiers of this 2012), p. 12.
cave. Access to these cenotes grows more difficult due
to municipal and private property issues. Abstract: Ecological Baseline Establishment in the
Explorations have been revived in the Muyil re- El Aerolito Anchialine System, by Fernando Calderón-
gion southwest of Tulum. This area has produced two Gutiérrez and Carlos A. Sánchez-Ortiz.
significant caves in the past year. Current mapping The sinkhole El Aerolito on Cozumel Island, Mexico,
efforts support a contemporary hydrological model is the principal entrance to an approximately 18-kilo-
for this coastal zone. meter-long anchialine system, with an average depth
Source: 2012 NSS convention program book, pages of 12 meters and a maximum depth of 27 meters. It is
84–85. one of two systems in Cozumel with a sea connection.
The sediment consists predominantly of mud and clay.
Abstract: Exploration and Mapping by the Paamul Biologically, the El Aerolito system is very interesting
Grotto, Quintana Roo, Mexico by Peter Sprouse and because it has crustaceans, sponges, polychaetes, and
Liliana Viola. fish, as well as the first recorded troglobitic echinoderms.
The first NSS grotto based in Mexico was founded Source: Extended Abstracts from the 2nd International
 21
Anchialine Symposium (Natura Croatica, vol. 21, suppl. 1, 2012), p. 83.
2012), p. 21.
The Amigos de Sian Ka’an announced plans for
Abstract: The Aerolito de Paraíso Anchialine System: a conference Manejo e Investigación de Agua en la
Paradise for Echinoderms, by Fernando Calderón-
Gutiérrez, Guadalupe Bribiesca-Contreras, and Fran­
cisco A. Solís-Marín.
Anchialine cave fauna is generally composed of
crustaceans, but there have been other taxa reported,
such as sponges, molluscs, annelids, fish, and echino- Península de Yucatán at the Hotel Radisson Hacienda
derms. Echinoderms living in anchialine systems are in Cancún on September 20–21, 2012. Co-sponsored by
rare, and they are usually found in low densities. Until the Fundación Gonzalo Río Arronte, the World Wild-
2005, the only echinoderms reported inhabiting these life Fund, and the Fundación Carlos Sim, the goals of
caves were sea cucumbers. Subsequently, sea stars, the meeting were to understand the problems of karst
sea urchins, and ophiurioids were reported as well, water systems and the research tools and management
inhabiting different systems: Tres Potrillos Sinkhole, strategies to deal with them, to provide a forum for
Cocodrilo, and Aerolito de Paraíso in Cozumel Island, communication among researchers, authorities, and
Quintana Roo, Mexico. educators to exchange information and strengthen
Source: Extended Abstracts from the 2nd International partnerships, and to compile and distribute informa-
Anchialine Symposium (Natura Croatica, vol. 21, suppl. 1, tion related to water in the region to support decision-
2012), p. 25. making and public participation. The first day of the
forum was a workshop on water management led by
Abstract: Polychaetes from the Mayan Underworld: George Veni.
Phylogeny, Evolution, and Cryptic Diversity, by Brett
C. Gonzalez, Elizabeth Borda, Russell Carvalho, and EspeleoQuintanaRoo 2012, also titled Congreso
Anja Schulze. Internacional de Espeleología sobre Cuevas Mayas, was
Recent cave-diving explorations in Cenote Crus­ help in Playa del Carmen in late May. It was organized
tacea, approximately 10 kilometers south of Puerto by the Asociación Coahuilense de Espeleología and the
Morelos, have led to discoveries of several undescribed Universidad de Quintana Roo.
annelids inhabiting sediments that lie within the May 25, the following talks were scheduled:
halocline and marine layers. Taxonomic and genetic Arturo González, Underwater caves and Ice Age archaeo-
evaluations support their placement within Acrocir- logical evidence.
radae and Flabelligeridae, establishing new records Allan Cobb, How did the Maya use caves?
from anchialine systems for these families. Nadja Zupan Hajna, Karst surface pollution and its rflec-
Source: Extended Abstracts from the 2nd International tion in the caves.
Anchialine Symposium (Natura Croatica, vol. 21, suppl. 1, George Veni, Geology and Hydrology of caves in Quintana
2012), p. 51. Roo.
Franco Attolini Smithers, Aktun Hul explorations.
Abstract: The Use of Stable and Radiocarbon Iso- Luis Mejía, Reactionary crustaceans in Cozumel.
topes as a Method for Delineating Sources of Organic
Material in Anchialine Systems, by Julie A. Neisch, John
W. Pohlman, and Thomas M. Iliffe.
A dual isotope (stable and radiocarbon) investiga-
tion of anchialine cave systems in the Yucatan Peninsula
compares the food web of a coastal and an inland cenote.
Isotopic data demonstrate distinct photosynthetic and
chemoautotrophic trophic levels, as well as the ability
of fauna within the caves to be selective feeders within
these nutrient-poor environments.
Source: Extended Abstracts from the 2nd International
Anchialine Symposium (Natura Croatica, vol. 21, suppl. 1,
AMCS ACTIVITIES NEWSLETTER 36
Jorge Vargas, Quiropterologic diversity in Mexico.
Guillermo de Anda, Actual status of the sub-aquatic archae- Workshop Report: An Introduction to Environmen-
ology of the Maya region: results and achievements. tal Impacts and Management of Karst Systems. Con­gre­so
Jim Kennedy, White-nose syndrome. Internacional de Espeleología sobre Cuevas y Cenotes
Gustavo Vela Turcott, Explorations in the Sierra Negra. Maya, Playa del Carmen, 26–27 May 2012. Instructor
Kyug Sik Woo, Conservation, scientific research, and manag- George Veni, Executive Director, National Cave and
ment of show caves and wild caves in Korea. Karst Research Institute, Carlsbad, New Mexico.
Fadi Nader, Cave conservation issues and speleothem studies: The purpose of this workshop was to provide an
how to stop oversampling. introduction to the environmental problems that are
Jaime J. Awe, Protection and handling of Maya caves in unique to karst, or unique in severity in karst, and to
Belize. the research tools and management strategies for solv-
Gonzalo Merediz, Strategic study of the underground aquifers ing those problems. The workshop was conducted over
of Quintana Roo. two days. The first day was classroom lectures and the
Javier Banda, Quintana Roo’s snakes. second day was in the field, looking at karst features on
Linda Palit, Cave Management Plans, Process and Prod- the surface and underground. The lecture was divided
uct. into three sections that discussed the following top-
Daniel Riordan, Explorations in Ox Bel Ha. ics: environmental problems in karst, hydrogeologic
German Yañez, Comisión Nacional de Buceo Subterrá- research methods for karst aquifers, and karst manage-
neo. ment strategies.
Stein-Erik Lauritzen, A Norwegian stripe karst and its The second day of the workshop was held at the
protection. Yaaj Ximbal reserve in Cueva de Altar de Tigre, named
May 26, classroom courses were scheduled: after the man who found it and goes by the nickname
Roberto Rojo, Biospeleology. Tigre. The cave is not fully explored and has not been
Gustavo Vela Turcott, Exploration. mapped. The photography workshop also visited the
Efrain Mercado, Basic rescue. cave; our workshops were the first outside groups to visit
Allan Cobb and Linda Palit, Underground photography. this cave. We examined about 150 meters of passages,
Joe Ranzau, Cave restoration. although over 500 meters are known. The photography
Javier Banda, Handling poisonous snakes. workshop entered the cave first, while my workshop
George Veni, Cave and karst hydrogeology. examined surface karst features and discussed how to
Afonso Vaz, Speleo tourism. evaluate them relative to preventing or mitigating karst
Jim Kennedy, Surveying. environmental problems. Inside the cave, my workshop
Artuno Montero, Archaeology. focused on features that indicate how caves are formed
Daniel Riordan, Sub-aquatic surveying. and help to conceptually evaluate caves to manage the
May 27 was devoted to field trips. areas beyond where people can explore.
Source: espeleoquintanaroo2012.orgmx.net. Source: George Veni.

Our team has been traveling to Cozumel

since 2010 to explore and survey various systems
on the island. Our current projects include
exploration and survey of Sistema Cocodrilo
and Sistema Dos Coronas.
We are resurveying Sistema Cocodrilo and
exploring the cave system in hopes of finding a
second entrance. We are working on updating
the map, as well as producing a mosaic map of
the system. Artist Michael Angelo Gagliardi has
been taking video of the passages in Sistema
Cocodrilo and putting the frames together to

Drawing of Sistema Cocodrillo, Cozumel,

Quintana Roo. Michael Angelo Gagliardi.
 23
form a mosaic image of the passage so that non-divers
can see what cave divers are fortunate enough to be
able to see.
We are also exploring and surveying Sistema Dos
Coronas, a cave that empties out into the Caribbean
Sea. The team has found five entrances to this system,
including an inland cenote. In the past two years the
team has explored and mapped almost two kilometers
of passage in this cave, and there is more to explore. The
current end of the line is almost one kilometer from
the main sea entrance.
In order to raise funds to continue the Cozumel
Cenote Mapping and Exploration Project, the team
has put together a set of four museum-quality giclée News” in AMCS Activities Newsletter 35 and NSS News,
[inkjet] fine-art prints. All prints are available. Each March 2012).
print is hand-signed, and the edition is numbered by
the artist Michael Angelo Gagliardi. Each print also For many years, cavers in Quintana Roo were in-
includes a certificate of authenticity. The team picked terested almost exclusively in underwater caves, and
the prints from a series of drawings Michael Angelo is the list of long caves in Quintana Roo maintained by
currently doing for the project. All prints are printed the Quintana Roo Speleological Survey reflected that,
using the latest K3 archival inks on archival papers. containing only the underwater length of caves with
This combination results in a print with a viewing only underwater connections between their parts. The
life of one hundred plus years before any noticeable recent interest in the dry (or at least not completely
fading when presented in normal lighting conditions. submerged) caves has led to the survey of some signifi-
The pricing is based on the number on the print, the cantly long dry caves, as well as some dry-cave connec-
lower the number the higher the cost. All proceeds go tions between underwater caves. This complicates the
to funding the project. Any print can be pre-ordered. Quintana Roo long-cave lists. The following lists are
One of the drawings is shown here; another appears in from the QRSS web site at www.caves.org/project/qrss/,
the January NSS News. For ordering details, see www accessed May 26, 2013.
.cozcaves.org. Completely underwater caves’ lengths
(all connections underwater)
A blog by Mauro Bordignon at www.arianesline. 1. Sistema Ox Bel Ha 243,556 meters
com/blogengine/CW/ contains a number of trip reports 2. Sistema Sac Actun 222,704 meters
on cave diving along the Quintana Roo coast during 3. Sistema Dos Ojos   82,435 meters
2012. 4. Sistema K’oox Baal   73,600 meters
Completely dry caves’ lengths
Kur, the magazine of the La Venta group in Italy, (no surveyed connection to underwater cave)
has an article on pages 24–30 of number 19 (December 1. Sistema Pool Tunich (Río Secreto)
2012) on the Río Secreto show cave. The text is by Tul- 30,127 meters
lio Bernabei, and the large color photos are credited 2. Sistema Sac Muul 1 1,145 meters
to the cave, without identifying the photographer. Kur 3. Sistema Dos Árboles   7,082 meters
is bilingual Italian/English. 4. Sistema Río Escondido   5,533 meters
Connected wet and dry caves’ lengths
There is a five-minute video at https://www.face 1. Sistema Sac Actun 310,950 meters
book.com/video/video.php?v=10151002078437984 titled (Sistema Sac Actun + Sistema Dos Ojos
Megafauna de la Era del Hielo en Cuevas Inundadas, by + dry cave)
Jerónimo Avilés Olguín. Produced for INAH’s Insti- 2. Sistema K’oox Baal 75,139 meters
tuto de la Prehistoria de América, it shows numerous 3. Sistema Xunaan Ha 59,671 meters
underwater deposits of bones dating from the Ice Ages. 4. Sistema Taj Majal   6,434 meters
It is especially notable for having a lot of shots of the
strange formations in Cenote Zapote (see “Mexico
AMCS ACTIVITIES NEWSLETTER 36
25
AMCS ACTIVITIES NEWSLETTER 36
happy, because the cave continued and they embraced
SAN LUIS POTOSÍ again the dream that the cave could go over the magic
On April 20, 2013, after twenty-five years of explor- threshold of 1000 meters in depth. Once at the bottom
ing in the Sierra de Álvarez, the Asociación Potosina de of the pit, they walked down a very long and inclined
Montañismo y Espeleología (APME) reached a depth ramp, with a downward sloping ceiling, that sadly
of 895.4 meters during the third caving season at Re­ ended in an impassable passage at –895.4 meters. This
sumidero de la Joya Jonda (Hoya Honda; deep hole). depth, at least for the time being, makes Resumidero
In 2007 exploration ended at –506 meters at the top de la Joya Jonda the deepest cave in San Luis Potosí,
of a pit, just beyond a very tight and long passage. The 61 meters deeper than Sótano de la Trinidad and 74
second season ended during the spring break of 2008 meters deeper than Resumidero El Borbollón. The
and only added 33 vertical meters, for a total depth of total surveyed length is 1785.2 meters. Source: Roberto
539 meters. The third season of exploration, mainly on Legaspi and Sergio Sánchez-Armass.
weekend trips, started in January 2013. After the depth
of 560 meters was reached, the cave opened up to a Several sources of information on the Mexican blind
series of wide pits that allowed us to easily reach –640 fish Astyanax mexicanus have been put on the AMCS
meters. Then the cave narrows again, not to mention web site through the efforts of William Elliott. These
the very constricted shaft entrances, until –750 meters, are the program and abstracts booklets for the Astyanax
where Camp III was set up with three hammocks in International Meetings held in Ciudad Valles in March
line. This setup allowed the leading exploration group 2009, 2011, and 2013 and the 1977 book Mexican Eyeless
to leave camp when a fresh group arrived. At –830 me- Characin Fishes, Genus Astyanax: Environment, Distribu-
ters a window in the wall, 12 m above the stream, gave tion, and Evolution, by Robert Mitchell, William Russell,
access to a huge room about 100 meters in diameter and William Elliott. The PDF files can be downloaded
and more than 50 meters high, practically filled with from www.amcs-pubs.org/other/otherpubs.html. The
an immense collapse. Would this be the end of the AMCS still has paper copies of the 1977 book for sale.
cave? Gerardo Morrill, Roberto Legaspi, and Homero See also the report by Elliott on this year’s meeting
Reséndiz circled the enormous room, following a small elsewhere in this issue.
stream that went down a short pit. They were quite
A new freshwater hydrozoan of the genus Hydra
was collected in Cueva de la Curva, Ciudad Valles, in
2009. Source: Article “Freshwater Hydrozoans in Caves,
with a Report on New Records,” by Maya Zagmajser et
al., Speleobiology Notes, volume 3, pages 4–10, 2011.

Hugo Rodriguez in a tight spot at –505 meters in Joya Jonda.

Homero Resendez.
Sergio Sánchez-Armass descends the second pit in Joya Jonda.
Roberto Legaspi.
 27
A man committed suicide in full view of a bus-load
of tourists by running up to Hoya de las Guaguas and
jumping in some time over the holidays at the end of
2012. The rescue team from Sótano de las Golondrinas
recovered the body. Someone took gory photos of the
body, and these were sold to Mexican equivalents of
the Inquirer, which put cave-rescue personnel in a bad
light, appearing to profit from the incident. Cavers in
San Luis Potosí do not approve of this. Sources: Freddie
Poer, Mike Walsh, Mike Frazier.

There are six photographs of cave critters from the

Sierra de El Abra at www.nabn.info/Cave_Critters/
Pages/Sierra_de_El_Abra.html.

TABASCO
Laura Rosales-Lagarde defended her PhD disserta-
tion on the geochemistry of the Cueva de Villa Luz
system in Tabasco, Mexico, in January of 2012. She is
now working as a post-doctoral fellow on climate data
from caves in Mexico under the direction of Dr. Mat-
thew Lachniet at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Source: National Cave and Karst Institute Annual Report
2011–2012, page 11. The dissertation is being published
as AMCS Bulletin 24.
Bill Elliott starts his descent into Sótano de Jineo,
Tamaulipas, in 1971. Francis Abernathy.
TAMAULIPAS
Karst Waters Institute Special Publication 16, Car-
Some cavers who visited Sótano de las Golondrinas bonate Geochemistry: Reactions and Processes in Aquifers
during the holidays at the end of 2012 were denied per- and Reservoirs, 2011, contains the paper “Volcanogenic
mission to descend the pit because of the large crowds Karst Processes at Sistema Zacatón: Forming Mega-
of other tourists. The same thing may happen during Porosity in a Hypogene Setting,” by Marcus Gary, pages
Semana Santa (Easter week), and it appears likely to 52–55. It mainly summarizes information contained in
continue in future years. Source: Mike Walsh. AMCS Bulletin 21, Karst Hydrogeology and Speleogenesis
of Sistema Zacatón.
Over the winter holidays 2012–2013 a group of
cavers visited deep pits in the vicinity of Aquismón, The AMCS has never published anything about
according to an article in the May 2013 NSS News by Sótano de Jineo. Bill Elliott is now drafting the map
Amy Hinkle. They rigged multiple ropes in most of based on his old survey notes from 1971 that were found
the pits, including two on the high side and one on in the archives of the Texas Speleological Survey and
the low side at Sótano de las Golondrinas. They had will soon also be in the AMCS archives. This shows the
some trouble getting permission for Golondrinas; in value of not throwing things away. Source: Bill Elliott.
contrast to the preceding item, their difficulty was ap-
parently because of cool, cloudy weather that kept the According to press reports, a collection of 4,926
birds from leaving the pit. The authorities do not want well-preserved cave paintings have been discovered
ropes in the pit while the birds are there. Amy’s sixteen- near Burgos, Tamaulipas. They are in fact pictographs
minute video of the trip is at http://www.youtube.com/ at eleven shelter caves in the Sierra San Carlos. No date
watch?v=kvMcZiPSHZ4. It has a good bit of “footage” for the paintings has been determined yet. The articles
of rappels and ascents done with a helmet-cam. It does quote Gustavo Ramírez and Martha García Sánchez
help to turn the music way down. of INAH. Source: May 22, 2013, post at www.bbc.co.uk/
news/world-latin-america-22632301, and elsewhere.
AMCS ACTIVITIES NEWSLETTER 36
See also abstract of talk by Bill Steele under Gue-
rrero.

VERACRUZ
In 2012 and 2013, following tips found on a birding
website, an area with a large number of caves in the
very southern part of Veracruz, near the Oaxaca border,
was found that had not previously been documented
by the caving community. The area is at the edge of the
Selva Zoque rain forest and centered on the town of
Los Liberales. The town is an hour north of Carretera
Zarabia-Uxpanapa, the main east-west road that runs
along the foot of the mountains. According to locals
much of the area was rain forest until the 1970s, when the
Mexican government moved them into the previously
lightly inhabited region. Since then they have cleared
large swaths of the jungle to facilitate cattle farming,
which appears to make up the majority of economic
activity in the area. The geography of the area around
the town is quite hilly, with many of the valleys being
cleared and the hills remaining forested. As one drives
into the town along the main dirt road there are clearly
visible sinkholes in many of the cleared fields.
In March of 2012 we flew into the city of Oaxaca
and completed the nine-hour drive to La Chinantla, an
hour and half from Los Liberales on the main Zarabia-
Uxpanapa road. Much of the drive is along two-lane
windy roads through the mountains south of Oaxaca.
While it is a beautiful drive, the number of blind curves
made it quite dicey at times. When we arrived in La
Chinantla we took up residence in the only hotel for
fifty miles and were able to find a young man who
spoke good English and a young local teenager who
knew the area well. They agreed to help us, and we made
arrangements to meet early the next morning.
There was a miscommunication during the first day
of exploring, and we ended up taking a hike into the
mountains to a waterfall. While the area was beautiful
and the hike was nice, the waterfall was not the reason
we were in Mexico. After some additional discussions
that afternoon, the local guide took us to Los Liberales,
as he had heard of a large cave near the town. The cave
is a large entrance to a spring that is right off the side of
the road north of Los Liberales. After we poked around
and found no real leads in the spring, we went back
into the town to talk to locals. We met some teenagers
who said there were caves all over their farm south of
town and that they knew of another farm with a large
cave that no one had ever explored before. They took
us to the land-owners, and after a short discussion we
 29
countless outcrops in the fields and surrounding jungle.
We found only one cave of any size, Cueva de Avery. We
quickly sketched it and headed back to town for lunch.
After lunch that afternoon we decided to move north
of town to the see the large, unexplored cave. When we
arrived it turned out that the cave was only about 200
meters from the spring we had seen the day before. It
is located at the edge of a cow pasture. We did a quick
initial exploration that afternoon and decided to come
back over the next couple of days to fully explore and
map the cave.
The next day we drove back and did a thorough
Sean Beach climbs out of Casi Cueva, Los Liberales, Vera- exploration of the cave and began to map it. Our guide
cruz. Jon Beach. and interpreter took to caving very well and helped us
with the exploration and mapping. The cave ended up
were granted access to explore their lands. being a little over 450 meters long and was a combina-
The next day we drove back to Los Liberales and met tion of dry and water-filled swimming passages. The
up with the teenagers. They took us to an area south swimming passage in one area started from a bank that
of the town that had a number of very old limestone was so muddy that one had to practically wallow in mud
outcrops that contained the remnants of old caves. The to get into the water. We nicknamed the place Muddy
limestone appeared to have been exposed for so long Beach and decided to call the cave Cueva de Playas.
that it looked like swiss cheese, with cracks and small There was little in the way of cave formations, but the
passages everywhere. We spent the morning exploring swimming sections of the cave were quite interesting.
In one room, dubbed Rocky Beach, there
is another access to the swimming passage.
Looking down into the deep water we could
clearly see a lower level to the cave below
the water table, with what clearly looked
like large passage running perpendicularly
to the upper passage we were in. After two
full days of caving there remained a few
unexplored leads that weren’t pushed either
due to time limits or instability of break-
down in the passages. We produced a quick
sketch map of the system that won’t win
any awards, but at least shows the general
outline of the passage.
In March 2013 we returned to the area,
this time via Minatitlán in southern Vera-
cruz. It reduced the drive time from the
airport to La Chinantla from nine to three
hours. We were also able to time our trip to
be in La Chinantla for five and a half days.
We spent the entire time in the same valley
as Cueva de Playas.
For this trip we brought a Microsoft
Kinect with us to test a new system for
creating 3-D maps of caves. Each morning
we completed the hour-and-a-half drive
from La Chinantla to Los Liberales and
then spent an hour or two experimenting
AMCS ACTIVITIES NEWSLETTER 36
with different ways to use the Kinect. See the article
elsewhere in this issue.
YUCATÁN
We also spent large amounts of time tromping George Veni of the National Cave and Karst Re-
around in the jungle in the hills that surround the valley. search Institute, along with Carlos Duarte and Raúl
We found a number of smaller caves and a few large, Manzanilla of Grupo Ajau in Mérida, visited Actun
water-filled caves that have some potential, but were Kaua in September 2012. No survey had been done in
deemed to be too dangerous as there was a constant Actun Kaua since 2003 (see AMCS Activities Newsletter
threat of rain. Those will have to wait for another trip 26, pages 65–69). At that time the total survey was 10.4
with better weather. Several of the caves we found in the kilometers of mazy passage. There were 566 loops in
hills were passages that started as vertical cuts into the that survey, and passage density reaches 1 kilometer
hillside. None required true vertical-caving techniques, under a 100-meter square. The local police provided a
but often required a least a handline. new ladder into the cave, and a small amount of new
We mapped one of the smaller caves on the side of survey and resurvey was accomplished on this recon-
the hill above Cueva de Playas. The cave dropped into naissance trip. Surveying is slow because most of the
a small pit that ended up wrapping around itself and passages are about 1-meter square, with tighter spots.
popping out of the hill a little below the first entrance. Many questions remain about Actun Kaua. Its full
The cave initially looked very promising, but it didn’t extent is not known. Its mode of origin is unusual, and
quite turn into the cave we hoped for. Based on that we potentially geologically unique. The known limits of
opted to name it Casi Cueva (Almost a Cave). It was the ancient Maya activity extend to near the explored limits
only cave in the area in which any bats were seen. of the cave. The ancient Maya have proven capable of
It rained all of the night before our last day of the exploring long distances into caves; it is possible that
trip so we opted for a deep push into the jungle that they penetrated considerably farther, which additional
day to find entrances to new caves. One of the land exploration and survey of the cave will determine.
owner’s sons, who had become quite enthralled with The trip was also an opportunity to prepare for
caving over the week, led the team. He was so skilled the future of the project. We reestablished ties with
with his machete that he could hack his way through the town mayor and police, who are happy to see con-
the jungle and still move faster than we who were using tinued work at the cave. Additionally, with NCKRI
the cleared trail behind him. We ended up finding a sponsoring and confirming its interest in the project,
number of small entrances that didn’t go anywhere, but the chances for more substantial project sponsorship
we did find one cave about a half mile into the jungle have significantly improved. While continuing the
that dropped into a small dry room. It had what ap- survey and exploration of the cave is important, ad-
peared to be one small pottery shard lying in the back ditional geological and archeological study are also
of it. We left it in place and noted the location. needed. My hope is that a multidisciplinary team can
In all there are likely dozens more caves in the area return to the cave, including at least two or three sur-
to be discovered and explored. But it remains to be seen vey teams plus geological and archeological teams to
if the local geography will support any large or long evaluate the cave’s origin and the extent and intent of
caves. Regardless of that, the area is a wonderful mix of its ancient use. Source: Extracted from NCKRI Project
jungle, hills, caves, and a very friendly local population. Report by George Veni, November 2012, at https://www.
The remoteness of the location and the fact that it is in box.com/s/hzjsjh8klkzqb290ya66 (a Flash document,
southern Mexico make it relatively safe for foreigners. for some no doubt strange reason).
In all we thoroughly enjoyed both of our trips and
look forward to traveling back to the area to find and The April 29, 2013, edition of El Diario de Yucatán
explore more caves. Source: Jon Beach contained an article “Una Madre Milenaria,” by Dioné
León, describing a visit by members of Grupo Ajau of
Espeleo Rescate México scheduled a cave-rescue Mérida to Cueva Madre Cristalina near Santa Rita.
training and simulation event for December 7–9, 2012, at The article is on the paper’s web site at http://yucatan
Cueva Oztotl Tlali, municipio Rafael Delgado, Veracruz. .com.mx/imagen/una-madre-milenaria.
Source: Post at https://www.facebook.com/permalink.
php?story_f bid=497526090271303&id=215796165110 An article dated May 7, 2013, on a cave clean-up
965, where more details are available. and restoration at the town of Sanahcat is at http://
www.reporteroshoy.mx/wp/sorprendente-hallazgo
 31
-en-un-cenote-aparecen-mamuts-pinguinos-y-gansitos temporarily while it mulls over your choices. Then click
.html. Source: post to Tlamaqui e-mail list by Fátima Consultar, and you’ll see a menu of the selected set of
Tec Pool. maps, with icons to click for the various available types
(TIFFs, PDFs, etc.). Before your first download proceeds,
There is a twenty-minute video by Sergio Grosjean you’ll be asked for your e-mail address and password,
titled Secretos de los Cenotes de Yucatán on the web at which you register the first time you visit by clicking
www.infolliteras.com/noticia.php?id=7049. The nar- Regístrese on the login screen; registration is free. After
ration is in Spanish. Much is made of the problems you fill out the registration form to its satisfaction (be
of garbage and trash pollution of the cenotes in the sure to click the box confirming that you accept the
Yucatan peninsula. conditions), you are sent an e-mail message asking you
to click aquí to confirm your registration. I imagine
The ejitadarios at Libre Unión, near Yaxcabá, have there are index maps somewhere on the site; I haven’t
prepared the surroundings of Cenote Xmaquil for tour- found them.
ists, hoping to profit from their visits to the poor com- That’s the good news. The bad news is that I’ve
munity. They have cleared brush and added benches and not yet managed to make this work. After much ex-
railings around the cenote, which is about a kilometer perimenting and consulting with others, I finally got
from the village. They seek support from authorities it to accept my registration form by claiming to live in
to publicize their ecotourism venture. Source: Diario Mexico and giving a date of birth forty years after my
deYucatán, April 7, 2013, post at http://yucatan.com.mx/ real one, and I got the confirmation. But still, even after
yucatan/ecoturismo-en-libre-union. An annoying ad I’ve logged in once, trying to actually click on a map
will display for too long before the article appears. to download it just dumps me back to the login page
again. Some people have made it work. Your mileage
MISCELLANEOUS may vary.—Bill Mixon
Over 2600 maps of Mexican caves have been put
on the AMCS web site at www.amcs-pubs.org/maps/. Abstract: Caving in Mexico: A New Game, by Philip
All of the maps published by the AMCS and many Rykwalder.
others are there. No doubt many more lurk in the Since the 1960s American cavers have explored
AMCS library and archives; they will be added to the thousands of caves in Mexico, including some of the
collection as time permits. deepest caves and pits in the world. Caving in Mexico
became a highlight on cavers’ resumes and many drove
Thanks to Dan Oliva for pointing out that INEGI thousands of miles to explore south of the border. In
topographic maps of Mexico are now available free more recent years, however, violence related to drug
on the web. They include: trafficking started along the Mexico–United States
• 1,238 cartas, escala 1:20 000 en formatos pdf, tiff, gif y border and then spread farther south in Mexico.
1,236 de las cuales tienen además formato shp. According to the most recent statistics from the
• 2,085 cartas, escala 1:50 000 en formatos tiff, gif, 2074 U.S. State Department nearly 50,000 people were killed
de las cuales tienen formato shp y 2060 tienen from 2006 to 2011 by the ongoing drug war. Carjackings
formato pdf. and highway robbery are serious problems in many
• 419 cartas históricas (1973-1988) escala 1:50 000 en parts of the border region, and U.S. citizens have been
formato pdf. murdered. SUVs, which are common vehicles for cavers,
• 121 cartas, escala 1:250 000 en formato tiff y gif, 94 de are a target. The U.S. State Department has advised no
las cuales tienen además formato geopdf. travel to San Luis Potosí, Tamaulipas and Zacatecas,
• 32 cartas (entidad federativa) escala 1:250 000 en which contain many popular caves. This talk discusses
formato pdf. some of the present border issues and includes travel
• 11 cartas, escala 1:1 1000 000 en formatos pdf, tiff, gif advisories for Mexico travel and caving.
y shape. Source: 2012 NSS convention program book, page
To see the maps, go to www.inegi.org.mx and se- 85.
lect Geografía/Topografía. On the resulting page, select
Cartas topográficas under productos y servicios. This takes Abstract: Wallsmap Software for Regional Cave
you to a page where you can select the maps you want Surveys, by Peter Sprouse and Jim Kennedy.
to choose from; don’t be alarmed when the page dies Wallsmap is a freeware GIS program specifically
AMCS ACTIVITIES NEWSLETTER 36
designed for cave databases developed by David McKen-
zie, author of the Walls cave mapping program. Both the
Texas and Mexico geodatabases utilize Wallsmap, with
data on over 12,500 caves. Being specifically designed
for regional cave surveys, Wallsmap offers advantages
over mainstream software options. The native file for-
mat is the ESRI shapefile, and the program associates
unlimited text, photos, and cave maps with each
record. All sorts of background images can be added
to the map view such as topographic maps and aerial
imagery. Vector layers can include geologic units and
cave line plots or shapefiles. Locations can be viewed
in Google Earth or Google Maps. Contributors can
send the database manager updates in shapefile format
that can be readily integrated into the master file. The
Texas Speleological Survey was founded in 1961, and
has 15 directors who meet quarterly. The TSS regularly
responds to data requests and plays a key role in karst Nine research posters were exhibited, two documen-
conservation, particularly in fast-developing central taries were shown, and there were two art shows, one
Texas. The Oztotl Project was begun in 2007 by Peter exhibiting individual works, and one exhibiting the
Sprouse, building on the Mexico Cave Survey previ- collective work of three visual artists.
ously maintained by Gerald Moni. It is coordinated During the event, we had local, state, and national
with state cave surveys from Quintana Roo, San Luis mass-media coverage, resulting in eight newspaper/
Potosí, Tabasco, and Veracruz. web-site pieces and six radio and two television in-
Source: 2012 NSS convention program book, page terviews.
91. We want to thank the strong support of the Univer-
sidad Autónoma de Yucatán and their various research
The web site of the Italian group Esplorazioni centers (Facultad de Ciencias Antropológicas, Facultad
Geografiche La Venta, which has done a lot of cave de Medicina Veterinaria y Zootecnia, and the Unidad
exploration in Mexico over the years, contains refor- de Ciencias Sociales del Centro de Investigaciones Re-
matted reprints of a number of papers on Mexico that gionales Dr. Hideyo Noguchi) as well as the Federación
appeared in various proceedings and journals. They Mexicana de Actividades Subacuáticas (FMAS). We’d also
are at www.laventa.it/index.php?option=com_content like to thank the Federación Espeleológica de América
&view=article&id=73&Itemid=69&lang=en. Latina y el Caribe (FEALC) and the Unión Mexicana de
Agrupaciones Espeleológicas (UMAE). Additionally we’d
The XI Congreso Nacional Mexicano de Speleolo­ like to recognize the generous support of our sponsors:
gía was a total success. It was held in Mérida, Yucatán, Feros Arneses, Poseidon Centro De Buceo, Comisión
from February 1–4, earlier this year. Celebrated concur- Nacional para el Desarrollo de los Pueblos Indígenas
rently was the thirtieth anniversary of the Federación Delegación Yucatán (CDI), Comisión Nacional del
Espeleológica de América Latina y el Caribe. Agua (CONAGUA), Centro de Investigación & Estu-
We had a reasonably strong participation of about dios Avanzados (CINVESTAV), Secretaría de Fomento
200 attendees, 106 of whom were speakers. Participants Turístico (SEFOTUR) Ipan Tepeme Ihuan Oztome
were from Belgium, Brazil, Italy, France, United States, (Between Mountains and Caverns), Hacienda Nuestra
Puerto Rico, Argentina, Spain, Cuba, and of course Señora del Rosario Kankirixche, Vertimanía, Ecocurs,
Mexico. Twenty-five caving organizations were repre- Yucatán Dive Center, and Vertical Sport. Much thanks
sented. to the essential participation of the speakers, academics,
The meeting lasted four days, three of oral presenta- students, artist, authorities, community leaders, and
tions and one of field trips. In all, fifty-six general oral cave-effort-related people who joined us.
papers were presented, five keynote speeches were given, Source: Fátima del Rosario Tec Pool. The program
three books were introduced, and one table discussion of talks at the congress follows, from http://xicongreso
was held. Additionally, a mock cave rescue was mounted. umae.org.
 33
Friday cenotes y los mayas del siglo XXI: una nueva forma de
Christian Thomas. Proyecto Espeleo-Yuc: exploraciones interrelación.
espeleológicas en la Península de Yucatán. (conferencia Alba Valdez Tah. Turismo, organización económica y cambios
magistral) en los significados de la naturaleza: el caso de los cenotes
Arturo Montero. Nuestro patrimonio subterráneo: Historia de Chunkanán, Yucatán.
y cultura de las cavernas de México. Kristen Taylor. La minería de salitre en cuevas de Virginia
Saturday y West Virginia durante la Guerra Civil Americana.
Ercilio Vento Canosa. Santa Catalina, el mayor sistema Mónica Chávez Guzmán. Los rituales mayas de petición
cárstico subterráneo del centro de Cuba. (conferencia de lluvia y las cavernas.
magistral) Ezel Jácome Galindo-Pérez, Edson Espinoza Graciano,
Jorge Antonio Paz Tenorio, Oscar Gilberto Cabrera Flores Martínez María Del Carmen, Blanca Estela
Pozo, Carlos Alberto Paz Lara, Emmaline Montser- Chávez-Sandoval, María del Pilar Villeda Callejas,
rat Rosado González. Exploraciones espeleológicas y su María Teresa Castañeda Briones, Francisco García-
aplicación en el estudio de procesos de remoción en masa, Franco. Calidad del agua de la cueva boca del Río
sur de Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas. Apetlanca, Guerrero, México; utilizando artrópodos
Gabriel Merino Andrade, Kaleb Zárate Gálvez. En las como bioindicadores.
profundidades de San Fernando, Chiapas: exploración María del Carmen Flores Martínez, Ricardo Mariño
del sumidero del Higo 2012. Pérez, Laura Leonor del Castillo Martínez, Francisco
Gustavo Vela Turcott, Franco Attolini. Resultados de las Medina, Enrique Antonio Embriz Sánchez, Daniel
exploraciones Tzontzecuiculi 2011-2012. Embriz Alba, Edson Espinoza Graciano, Ezel Jácome
Omar Hernández. Expedición Ixtololo Alt, Sierra Negra Galindo Pérez. Composición faunística de dos cuevas
2011/2012. de Guerrero: “La Joya” y “El Izote”.
Raúl E. Manzanilla Haas. Trabajos de exploración y registro Pablo Moreno, Gabriela Heredia Abarca, Blondy Canto
en Aktun Jaaleb. Canche, Irma L. Medina Baizabal, Marcela Gamboa
Tullio Bernabei. Upsala, el glaciar que vive. Angulo. Micromicetos aislados de cenotes de Yucatán
Susana Echeverría Castillo. El cenote Xlakah de Dzibil- como fuente de productos antimicrobianos.
chaltún. Fernando Calderón Gutiérrez, Carlos A. Sánchez Ortiz.
Juan Carrillo González. Por los umbrales de lo divino. El Aerolito de la Isla de Cozumel: singular sistema de
Concepciones mayas en torno a la geografía sagrada: el cueva subacuática de de gran diversidad y abundancia.
caso de las cuevas y cenotes. Juan Montaño Hiroshe. Rabia transmitida por vam-
Sonia Thalía Acosta Sierra. Formas de apropiación de piros.
abastecimiento del agua en Noc-ac, Yucatán. Tammy Esperanza Chi Coyoc, Griselda Escalona Segura,
Racso Fernández Ortega, Dany Morales Valdez, Di- Jorge A. Vargas Contreras, Roberto Rojo, Enrique
alvys Rodríguez Hernández, Hilario Carménate Escobedo-Cabrera, Mónica Ponce, Alfredo Bravo,
Rodríguez. Análisis de la evaluación y diagnóstico de Alicia Dávila, Fátima Tec Pool y José Pez. Una mirada
los impactos medioambientales en estaciones rupestres al interior de la cueva “El Volcán de los Murciélagos”,
de la cordillera de Guaniguanico, Cuba. Campeche, México.
Mario Novelo Dorantes. Destrucción y contaminación de Luis Briceño Pat. Club EspeleoZotz.
ecosistemas subterráneos en el sur de Yucatán. Medidas Israel Huerta Ibarra, Argelia Tiburcio Sánchez, Alejandro
urgentes para su protección y conservación. Villagrán Hernández. Historia de la espeleología en
María del Carmen Flores Martínez, Jesús Alfredo To el IPN.
rres Maldonado, Amyalli Yits Hernández Acuña. Ángel Graña. Vida y obra de Núñez Jiménez.
Ximopanolti Timochtin. Tullio Bernabei, Alicia Dávila García. Centro de Estu-
José Guadalupe Palacios Vargas. Biogeografía de los Col- dios Kársticos La Venta: un impulso a la espeleología
lembola (Arthropoda) en las cuevas de México. (confer- de Chiapas.
encia magistral) Héctor Martínez Cerda, Reyes Orozco. ¿Cuánto cuesta
Aurelio Sánchez Suárez. Entre la tierra y el inframundo. un rescate en cavernas y cómo se organiza?
H’Wan Tul y su vinculación a cuevas y cenotes. Esteban Grau González Quevedo. La protección del pat-
Carlos Evia Cervantes. El simbolismo del tiempo en las rimonio cárstico en la costa norte de Matanzas.
cuevas. Alicia Dávila, Tullio Bernabei. Cueva del Río la venta,
Sergio Grosjean Abimerhi, Jorge Victoria Ojeda. Los un sueño subterráneo.
AMCS ACTIVITIES NEWSLETTER 36
Sergio Grosjean Abimerhi. Secretos de los cenotes de
Yucatán.
Sunday
Carmen Rojas Sandoval. Arqueología en cuevas sumergidas
de Quintana Roo. La importancia de los exploradores
en los descubrimientos arqueológicos y su protección.
(conferencia magistral)
Eugenia Pulido Madariaga, María Eugenia Paredes,
Manuel Xool. La problemática de la seguridad en los
proyectos de turismo alternativo.
Xia Briceño Canto. Turismo sustentable y espeleoturismo
en Yucatán.
Elías Alcocer Puerto. Manejo sustentable de los cenotes
y cuevas de Yucatán: una propuesta de la antropología
Terry Raines (in back) prints an early AMCS publication,
del turismo.
assisted by Bill Elliott (left) and James Reddell. Yes, the
Roberto Rojo García. Río Secreto, reserva natural. Un shop really was in an old schoolbus. Robert Mitchell.
ejemplo exitosos de espeleoturismo sustentable.
Emmaline Montserrat Rosado González, Jorge Antonio José Antonio Reyes Solís. El trabajo arqueológico en la
Paz Tenorio, Oscar Gilberto Cabrera Pozo, Carlos sierra de Coahuila.
Alberto Paz Lara. Geoturismo de las cuevas de México Oscar Carubelli. Metodología para medir distancias en
como propuesta para la conservación del patrimonio una caverna con una foto digital y Autocad 2D en
biocultural indígena. Caso la cueva de las Sardinas, gabinete.
estado de Tabasco. Luis Samayoa Navarrete, Eduardo Castillo López, José
Alma Rafaela Bojórquez Vargas. Niños Tennek y su labor Abraham Torres Méndez, Máximo Ávila Cruz.
como guías de ecoturismo en cavidades subterráneas de Aplicación de la ingeniería topográfica, la percepción
la Huasteca Potosina. remota y los SIG en la modelación de la Gruta Karmidas
Ezel Jácome Galindo-Pérez, Edson Espinoza Graciano, ubicada en Zapotitlán de Méndez, Pue.
Blanca Estela Chávez-Sandoval, María del Pilar Arturo Montero García. Propuesta para un sistema de
Villeda Callejas, María Teresa Castañeda Briones, manejo de datos en espeleología.
Francisco García-Franco. Caracterización molecular Oscar Carubelli. Hipótesis sobre la estabilidad de las
de artrópodos de la cueva de Boca del Río Apetlanca, cavernas.
Acahuizotla, Guerrero. Jerónimo Avilés. Hallazgo de huesos de fauna extinta de la
María Del Carmen Flores Martínez, Laura Del Castillo. Era del hielo en una cueva inundada de la península.
Revisión de fauna epizóica de Eptesicus fuscus (CHI- Jerónimo Avilés. Crustacea, la cueva de los remipedios.
ROPTERA: VESPERTILIONIDAE) en dos colecciones: James Brady. El Estado de la Arqueología de Cuevas en México
Laboratorio de Espeleobiología, Campus Juriquilla, y su Dirección Futura. (conferencia magistral)
Querétaro y Laboratorio de Acarología “Anita Hoffmann”, Helena Barba Meinecke. Recientes descubrimientos en
Facultad de Ciencias, UNAM. cuevas del estado de Campeche, península de Yucatán.
Adrian Miguel Nieto. Un acercamiento a los habitantes Sergio Grosjean Abimerhi, Octavio del Río Lara. Sor-
microscópicos de las cuevas. prendentes hallazgos arqueológicos paleontológicos y
Mario Gómez Ramírez. La espeleología como parte de la faunísticos en los cenotes de Yucatán.
formación educativa de los estudiantes de la Licenciatura Fátima Tec Pool. Aportes del Grupo Espeleológico Ajau a la
en Geografía de la Universidad Veracruzana. investigación arqueológica en cuevas de Yucatán.
Aura Rosalía Montiel Camacho. El conocimiento ad- Rubén Manzanilla López, Raúl barrera Rodríguez,
quirido como medio para la prevención de accidentes Mauricio Gálvez. La gruta de San Miguel Guerrero
en espeleo. ¿un patrimonio perdido?
Luiz Afonso V. Figueiredo, Alma Rafaela Bojorquez- Edgar Daniel Pat Cruz, Jorge Aguilar Montero. Protección
Vargas, Guillermo Alejandro Contreras-Castro. técnica y legal: marco jurídico del reglamento de cenotes,
Formación Básica en Espeleoturismo y Educación Am- cuerpos de agua y cuevas del estado de Campeche.
biental: Informe sobre una Experiencia de Extensión Ricardo Arturo Viera Muñoz. Arqueología en la cueva
Universitaria en la Huasteca Potosina (México). centella, Matanzas, Cuba.
 35
Germán Yañez, Kaleb Zarate. Exploración Subacuática %20Mayo%202013.pdf.
en cuevas de Chiapas.
Reyes Orozco, Mario Salas. Explorando Xol-kuele. The XII Semana de Cuevas at UNAM was held
Gustavo Vela Turcott. Sistema Tepetzala. on November 20–23, 2012. The following talks were
Gabriel Merino Andrade. Proyecto espeleológico “Cerro schdeduled.
brujo” municipio de Ocozocuautla, Chiapas, México. Tuesday
Mónica Ponce. Cueva de la letrina y/o coyote. Juan B. Morales Malacara. Las cavernas, un recurso natural:
Gustavo Vela Turcott, Mark Tremblay, Guillaume Pe Un enfoque hacia su conservación.
lletier. Attention: traversée de gouffre mexicain. Adrián Reyna Dominguez. Polidésmidos (Diplopoda)
Posters asociados a cuevas de México, en la colección del Labo-
Ezel Jácome Galindo-Pérez, Edson Espinoza Graciano, ratorio de Acarología.
Blanca Estela Chávez-Sandoval, María del Pilar Miguel Ángel Hernández Patricio, Julián Bueno Ville-
Villeda Callejas, María Teresa Castañeda Briones, gas, and Fabio Germán Cupul Magaña. Miriápodos
Francisco García-Franco. Caracterización molecular de la Cueva Los Riscos.
de artrópodos de la cueva La Joya, Taxco, Guerrero, Mariana Gamboa Vargas. Síndrome de “la nariz blanca”
México. en murciélagos.
Lailson Becket, Luna Pilar, Pedroza Lisseth y Cabadas Ignacio M. Vazquez R. and M en C. Laura del Castillo
B. Héctor. Caracterización Micromorfologíca y Petrográ- Martínez. Actualización de datos de Trombidioideos
fica de Materiales Cerámicos Recuperados en Cavernas (Trombidiformes, Prostigmata) de la cueva Arroyo del
Inundadas de Yucatán: Un Caso de Estudio. Bellaco.
F. Calderón-Gutiérrez, G. Bribiesca-Contreras y F. A. Mariana Servin Pastor. Biogeografía de la fauna Caver-
Solís-Marín. Sistema El Aerolito: Dominio de equino- nicola.
dermos. Itzel Sigala Regalado and Rosaura Mayén Estrada. La
Gilberto Varo de la Rosa, José G. Palacios Vargas. La cueva, el guano y las amebas atestadas.
fauna cavernícola de Chimalacatlán, Morelos, México. Violeta Jiménez Parejas. Arqueología de Cuevas.
Oscar Carubelli. Metodología para medir ángulos en una cav- Wednesday
erna con una foto digital y Autocad 2D en gabinete. José Javier Vargas Guerrero. Proyecto Quebradas de Dur-
Omar Caballero Hernández, Manuel Miranda Anaya, ango. Casa en Cuevas.
Juan B. Morales Malacara. Estudio en laboratorio de Guillermo Espinosa G. Radón en cuevas (su origen, med-
la expresión del ritmo circadiano de actividad locomotriz ición, distribución y riesgos en salud).
en organismos del Sótano de la Tinaja, CD. Valles, San Carlos E. Santibáñez López. El troglomorfismo como eco-
Luis Potosí. morfotipo en los escorpiones.
Rogelio Hernández Vergara, Rocío Merino Castrejon, Dulce Flor Piedra Jiménez. Aves en cavernas.
Keven Jesús García Díaz, Sergio Nágera Blas, José Víctor Cruz García. Tláloc.
Eder Salgado Hernández, Mari Carmen Romero Elvia Manuela Gallegos Neyra; Montes A., Calderón
Rojas, Julio Cesar Aponte y Octavio Ortiz Enríquez. A., Mayén R., and Sigala I. Identificación de Amibas
Espeleogénesis de la cueva San Miguel, Municipio de de vida libre patógenas en Cuevas de la Región Central
Taxco de Alarcón, Guerrero. de México.
Rogelio Hernández Vergara, Rocío Merino Castrejon, Elsa Coronado Galicia. Estudio preliminar de ácaros
Keven Jesús García Díaz, Sergio Nágera Blas, José
Eder Salgado Hernández y Mari Carmen Romero
Rojas. Geología estructural de la Gruta de San Miguel,
Municipio de Taxco de Alarcón, Guerrero.
Rogelio Hernández Vergara. Estudio Geológico-Espele-
ológico del Sistema Cárstico Zacatecolotla-Las Granadas,
Municipio de Taxco de Alarcón, Guerrero.

There is a five-page report on the XI Congreso Na­

cional Mexicano de Espeleología by Oscar Carubelli of
Argentina in the May 2013 issue of Noti-FEALC, http:/
/espeleodocs.yolasite.com/resources/Noti-FEALC%2C
AMCS ACTIVITIES NEWSLETTER 36
Thursday
Diego Sánchez Moreno. ¿Es difícil ser un murciélago?
Cristina MacSwiney. Diversidad y Conservación de mur-
ciélagos en Uxpanapa, Veracruz.
Antonio Santos Moreno. ¿Cuantas especies de murciélagos
faltan por registrar en Oaxaca?
Natalia Martín Regalado. Representatividad de murciélagos
en la Colección de Mamíferos de Oaxaca.
Cristian Kraker. Uso de hábitat por murciélagos insectívoros
en Sta. Ma. Chimalapa, Oaxaca.
Margarita García. Murciélagos insectívoros de los Valles
Centrales de Oaxaca.
Friday
Emma Cisneros. Nuestros amigos los murciélagos.
Luis Ignacio Iñiguez Dávalos. title not announced.
Alvar González C. De vampiros a vampiros.
José Luis García. Murciélagos en parques eólicos: investi-
gación e implicaciones para la conservación.
cunáxidos de Cuevas de México. Mario Peralta Pérez. Los disturbios y las comunidades de
Antonio Barrientos Martínez. Prevalencia y determinación murciélagos: el caso de los Parques Eólicos.
de ectoparásitos en murciélagos (Quiróptera) y roedores Yazmín Martínez. Murciélagos de la Venta, Juchitán,
(Rodentia) en dos localidades de la Mixteca Poblana. Santo Oaxaca.
Domingo de Tonahuixtla y Teotlalco, Puebla, México. Source: http://ciidiroaxaca.ipn.mx/?q=node/72, http://
Thursday ciidiroaxaca.ipn.mx/sites/default/files/pdf/Pro
José G. Palacios Vargas. La distribución de los colémbolos gramaFestival.pdf; Gustavo Vela.
cavernícolas en Mexico.
Roberto Rojo García. Conservación, cultura, investigación The best-in-show prize in the Video Salon at the
y turismo. 2012 NSS Convention was won by a video by Ben Edel-
Gustavo Vela Turcott. Resultados de las exploraciones en stein of the Mesas Juárez trip at the end of 2009; see
la Sierra Negra 2011-2012. “Mexico News” in AMCS Activities Newsletter 33, under
Tamaulipas. The cover of Activities Newsletter 34 won
On June 13–15, 2012, a Festival de los Murciélagos en a merit award (blue ribbon) in the Cover Art Salon,
Oaxaca was hosted by the Centro Interdisciplinario de
Investigación para el Desarrollo Integral Regional and
the Asociación Mexicana de Mastozoología. Open to
the public, it featured exhibits and activities for youth,
as well as scientific lectures and posters. A three-day
course, Diversidad y Conservación de los Murciélagos
de México, was taught by Yolanda Hortelano, Gloria
Magaña, and Migual Briones-Salas. Total attendance the
first day was about eighty; approximately one hundred
people visited the event each of the last two days. Over
the three days, the following lectures were presented.
Wednesday
Blas E. Perdomo Rasilla. ¿Los murciélagos son vampiros?
Oscar Retana Guiascón. Importancia Cultural de los
Murciélagos.
Miguel A. Briones-Salas. Los Murciélagos de Oaxaca.
Emma Cisneros. Síndrome de nariz blanca.
Osiris Merino. Etnozoología de los murciélagos de Santa
María Zacatepec, Putla, Oaxaca.
 37
photographic category, for the photographs by Daniel Abstract: Steps for Specific Vulnerability Maps,
Riordan and Franco Attolini. Management, and Conservation in Yucatan Peninsula
Anchialine Systems, by Olmo Torres Talamente, Alejan-
The web site espeleorescatemexico.org no longer dra Aguilar Rámirez, and Gonzalo Merediz Alonso.
works, and its previous content has been lost. (Fortu- A GIS project was developed for cenote manage-
nately the AMCS has archived the operations reports ment and decision-making in the Yucatan Peninsula.
that were on the site. An attempt to archive the entire Information was obtained through governmental and
site turns out to have been futile, because it was an overly civil databases, satellite imagery analysis, and field visits.
clever Flash thing that consisted entirely of undisclosed Spacial analysis was performed at a scale of 1:250,000
links to files that no longer exist.) The new web site for for cenotes and geology, land use and vegetation, soil
Espeleo Rescate México is www.espeleorescatemexico. type, protected areas, urban areas, population size of
com, which has little content so far. human settlements, and roads. Danger and risk models
for ecological degradation of cenotes were developed.
Number 22-23 of Mundos Subterráneos, magazine [Covers Campeche, Quintana Roo, and Yucatán. The
of the Unión Mexicana de Agrupaciones Espeleológi- cenotes location map is figure 1 in that paper.]
cas, is available on-line at http://www.karstportal.org/ Source: Extended Abstracts from the 2nd International
node/11482. Articles (in Spanish) cover rock art at Anchialine Symposium (Natura Croatica, vol. 21, suppl. 1,
Ocozocoautla, Chiapas; pictographs in Kanun Ch’en, 2012), p. 95.
Homún, Yucatán; rock art in Cueva de Chicomeatl,
Zacatal Grande, Veracruz; caves of the Lacandon James Brady’s Sources for the Study of Mesoamerican
Maya at Ocosingo, Chiapas; and a description of the Ritual Cave Use, Publication 1 of Studies in Mesoameri-
through-trip in Cueva del Río La Venta, Chiapas, this can Cave Use, is available at www.oztotl.com/maya/
last being the same as a chapter in the Spanish edition BIBLIO%202012.doc. Revised in 2012, it contains about
of the recently published book Cueva del Río La Venta: 1700 sources.
An Underground Dream. Source: Mark Minton.
AMCS ACTIVITIES NEWSLETTER 36

MARK MINTON
MAY 2013
DEPTH IN METERS
DEEP PITS OF MEXICO
1 El Sótano (de El Barro) Entrance drop Querétaro 410
2 Sótano de las Golondrinas Entrance drop San Luis Potosí 376
3 Sótano de la Culebra Entrance drop Querétaro 336
4 El Zacatón (mostly underwater) Entrance drop Tamaulipas 335
5 Sótano de Tomasa Kiahua Entrance drop Veracruz 330
6 Sótano de Alhuastle P’tit Québec Puebla 329
7 Nita Xonga Psycho Killer Oaxaca 310
8 Pozo Poseidon Entrance drop Coahuila 288
8 Sotanito de Ahuacatlán 2nd drop Querétaro 288
10 Sótano del Arroyo Grande Entrance drop Chiapas 283
11 Sima Don Juan Entrance drop Chiapas 278
12 Hálito de Oztotl Entrance drop Oaxaca 250
12 Sima Dos Puentes La Ventana Chiapas 250
14 Cueva Santo Cavernario El Santo Tiro (Pozo Fabian) Puebla 245
15 Sótano del Aire Entrance drop San Luis Potosí 233
15 Resumidero del Pozo Blanco Entrance drop Jalisco 233
17 Sistema Ocotempa (OC3) Pozo Verde Puebla 221
18 Live in Busch Entrance drop Oaxaca 220
18 Sótano de los Planos Puits Tannant Puebla 220
18 Sótano de Eladio Martínez (S-CHIC 1) Entrance drop Veracruz 220
18 Sistema Soconusco Sima de la Pedrada Chiapas 220
22 Sótano de los Coatimundis Entrance drop San Luis Potosí 219
23 Pozo del Cerro Grande Entrance drop Jalisco 218
24 Sótano de Sendero Entrance drop San Luis Potosí 217
24 Resumidero el Borbollón Tiro Grande San Luis Potosí 217
26 Sima del Chikinibal Entrance drop Chiapas 214
27 Unnamed Pit Entrance drop Chiapas 210
27 Sistema H3-H4 (HU3-HU4)   Puebla 210
29 Kijahe Xontjoa So On Jan Oaxaca 209
30 Nacimiento del Río Mante (underwater) Macho Pit Tamaulipas 206
31 Hoya de las Guaguas Entrance drop San Luis Potosí 202
32 La Hoyanca Entrance drop Tlaxcala 201
33 Hueholvastempa Entrance drop Puebla 200
33 Fundillo de El Ocote Entrance drop Chiapas 200
33 Hard Rock Cave   Oaxaca 200
33 Nita Gatziguin Entrance drop Oaxaca 200
33 Akemati-Akemasup Gran Salto Acuatico y Barbaro Puebla 200
33 Sistema de la Lucha Entrance drop Chiapas 200
39 Kijahe Xontjoa Lajao Se Oaxaca 199
40 Sima (Cueva) La Funda Entrance drop Chiapas 198
41 Sótano de Soyate Entrance drop San Luis Potosí 195
42 Sótano de Alpupuluca Entrance drop Veracruz 190
42 Cueva de los Murmullos (Cueva del Tízar) Tiro de los Murmullos San Luis Potosí 190
42 Sótano de Tepetlaxtli No. 1 Entrance drop Puebla 190
45 Sótano de Puerto de los Lobos (Sótano Hondo) Entrance drop San Luis Potosí 189
46 Hoya de la Luz Entrance drop San Luis Potosí 188
46 Cuaubtempa Pozo con Carne Puebla 188
48 Sótano de Hermanos Peligrosos 2nd drop Veracruz 186
49 Atlalaquía (Sótano) de Ahuihuitzcapa Entrance drop Veracruz 180
49 Sótano Cirque Cuauxipetstli Entrance drop Puebla 180
49 Sima de Veinte Casas Entrance drop Chiapas 180
49 Croz 2 Entrance drop Puebla 180
49 Sistema Ocotempa (OC11) Puits Analogue Puebla 180

UPDATES AND CORRECTIONS: MARK MINTON, [email protected]

 39

MARK MINTON
LONG CAVES OF MEXICO MAY 2013
LENGTH IN METERS

1 Sistema Sac Actun (+Dos Ojos) Quintana Roo 310950

2 Sistema Ox Bel Há Quintana Roo 243556
3 Sistema Purificación Tamaulipas 94889
4 Sistema K’oox Baal (+Tux Kupaxa) Quintana Roo 75139
5 Sistema Huautla Oaxaca 64258
6 Sistema Xunaan-Há (María Isabella, 3B) - Tixik K’una - Templo Quintana Roo 59670
7 Cueva del Tecolote Tamaulipas 40475
8 Sistema Cuetzalan (Chichicasapan+San Miguel) Puebla 37676
9 Sistema Toh Há Quintana Roo 32015
10 Kijahe Xontjoa Oaxaca 31373
11 Sistema Yok Ha’ Hanil (Río Cristal, Pool Tunich, Río Secreto) Quintana Roo 30127
12 Sistema Tepepa (Ehécatl+Niebla+Xalltégoxtli+Pozo 4) Puebla 29401
13 Sistema Soconusco - Aire Fresco Chiapas 27793
14 Sistema Cheve Oaxaca 26194
15 Sistema Sand Crack Quintana Roo 25704
16 Sistema Coyolatl-Esperanza Puebla 22221
17 Chjine Xjo (Xine Xao, Chine Xao) Oaxaca 19515
18 Sistema Aerolito Quintana Roo 18288
19 Sistema Tepetzala (TB84-TB1-CO2-CO4) Puebla 16527
20 Cueva de Alpazat Puebla 15200
21 Sistema PonDeRosa (Pondazul, Edén) Quintana Roo 15019
21 Sistema J2 (Ozto J2 (Faustino, Barbie) + Last Bash (Hija Puta)) Oaxaca 14840
23 Sistema Dos Pisos (Ka’p’el Nah) Quintana Roo 14176
24 Sistema Camilo Quintana Roo 13215
25 Sistema Sac Muul Quintana Roo 11145
26 Atlixicaya Puebla 11120
27 Sistema Río La Venta Chiapas 11020
28 Sistema San Andrés Puebla 10988
29 Cueva de la Mano Oaxaca 10841
30 Actun Káua Yucatán 10360
31 Grutas de Rancho Nuevo (San Cristóbal) Chiapas 10218
32 Cueva del Arroyo Grande Chiapas 10207
33 Sistema Doggi Quintana Roo 10170
34 El Chorro Grande Chiapas 9650
35 Sistema Muul Three Quintana Roo 9629
36 Sistema Tepetlaxtli Puebla 9600
37 Sistema Ek Be Quintana Roo 9408
38 Sistema Brumas-Selváticas Puebla 9324
39 Sistema Chac Mol - Mojarra Quintana Roo 9193
40 Cueva Quebrada Quintana Roo 9000
41 Sistema Minotauro Quintana Roo 8653
41 Cenote Muk K’in Quintana Roo 8628
43 Sótano de Las Calenturas Tamaulipas 8308
44 Gruta del Tigre Quintana Roo 8200
45 Sumidero Santa Elena Puebla 7884
46 Sistema Zapote (Toucha-Há - Vaca Há) Quintana Roo 7869
47 Sistema La Ciudad Puebla 7828
48 Cueva Yohualapa Puebla 7820
49 Cueva de la Peña Colorada Oaxaca 7793
50 Cueva de Comalapa Veracruz 7750

UPDATES AND CORRECTIONS: MARK MINTON, [email protected]

AMCS ACTIVITIES NEWSLETTER 36

MARK MINTON
MAY 2013
DEPTH IN METERS
DEEP CAVES OF MEXICO
1 Sistema Huautla Oaxaca 1545
2 Sistema Cheve Oaxaca 1484
3 Cueva Charco Oaxaca 1278
4 Sistema J2 (Ozto J2 (Faustino, Barbie) + Last Bash (Hija Puta)) Oaxaca 1229
5 Akemati - Akemasup Puebla 1226
6 Kijahe Xontjoa Oaxaca 1223
7 Sistema Nogochl (Olbastl Akemabis - El Santito) Puebla 1182
8 Sistema Ocotempa (OC3 + OC11) Puebla 1070
9 Soncongá Oaxaca 1014
10 Sistema Tepepa (Ehécatl+Niebla+Xalltégoxtli+Pozo 4) Puebla 968
11 Sistema Purificación Tamaulipas 957
12 Guixani N’dia Kijao (Guinjao) Oaxaca 955
13 Sistema Perrito (Nia Quien Nita + Nia Nga’co Nita) Oaxaca 906
14 Joya Jonda (Honda) San Luis Potosí 895
15 Nita Chó Oaxaca 894
16 Sótano de Agua de Carrizo Oaxaca 843
17 Sótano de El Berro Veracruz 838
18 Sótano de Trinidad San Luis Potosí 834
19 Hard Rock Cave Oaxaca 830
20 Resumidero El Borbollón San Luis Potosí 821
21 Las Tres Quimeras Puebla 815
22 X’oy Tixa Nita Oaxaca 813
23 Nita Ka Oaxaca 760
24 Sistema H31-H32-H35 Puebla 753
25 Sonyance Oaxaca 740
26 Nita Xongá Oaxaca 739
27 Yuá Nita Oaxaca 705
28 Aztotempa Puebla 700
29 Sótano de los Planos Puebla 694
30 Sótano de Alfredo Querétaro 673
31 Cueva Santo Cavernario+Tototzil Chichiltic Puebla 667
32 Sistema de los Tres Amigos (Te Chan Xki) Oaxaca 659
33 Sistema Cuetzalan (Chichicasapan+San Miguel) Puebla 658
34 Cueva Tipitcli (Tipitli) Puebla 653
35 Sótano de Tilaco Querétaro 649
36 Nita Nashi Oaxaca 641
37 Cuaubtempa Superior Puebla 640
38 Oztotl Altepetlacac (Cueva Paisano) Puebla 638
39 Sistema Soconusco - Aire Fresco Chiapas 633
40 Sistema Atlalaquía Veracruz 623
41 Cueva de Diamante Tamaulipas 621
42 Sistema Coyolatl-Esperanza Puebla 620
43 R’ja Man Kijao (Nita) Oaxaca 611
44 Nita He Oaxaca 594
45 Meandro Que Cruce (Meandre Qui Traverse, H54) Puebla 588
46 Olbastl Koltik (Sótano Chueco) Puebla 587
47 Yometa Puebla 582
48 Sótano de las Coyotas Guanajuato 581
49 Sistema Los Toros Nuevo León 576
50 Arriba Suyo Sótano San Luis Potosí 563

UPDATES AND CORRECTIONS: MARK MINTON, [email protected]

 41

BOOK REVIEW: CUEVA DEL RÍO LA VENTA

BILL MIXON

Cueva del Río La Venta, An Underground Dream. There are about seventy nice full-page color
Tullio Bernabei, Antonio De Vivo, Francesco Sau- photos and many smaller ones. A 30-by-38-inch
ro, and Giuseppe Savino. La Venta Esplorazioni folded plate is in a plastic pocket in the back of
Geografiche, Treviso, Italy. ISBN 978-88-95370-12- the book. On one side is an aerial view of the area
5. 8.25 by 12 inches, 158 pages plus map plate, with Cueva Río La Venta and other area caves
hardbound. €25. superimposed; a lot of other caves are known
in the surroundings. The other one contains a
This is a large, heavily illustrated book about perspective drawing of the cave under its surface
a cave in Chiapas and its surroundings. The Ital- terrain; a more conventional map of the cave is
ians of the La Venta group have been working spread across pages 66 and 67.
on the caves in the vicinity of the canyon of the In addition to the directions for a through-trip,
Río La Venta for many years. They published an the book includes information about arranging
earlier book on the area, Río La Venta, Treasure of for permission and guides. This suggests that part
Chiapas, in 1999. This new book is more focused of the motivation for the book was to help the
on the Cueva del Río La Venta and its immedi- villagers in López Mateos benefit from their past
ate vicinity. hospitality to the La Venta teams by encourag-
There is a chapter of geological background and ing speleo-tourism, if only by serious cavers from
a chapter on the history of the La Venta projects around the world who are prepared for a long,
in the area, including the connection in 1995 that wet trip with a lot of short drops and climbs. With
created a spectacular and challenging through-trip so much else for serious cavers to do in Mexico,
and a report on the first trip between the upper I wonder whether this will be successful, but I
Sumidero II entrance and the lower entrance on wish them luck.
the river. A long chapter and a shorter one of This book is available from the AMCS for
technical notes on rigging provide a guide for $35 plus shipping; see www.amcs-pubs.org/other/
the caver attempting that trip. The material here otherpubs.html. There is also a Spanish version,
is similar to an article in AMCS Activities News- Cueva del Río La Venta, Un Sueño Subterráneo, ISBN
letter 34. A large team spent several days in 2009 978-88-95370-10-1. The AMCS has a very limited
on a traverse of the cave in order to take photos number of those for the same price; contact sales@
for this book, and that effort is described, both amcs-pubs.org. An Italian version, Cueva del Río
in the main text and in some of the interesting La Venta, Un Sogno Sotterraneo, ISBN 978-88-95370-
shorter personal narratives inserted with green 08-8, is available from www.ecstore.it/view_mon-
backgrounds. Final chapters discuss the relation- tagna/speleologia/. La Venta’s 1999 book, Río La
ship between cavers and the cave and the local Venta, Treasure of Chiapas, is still available from
people, ancient and modern. the AMCS.
AT THE BORDERS OF CIOCHIMÍ:
A FORGOTTEN ROCK ART

CARLOS
TRANSLATED BY:
LAZCANO
KAREN GUSTAFSON
LIBERO VITIELLO
REPRINTED FROM: KUR #19 / DEC 2012
PHOTOGRAPHY: CARLOS LAZCANO

POTRERO
 43
At first sight the landscape appears barren, al- Even though it is known that the area occupied
most hostile. We are in the Deserto Central, in the by the civilization that created the Gran Mural
middle of the Baja California peninsula. This area style extended northward beyond the 28th parallel,
features one of the driest climates in Mexico, as almost all paintings are clustered in Baja Califor-
well as in the whole of North America. The desert nia Sur. Only a handful have been recorded by
is located in the states of Baja California in the the Mexican Institute Nacional de Antropología e
north and Baja California Sur in the south, divided Historia (INAH) in the northern state, and there
by the 28th Parallel. In the southern state, the is no plan to catalog them systematically.
desert comprises the El Vizcaíno natural reserve, I traveled across the Valle de los Cirios, i.e.,
which, with a surface of more than two millions the northern part of the Deserto Central; I did it
hectares, stands as one of the largest protected on foot and on horseback, studying the ancient
areas in Mexico. In the northern state, the desert and now abandoned Camino Real, created by the
encompasses the Valle de los Cirios preserve, which Jesuit missionaries in the mid-eighteenth century.
covers an area similar to that of El Vizcaíno. During my explorations I discovered by chance
The Deserto Central has many peculiarities, some rock-art sites, most of which were in Gran
one of which is hav-
ing been the home- CUEVA DEL CARRIZO
land of one of the
most surprising and
mysterious native cul-
tures of pre-Hispanic
America. One of the
most distinctive prod-
ucts of this scarcely
known civilization
is some of the oldest
and most spectacular
expressions of rock art
on the American con-
tinent: the Gran Mu-
ral style of painting.
This style is character-
ized by large images,
mostly created inside
caves and rocky shel-
ters, depicting very
realistic illustrations of fauna, people, and cer- Mural style. I was always surprised by the size and
emonies. In Baja California Sur these works of art beauty of the figures. My guides told me about
have been meticulously catalogued and have been many other sites, hidden away in a barren region,
the subject of many studies aimed at determining amongst small volcanic ranges and plains. This is
the cultural identity of their creators, their age, how I came to realize how widespread this excep-
and other important features. As for their age, tional cultural heritage was.
the most ancient ones can be found inside the At present, the Deserto Central region is one
Cueva de San Borjitas; painted about 7500 years of the least densely inhabited in the whole of
ago, they are the most ancient ever found on the Mexico; the Valle de los Cirios, covering more
American continent. The Sierra de San Francisco, than two million hectares, has a population of
with more than our hundred sites, is the area with just twenty-five hundred, much less than in pre-
the highest concentration of paintings, dating back Hispanic times. It’s also a very isolated place, with
to three to five thousands years ago. Thanks to only a few roads, something that has favored its
the importance of these finds, in 1993 UNESCO natural and cultural conservation.
added the Sierra to the list of World Heritage sites. In the past few years, in Baja California there
CUEVA
AMCSCABALLITOS
ACTIVITIES NEWSLETTER 36
rock-art sites, especially on the Gran Murals. As
there is no systematic catalogue of such sites, it
will not be possible to know how many will be
ruined or destroyed, and one can easily imagine
that the arrival of thousands of people could lead
to vandalism. The few inhabitants of the region
have always left the sites untouched, well aware
of how rock art is part of their cultural heritage.
However, the situation might change with the
arrival of people who do not associate the area
with their identity and their roots.
Faced with the imminent arrival of the El Arco
mine I thought I could do something to avoid
some of the worst consequences; in particular,
I decided I could fight for the preservation of
the rock paintings by starting a specific project.
The first need was hence to thoroughly explore
the area, starting a systematic catalogue of the
sites. There were many questions that needed to
be answered: How many were there? Where were
they located? How could they be reached? What
was their state of conservation? What was their
archaeological context?
Thanks to the many projects I have carried out
in the Deserto Central I am well acquainted with
the locals, and it did not take long to gain their
support. So, last year I formally started the cata-
has been much talk about a mining project called loging of the rock art sites in the the state of Baja
El Arco, which was to take place right in the California between the 28th and the 30th parallels.
middle of the Deserto Central; more precisely, My partner in this endeavor is Alejandro Hinojosa,
in the southern part of the Valle de los Cirios, a an oceanographer with expertise in cartography,
few kilometers from Vizcaíno. The project aims who uses a GPS system to precisely locate the sites.
at the exploitation of large amounts of gold and So far we have carried out three expeditions of ten
copper via the creation of an open-pit mine that to fifteen days each, entering into poorly known
will reach a diameter of eight kilometers. The regions of the Valle de los Cirios. We have found
natural and social impacts of such an endeavor a great number of sites, more than seventy in fact,
would be deep, severely defacing the Valle de los most of them belonging to the Gran Mural style;
Cirios preserve and putting the many native and some of them are amazingly beautiful. Almost all
endemic species of the area at risk of extinction. travel was done by horseback, in barren regions
Such a heavy operation would also jeopardize the rich in the Cactaceae and thorny plants that are
ancient aquifer, which would be contaminated typical of the region. We found rock paintings
with dangerous substances like cyanide. A signifi- and petroglyphs in caves and on outcrops, as well
cant social impact would also be inevitable, as the as on isolated boulders. Almost all the caves are
project would draw between fifteen and twenty formed in volcanic rocks, such as basalt, andes-
thousand people to the region. ite, and tuff, produced by ancient volcanoes that
The fact that the mining company managed are now extinguished and destroyed by erosion.
to obtain all the necessary authorizations has We also found granite caves, which are normally
deeply worried environmental activists in Baja more beautiful and host better-preserved paint-
California and throughout Mexico. Knowing the ings, due to the hardness of the rock and to the
region where the project should be developed, it lighter, more even surfaces. Many of the caves and
is easy to forecast a significant negative impact on shelters are located inside canyons or on volcanic
 45
highlands. Some are found in remote, hard-to-reach placed in circles. These were unknown sites, of
locations, which at times require some climbing which science was totally unaware.
to be reached. At times, we had to walk for long Standing in front of those paintings, made by
stretches through areas so rough that even the our ancestors three to four thousand years ago,
horses could not pass. Traveling by horse was not were very emotional moments. When I saw their
easy, either. We spent many days riding, often far beauty, I realized how true is the saying “art does
from beaten trails, to reach sites that even our not evolve.” The extraordinary beauty of the sites
guides had visited only once, many years before. demonstrates that techniques evolve, but beauty
Due to the extremely arid nature of the region, does not. I felt a deep bond with these sites. Ac-
all trips were carried out during the winter. My cording to anthropologists who have studied rock
guides were generous and showed us the treasures art around the world, including Baja California,
hidden in the desert, so caves and shelters revealed through their works the artists expressed their view
their concealed and forgotten art, affording us the of the world and their fears. Drawings containing
chance to rediscover amazing items, unusual for animal figures were made during ceremonies in
the beginning of the third millennium. which people asked the Deities to preserve the
During each journey I was shown a wealth fauna that made their existence possible. Other
of treasures: In front of me I saw a parade of paintings represent ceremonies during which the
medicine men (and women), deer, bighorn sheep, shamans contacted the deities to propitiate the
pronghorns, mountain lions, fish, turtles, whales, preservation of the land. This is why I felt so con-
hares, vultures, and many other subjects. They were nected to those people from thousands of years
drawings and paintings of great beauty, realistic, ago. They painted what they wanted to preserve;
made with mostly inorganic pigments inside caves I came to realize that many of my naturalistic
and shelters. Many of the sites also contain mill- photographs portray threatened or endangered
stones, knives, scrapers, spear points, and other sites that I wished to preserve. Our future rests
stone objects. We also noticed seashells and stones on conservation. My fears, just like those of many

CUEVA DE LA SOLEDAD
AMCSDEL
CUEVA ACTIVITIES
MUERTO NEWSLETTER 36
 47
modern people, are analogous to those of the artists In reality, there are many sites that witness how
who created these millennia-old paintings. From humans were able to flourish there without too
this point of view, we humans have not changed. much trouble. The paintings in this area belong
We are still frail and fearful when compared to to several styles; there are Gran Mural sites, but
nature, but we are also full of hopes. What I now also examples of petroglyphs and very abstract
portray with digital images, conservation and care drawings. I was quite taken aback by the Dipugosa
for nature, was depicted on the rock by my Cali- Cave, formed by four distinct caves in volcanic
fornian ancestors more than three thousand years stone whose roofs and walls are covered in abstract
ago. This is something that has not changed so motifs made of small pits, as if they were carved
far, and it will not change in the future. with hammer and nails.
Our most important explorations were carried North of there, in the area surrounding the 1762
out in the area surrounding the old Saint Gertru- San Francisco de Borja Mission, abstract rock art
dis Mission. Established in 1737 by the Croatian is predominant; the Gran Mural style is rare here,
missionary Fernanda Consag, it is located in a as if this region marked one of its geographical
remote position and can be reached from Guer- boundaries. Two sites with many caves and shelters,
rero Negro after a two-hour drive on an ugly dirt Montevideo and Las Cuevitas, are particularly re-
road. At present, the Saint Gertrudis community markable; they contain many examples of abstract
comprises just five families, proud of de-
scending from the Cochimí, the ethnic MESA DEL CARMEN
group that inhabited the central part of the
peninsula. They consider the rock paint-
ings as part of their cultural heritage. In
this region, the most important site that
my guides showed me is the one located
at the Cueva de la Soledad. On the roof
of this cave, at a height of about 6 to 7
meters, there is a huge mural painting, 15
to 20 meters long. It portrays deer, bighorn
sheep, pronghorns, many human figures
in ceremonial poses, and many other mo-
tifs. The subjects are large, almost life-size,
and their colors are still vivid, despite the
millennia. Red-ochre, black, and white are
the most common tints; some of the fig-
ures are painted in two colors, generally
red-ocher and black, that divide them in
half. This mural, a forgotten witness of a
vanished culture, deeply impressed me. To
get there, I had to ride for more than six
hours on horseback and then continue on
foot for three more hours to reach the top
of a plateau. Oddly enough, almost all the
most spectacular sites are hard to reach, far
from the trails and often inaccessible by
horse. Certainly, being so remote not only
made them more special but also helped
their preservation.
Another region rich in rock art is the
Sierra de San Juan, a place so forbidding
that it is hard to imagine that in the past
it could have been home to human beings.
 AMCS ACTIVITIES NEWSLETTER 36
art, mostly paintings. I mapped many sites in this but still alive, as well as elements of vanished tra-
area, but many are still unexplored. ditions like the Gran Mural’s.
Last summer, the company that owns the El I am well aware that there is still much left to
Arco concession announced that they had given do in order to complete our catalogue of the paint-
up the mining project, apparently because of the ings; maybe three or four years’ worth of work.
drop in the price of copper, the main metal they Basically, we have just begun. So, I invite all who
had planned to extract. For those of us who love might be interested in the project to join us in
the Deserto Central this was great news; for the Baja California and to help us in this wonderful
time being the threat posed by mine was gone. I job of cataloging and preserving a heritage that
say for the time being, though, because the conces- does not belong just to Mexico but to all humanity.
sion lasts for fifty years and, should the price of There are still many finds waiting for explorers.
copper rise again, the threat might present itself
again. Meanwhile, we will continue our cataloging
project in the region, and we will look for every
possible way to make it better known, especially
the Valle de los Cirios. One of our goals is to
extend the UNESCO endorsement to the Gran
Mural sites we have mapped and, ideally, also to
the Camino Real. The latter was a missionaries’
road, still well preserved, that along its path are
preserved cultural traditions that are very ancient

CUEVA DEL CARRIZO

 49

2013 HUAUTLA EXPEDITION

CHRIS JEWELL
Caving began on Tuesday, February 26, 2013.
JARVIST MOORE FROST
Thanks to a strong team, within one week the
cave was rigged to Sump 1, Camp 3 established,
and Jason Mallinson had relined Sumps 1 and
2. After another week the rest of the diving and
other equipment for exploration beyond the sumps
were ready at the sump so that a team of five div-
ers could spend one week exploring. Jason went
through and set up Camp 6 on Monday, March
11. The following day the rest of the divers made
their way through Sumps 1 and 2. In total, six dry
tubes’ worth of gear was dived through, with each
of the three rebreather divers making two dives.
Two other divers went through to Camp 6 using
open-circuit gear.
A total of six dives were made in Sump 9 by
Jason Mallinson and Chris Jewell. On the first dive
Jason reached –30 meters in poor visibility. On the
CHRIS JEWELL
next dive Chris reached –48 meters before ascend-
ing to surface in a static pool after 250 meters. A
muddy ascending tube was followed for around
30 meters. On the third dive Jason returned to this
section with some rope, but all passages closed
down. Next Chris and Jason dived together, with
the divers on opposite sides of the passage in an
attempt to find the main underwater continu-
ation. Jason found a tunnel leading off the left
hand wall that both divers followed down to –60
meters before surveying out. The final dive was
made by Jason, who followed this tunnel down
to –81 meters, which was the limit of the trimix
being used. The final dive reached a point 440
 AMCS ACTIVITIES NEWSLETTER 36

CHRIS JEWELL

CHRIS JEWELL

ELLIOT STAHL

CHRIS JEWELL
 51

ELLIOT STAHL ELLIOT STAHL

meters into Sump 9.

ELLIOT STAHL Meanwhile the rest of the team, Mirek Kop-
ertowski, Jon Lillestolen, and Rich Hudson, were
busy looking for dry passages. The passage at the
top of the Río Iglesia waterfall was found to choke
after a short distance, and short sections of cave
were surveyed in Perseverance hall and shortly
before the low-airspace swim. Long extensions
were discovered leading from the back of the
Sump 9 chamber. These extensions followed the
trend of Adams Avenue and in places dropped
back down into known cave. In total 1,774 meters
of dry passages were surveyed, but no bypass to
Sump 9 was discovered. One mystery does remain,
however, as on the last day an undescended pitch
was reached. Appearances suggested this would
drop into known cave, and the team was short
of time and rigging gear so it was left. However
when we plotted the survey data this pitch was
going into new territory.
While the diving team was beyond the sumps
they were in touch with the cavers at Camp 3 by
Nicola radio, and teams took it in turns to stay at
Camp 3 and monitor the radio twice a day. During
this period the route up to Anthrodite hall was
rebolted. On Monday, March 18, the diving team
returned to Camp 3, and a day was spent hauling
kit from the sump before most people headed to
the surface for some rest.
During the following week, week four, most
of the diving kit was carried out of the cave, and
at the same time photos and videos taken. Week
five saw the arrival of our de-rig team, and while
they were getting ready to camp the rest of the div-
ing kit came out. One final camping trip saw the
cave de-rigged to the 620 Depot. After that, several
long day-trips during week six de-rigged the cave
AMCS ACTIVITIES NEWSLETTER 36
1994 EXPEDITION REFUSE 53
- JARVIST MOORE FROST completely, leaving just the entrance ropes. Then
Huautla veterans Bill Steele and Tommy Shifflett
joined the trip, along with Herman Miller and
Emily Zuber. They teamed up with the de-riggers
and went to look at some other leads in the “old
cave” near to Camp 1. The result was another 519
meters of cave surveyed over two trips. [See Bill
Steele’s article in this issue.] 
 In total we estimate that something like thirty
bags of diving and exploration kit (average weight
of 16 kilograms per bag) were carried in and out
of the cave. Thanks to a strong support team of
more than thirty cavers from the U.K., Canada,
the U.S., and Mexico all this was accomplished
quickly and efficiently. Thanks to our sponsors
for making this happen and thanks to the local
people who have made us feel very welcome.
In total the expedition surveyed 2.7 kilometers
CHRIS JEWELL
of cave, and the new system depth is 1,545 me-
ters, which means that Sistema Huautla is now
the deepest cave in the Western Hemisphere once
again.

 
AMCS ACTIVITIES NEWSLETTER 36

CHECKING LEADS NEAR CAMP 1 OF

SAN AGUSTÍN
BILL STEELE

I fully supported the British expedition to ELLIOT STAHL

Sump 9 in Sistema Huautla and helped as much
as I could. I suggested that they involve Ernie
Garza, and Ernie was a huge help to them both
in the preliminary 2012 expedition and the main
one. I also requested that I be allowed to join the
2013 expedition for ten days at the end to check
out a lead in the Camp I area at roughly 300 me-
ters depth. Camp I is on the original deep route
in Sótano de San Agustín, first explored by Texas
cavers in 1966, and the camp was used during the
1968 expedition, made up mostly of cavers from
Canada. Tommy Shifflett of Virginia, a veteran of
Huautla expeditions going back to the 70s, has
talked through the years about seeing a passage up
on a wall in the Camp 1 area. I was interested and
recalled the wind that can blow at times through
the pits above Camp 1. I did not recall that air-flow
being noticeable below that point.
Our team in 2013 was Tommy, Herman Miller
of Texas, Emily Zuber of Washington state, and
I. We came together in Oaxaca City and rode a
ten-passenger bus to Huautla. There we visited
a former American couple who have become
Mexican citizens and live in Huautla, where they
have adopted two Mazatec children. We bought
some provisions and went on to the village of San
Agustín in two taxis.
Those remaining on the British expedition
were very cordial and had nice sleeping places
reserved for us in the large room off the kitchen deep, descending route.
area. The expedition had been there for six weeks On the entrance drop Herman Miller had dif-
and the operation had been smooth. We learned ficulties with his short mini-rack with no hyper-
that the cave had been derigged up to the base bars. He was slow, and it tired him to rappel. We
of the two entrance drops, which was exactly were going to have to come up with a solution
where we needed to go for our lead. We would before the next trip. We took rigging gear, includ-
go down the first two drops, and then instead of ing a Bosch hammer drill and bolting hardware.
going straight ahead and up a breakdown slope At the top of the first drop in the old route we
to the Fool’s Day Extension, discovered in 1987 discovered that we had forgotten the drill bits. We
and the most direct way to the bottom reaches continued without the drill, with Elliott Stahl,
of the cave, we would turn left and traverse the an American who was on the British expedition,
length of the Sala Grande and follow the original leading the way and rigging to natural points. We
 ELLIOT STAHL 55
used 11-millimeter PMI, so the rope’s contact with
the wall was of minimal concern. We did not take
enough rope to get us to Camp 1 on this first trip
in. There were side passages at the level we did
reach, so we checked them out. Surprisingly, we
came across phone line from some long-past trip.
It was strung down from above, presumably down
the wet route that parallels the drier route that I
had taken on all prior trips and we used this time.
Back at the village that night we discussed
what to do about Herman’s rappel-rack situation.
The solution was to borrow a Petzl bobbin from
a Brit who had an extra one; Tommy used it, and
Herman was loaned Tommy’s longer mini-rack
with hyperbar.
The next day we went back into Sótano de San
Agustín with more rope and reached Camp 1. At
the top of the drop down to Camp I Elliott spot-
ted a walking passage across the top of the pit. I
belayed him while he bolted a traverse to it. Then
we descended to Camp 1 and looked around. The
lead we were looking for, which Tommy was sure
he had seen thirty some years before, was not to
be found. I realized we needed the plan view of
this area to see what had been surveyed in the 60s.
The next day, April 8, was a surface rest day,
and we hiked into Huautla. Two of the Brits went
with us, and from the top of the highest ridge I
pointed out where the various entrances to Sistema
ELLIOT STAHL
Huautla are located. Once we got within sight of
Huautla, I called Bill Mixon in Austin on my cell
phone and asked him to scan the plan-view map
of the Camp I area I knew had been published in
the Canadian Caver and send it to me via e-mail.
At an Internet café in Huautla I printed it.
Back at the field house that night we learned
that Dave Ottewell and Helen Blyth had followed
our ropes and gotten down to Camp I. They were
excited that they had dug out a crawlway filled
with sediment and gotten into virgin cave that led
to the top of a short drop. They said they would
also be going into San Agustín the next day with
a rope to rig it.
Before we went into the cave the next day
Ernie Garza arrived, having ridden buses from
San Marcos, Texas, to Huautla and then a taxi to
San Agustín, all in twenty-two hours. On the way
down the cave we came upon Dave, Helen, and
Christine Wilson, who told us that their lead had
led to a deep drop with a lot of passage. Crossing
the bolt traverse Elliott had done, we set seventy-
AMCS ACTIVITIES NEWSLETTER 36
six stations and surveyed about 300 meters of nice ancient ceramic pot I found in 2007 that’s been
passage with some lovely flowstone on the floor. left undisturbed. Herman left this day, bound for
It terminated in a small room with no leads, but Oaxaca and his flight home the next day.
with air flow from cracks near the ceiling. On Saturday Elliott, Emily, Tommy, and I took
Two days later, Thursday, April 11, we were back two taxis into Huautla and then a ten-passenger
in the cave and surveying the passages dug open van toward Oaxaca City. Elliott and Emily got
by the Brits. We surveyed about 200 meters and out at Cuicatlán to go to J2. Tommy and I went
determined that the deep shaft they had found on to Oaxaca to fly back to the USA the next day.
was the very top of the Fishure series of pits that On the way, at dinner that night, and until we
had been entered in years past from the side at parted company the next morning, we discussed
Camp I. There is more to be surveyed in this area restarting the Huautla Project and having annual
and also a possible lead across the top of the drop expeditions for the next decade. Our stated goal
into the Fishure. Dave Ottewell and I are corre- is to explore and survey Sistema Huautla until it
sponding about doing that, perhaps in 2014. is over 1,500 meters deep and 100 kilometers long.
The next day was our last day there. Emily,
Tommy, Elliott, and I hiked down to Sótano del Río
Iglesia, and I took them on a tour to see vampire
bats, the tops of drops to the lower cave, and an
 57

FIRST CAVING IN HUAUTLA

JOHN FISH AND WILLIAM RUSSELL

The caves of the Huautla Plateau in Oaxaca first into a pit about 250 feet deep, later named Sótano
came to cavers’ attention when deep sinkholes were de San Agustín. The small town of San Agustín
observed on the Huautla and Tierra Blanca 1:100,000 (hence the name of the sótano) lies 500 feet above
topographic maps, as reported in a note in the Associa- the sótano in a divide between two huge dolinas.
tion for Mexican Cave Studies Newsletter, volume The San Agustín dolina is approximately one mile
1, number 7, July 1965. “No trips have yet been made to long and up to a quarter of a mile wide. It consists
this area, all information being from topographic maps of a large central dolina with several smaller doli-
with a contour interval of 50 meters. This area will very nas or sinks at each end, below the towns of San
likely contain caves deeper than any now known, as it Andrés and San Agustín. The Río Iglesia dolina
contains a considerable area of internal drainage over appears to be larger, perhaps the same length but
6000 feet above the surrounding lowlands.” The 1966 considerably wider and deeper. In both dolinas
trip report that follows, written by John Fish, and the water runs off volcanic hills or ridges and sinks
area report, by Fish and William Russell, appeared in into the limestone dolina bottoms.
AMCS Newsletter, volume 2, number 3, May–June Looking down from San Agustín we could see
1966, pages 57–67. They have been slightly edited. Par- where the Río Iglesia dropped into a fissure below
ticipants were Ed Alexander, Bob Burnett, John Fish, John a large opening in the mountain. That afternoon
Kreidler, Charlie Jennings, Tommy McGarrigle, and Bill Bob, Ed, and Charlie explored the entrance drop
Russell. A subsequent trip took place in December 1966 of Sótano del Río Iglesia and found that the main
and is reported in the November–December 1966 issue. water passage, which took several hundred gallons
per minute, was impassable. An overflow passage
Ed, Bob, Charlie, and I left in my car late on was easily accessible, though, and led to a drop.
Tuesday afternoon bound for the fabled Huautla Since it was virtually dark we decided not to push
plateau in northeastern Oaxaca. Bill Russell, John the cave then.
Kreidler, and Tommy McGarrigle got a late start Meanwhile Tommy and Bill both spotted
and joined us in Huautla. Despite the many trau- a large entrance near San Agustín on the hill
mas of our drive to Huautla (hole in the gas tank above it. This was subsequently called Cueva de
the size of a nickel repaired with a Tootsie Roll, San Agustín and goes down a series of slopes and
fog along the mountain roads), we arrived there drops to a deep pool of water. The cave appears
at last only to have to wait a day in Huautla while to continue.
I recovered from a severe intestinal infection. Bill After a perusal of our topo maps the next morn-
Russell and group caught up with us and after ing, we decided to look over the area in general.
putting Felix Seiser, a visitor from Austria who In particular we wanted to go to Rancheria de
had come with Bill, on the bus back to the U.S., Camerón, located along the southern flanks of
we drove on to the cave area, which starts about the plateau, where a closed valley is shown. As
three miles east of Huautla. On June 4 we got our the rest of us began our hike, Bill, Tommy, and
first look at the cave country we were seeking. John Kreidler headed along the northeast-trend-
We had planned to drive to the end of the road ing closed valley to Tenango, several kilometers
and camp, but after passing several large sinkholes, away. We found immediately that our topographic
everyone abandoned their cars and started check- maps were incorrect in many details, especially
ing the sinks near the road. Upon questioning the relating to culture, so we made corrections as we
local people, Bill was directed to the bottom of a went along. Many of the Indians who live in the
large closed valley in which a small stream dropped isolated mountains speak only Mazatec, and at
AMCS ACTIVITIES NEWSLETTER 36
times communication was a problem. We found trails, we hiked only to the edge of the plateau.
Camerón that afternoon and discovered that the Among the features we saw were haystack hills,
large valley became narrow and deep in a direc- sinks, a large dolina about two miles across, and
tion away from the plateau. It passed down a series a pit that Bob found in which rocks fell free for
of drops, then between 300-foot-high sheer lime- five seconds, bounced, and fell five more seconds
stone walls, and finally emptied into a broad valley before hitting bottom. Another cave important to
below. Greatly disappointed, we began the long us, anyway, was a little spring we found at the edge
8-kilometer hike back to camp. Except for the few of the plateau that replenished our water supply.
caves found in the large San Miguel dolina (see Back at the car we packed our gear and grudg-
cave descriptions), on this day we found no pits or ingly left for Austin and then the NSS Conven-
caves on the southern flanks of the plateau other tion at Sequoia National Park in California. After
than a few shallow, filled sinks. On the other hand, spending a night on the road with flat tires (both
Bill Russell and crew found several small sótanos, cars had flats) we drove into Tehuacán. The gas
most of which were left unchecked, and a large tank was repaired and the two cars parted com-
cave with a stream entering it. The cave, Cueva pany. Bill Russell’s group stopped briefly by the
de Agua Carlata, was explored as far as twilight gypsum area near Galeana then continued on to
penetrated, about 200 feet below the entrance. Austin. Bob, Charlie, Ed, and I visited a meet-
A large passage containing a good-sized stream ing in Mexico City of the Club Exploraciones de
led downward into darkness. They returned to México, where we showed slides of the Gómez
camp having only partially seen the large valley Farías area and discussed caving. Following a rumor
containing the village of Tenango. of a 250-meter-deep pit near Taxco called Pozo
The morning of June 6 we decided to check Melendez, we found it to be only 320 feet deep.
out the sótano just below our camp, Sótano de The cave was later found to have been reported
San Agustín (see description). Although it was in an old NSS News. We then headed for Austin,
only a few hundred yards away, it took two to car trouble and all. It was a trip that will long be
three hours to tie the rope off and for Bob, Char- remembered by those who participated.
lie, Ed, and Tommy to hack their way down the
vegetation-covered entrance drop. The entrance is
a pit as large as that of Sótano de Huitzmolotitla,
but not quite as deep. From the bottom a high
fissure slopes steeply downward into a big room,
where another stream emerging from breakdown
joins that from the waterfall at the entrance, mak-
ing it comparable to the stream in Río Iglesia. Ed
and Bob continued onward and found that after a
series of short, closely-spaced drops, they had used
all of their rope and not yet reached the bottom.
From the top of the next drop water could be
heard falling and splashing far below.
Since there already were enough people in
Sótano de San Agustín, Bill, John, and I decided
to check out what from a distance looked like a
very promising pit. Much to our surprise, it turned
out to be a cave later named Millipede Cave (see
description). From this cave we got our only good
collection of the whole trip, then returned to the
car.
On June 7, our last day at Huautla, we devoted
the day to a reconnaissance of the nearby areas of
the plateau. As it was about a ten kilometer hike
one way and we were at times uncertain of the
 59
but the culture is more frequently wrong than cor-
rect. Villages are often mislocated, and the names
of villages as well as physiographic features are
often different from those used locally.

HUAUTLA AREA: Small Caves (numbers refer

to Area Sketch Map)

1. Pit near small sink along trail to plateau.

Five seconds free-fall plus five more bouncing.
Unexplored.
2. Cave along the west side of the San Miguel
dolina, just below the trail near the pass to the
Río Iglesia dolina. The cave was explored only
to the end of the twilight zone and consists of
a steeply sloping passage that appears to turn to
the left about 80 feet inside the cave.
3. Cave along the trail on the west side of the
San Miguel dolina. The cave is directly in the pass
to the Río Iglesia dolina. It is a sink with a steep
slope going down about 40 feet to an unentered pit.
4. Cave in side of hill about 0.5 kilometer south-
east of San Agustín on the shortcut trail to San
Miguel. This cave is just across ridge from Cueva
This report is a compilation of the information de San Agustín and might connect with it. A steep
collected from the June 1966 trip to the Huautla slope leads downward from the entrance for about
area by AMCS members. The trip was essentially a 70 feet to a 40-foot drop. The cave continues past
reconnaissance to learn more about the area and the drop as a high fissure.
its potential. This has been only partially achieved 5. Pit under the trail between San Miguel and
because of the large territory involved, but need- Río Santiago and east of the pass near the end of
less to say, the speleo-potential is tremendously the road. The entrance is small and covered with
good. Because of the nature of the trip, no caves rocks, but the pit enlarges to about 50 feet in di-
were mapped. A sketch map of part of the region ameter. Rocks bounce for six seconds. Unexplored.
was made, and several caves were either partly or 6. Pit about 60 feet deep located on the north-
wholly explored. west side of the trail to Río Santiago. Two hori-
The road to Huautla is traversable by truck; zontal entrances about 3 feet high and 4 feet wide
it is presently being extended beyond the point lead from the trail to the pit.
shown on the area map to the town of San Felipe 7. Water Trough Cave. This cave is located near
Jalapa de Díaz. Also, another road is being built a trail leading to the ridge above the road near
from the small town of San Jerónimo to Huautla, the southeast end of the San Agustín dolina. The
which will make the area northwest of Huautla entrance lies at the bottom of a shallow sink, and is
more accessible. formed along bedding planes. Inside the entrance
A topographic map is included in this report is a hollowed-out log for collecting water from
[not reproduced in this reprint] as an aid in locat- dripping formations. The cave contains much fill
ing caves and for future trips to Huautla. It is a material that has created a couple of short drops
partial copy of two maps (the Huautla 14Q-i(11) before completely filling the passage. Note the
and Tierra Blanca 14Q-i(12) quadrangles) produced straight ceiling. See sketch map.
by the Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional. It was 8. Small cave in sink just northwest of Water
these maps that were the first to indicate that the Trough Cave. Cave is about 20 feet long, and 10
Huautla area contained large, deep cave systems. feet high and wide. It slopes steeply downward
In general the topography is reasonably accurate, to a dirt choke.
AMCS ACTIVITIES NEWSLETTER 36
9. Small cave in road cut above entrance to the cave fauna collected on the trip. The fauna
Sótano de San Agustín. A short breakdown slope consisted mostly of crickets, millipedes, spiders,
leads to a small room at the bottom. and phalangids. See sketch map.
10. Sink just across the road from cave 9. A 18 and 19. Sótano del Río Iglesia and Cueva del
dirt pit drops about 20 feet and can be climbed. Río Iglesia. This system is located at the lowest
At the bottom is a small horizontal hole filled point in the Río Iglesia dolina, which is southwest
with water. of San Agustín and perhaps one mile long. The
11. Pit just down hill from pit 10. The cave drops Río Iglesia runs the length of it, tumbling off the
30 feet to water from a small entrance Unexplored. volcanic mountains at one end and disappearing
12. Cave in bottom of a large sink just off road into the limestone sótano at the other end. The
at the upper end of the valley that drains into entrance pit at the waterfall is approximately 120
Sótano de San Agustín. The cave is small, sloping to 150 feet deep, but the large volume of water
steeply to a dirt plug. makes entering at this point impossible. In June
13. Pit in large dolina above the San Agustín the stream was about 4 feet wide and 5 inches
dolina and just below San Andrés. A small climb- deep, but this was before the rainy season had
able entrance leads to a few hundred feet of small really begun.
passage containing a very small stream. Crawlway Slightly above and 100 yards to the right of the
continues. waterfall is a large horizontal entrance to be same
14. Pit in same dolina as number 13. The en- system. From here it is possible to approach the
trance is about 10 feet by 20 feet and drops 15 feet pit entrance by at least two routes. Immediately
to a short crawlway. within the entrance, still in full daylight, a short
15. Pit by small sink at east end of valley, above passage leads to the left to a jungle-covered ledge
the Sótano del Río Iglesia, near the convergence of across from and overlooking the waterfall. From
the trails to San Miguel. The entrance is roughly this vantage point one gets a proper perspective
oval-shaped, 20 feet by 30 feet, and drops 120 feet of the large, slot-like canyon, about 150 feet high
to a dead end. and up to 25 feet wide, that the river disappears
16. Pit high above the Sótano del Río Iglesia, into. The pit was rigged from this ledge.
towards San Agustín, but below the trail from San Along another route from the horizontal en-
Agustín to San Miguel. The entrance is known to trance, a downward slope and a duck-under lead
be small, 10 to 15 feet in diameter, but its depth to a large room. No major passages leave the room,
is unknown. Unchecked. but a tiny stream issues from a narrow fissure, runs
across the room, and continues down a series of
HUAUTLA AREA: Large Caves several small, interconnecting fissures. It is pos-
sible to climb down these to a lower passage that
17. Millipede Cave. This cave is high above runs for a short distance to where it joins with
the Sótano del Río Iglesia, just below the divide the entrance pit approximately 75 feet down.
between the Río Iglesia and San Miguel dolinas From the tie-off point the drop is approximate-
and to the right of the trail from San Agustín to ly 120 feet to a breakdown slope leading down to
San Miguel. It is formed in the collapse of a large the base of the waterfall, which is a pool 30 to 40
solution pocket in the mountainside. The entrance feet in diameter. It was impossible to determine
is about 40 feet in diameter, quickly narrowing where the water continued from here, as visibil-
to 20 feet and sloping steeply (climbable) down- ity was limited by heavy mist. As one faces the
ward to a silt-floored room 75 feet below. A small waterfall, there is a large passage to the right (an
duck-under through some formations leads to a overflow or former water route?) about 30 feet in
shelf above the main floor of a room about 40 diameter that was followed for several hundred
feet wide, 70 feet long, and 40 feet high. The floor feet. After climbing down several drops one reaches
is covered with dry, cracked mud, and has a little a large pool that must be traversed on the right.
gully where water disappears into the floor. At the A short distance farther, a drop estimated to be 70
far end of the room a large pile of breakdown rises feet marks the end of present exploration. Water
steeply to the ceiling, with no evident passageway was heard at the bottom of the drop.
through. On the shelf were found almost all of 20. Cueva de San Agustín. This cave is located in
 61

the side of the hill just to the east of San Agustín each end just below the towns. The San Agustín
and is visible from the trail at the end of the San dolina is roughly one mile long, one-fourth mile
Agustín valley. The entrance is about 50 feet wide wide, and 500 feet deep. Streams running off of
and 40 feet high, but the cave quickly narrows to the volcanic ridges throughout the dolina drain
a high fissure that leads from the right side of the into the sótano over a 250-foot waterfall.
entrance. The floor of this fissure slopes steeply The entrance is estimated to be 120 feet across,
downward to a drop of about 40 feet, formed where 70 feet wide, and 250 feet deep. It is best to enter
breakdown has wedged in the fissure. Below this on the side opposite the waterfall, which would
drop the fissure widens from about 20 feet to be a free drop through water, even though it is
over 35 feet and turns slightly to the left. The necessary to clear out a path through vegetation
floor in this area consists of small breakdown and in order to rappel. From the bottom a high fis-
slopes gently towards a second, flowstone-covered sure passage goes back under the waterfall. A
drop. This drop is about 50 feet and leads into a stream flows down a steep canyon that requires
continuation of the fissure. The fissure in this sec- a handline and enters a very large room, so large
tion is about 70 to 80 feet high and about 30 feet that the first explorers momentarily got lost on
wide with a flat floor of compact dirt. Below the the way out of the cave. Another stream emerges
drop, drips and seeps have accumulated to form a from breakdown to join the main stream. This
small stream that flows along the right side of the room turns left over breakdown and short climb-
passage to a third drop, of about 10 feet. Beyond able drops to where several small rooms led to
this drop the cave continues for another 200 feet the next series of drops. The first three or four of
before dropping again, this time into a deep pool these drops are about 30 to 40 feet each and are
of water. The passage does not end, but the water separated only by plunge pools. Here exploration
prevented exploration. ended due to lack of equipment, but waterfalls
21. Sótano de San Agustín. This sótano lies at could be heard below.
the lower end of the long dolina stretching from 22. Cueva de Agua Carlota. This large cave is
San Andrés to San Agustín. The dolina is made up located about 3 kilometers east of San Agustín on
of a large central sink and several smaller sinks at the northwest side of the main northeast-trending
AMCS ACTIVITIES NEWSLETTER 36
valley. The cave is best reached by following the passages connect with an upper entrance. Below
trail from San Agustín to Río Santiago until the this upper entrance a large passage about 50 feet
east-facing entrance is visible. The entrance is at wide and 40 feet high slopes steeply downward
the base of a ridge that is about one-half kilome- past the level of the lower entrance. The stream
ter west of a small village called La Providencia. entering the lower entrance flows through one
Between the town and the cave is a small valley of the connecting passages and down a series of
containing numerous springs that form a sizable rapids and cascades. About 300 feet from the up-
stream and flow into the lower cave entrance (see per entrance there is a slight jog to the left, and
cave map). the passage becomes smaller, steeply sloping, and
The lower cave entrance forms a large shelter elliptical, approximately 30 feet high and 20 feet
about 150 feet wide, 50 feet deep, and 50 feet high. wide. The stream flows over two short drops to
To the right as one enters the cave and up a short the top of a 10 foot waterfall, with another wa-
breakdown slope are two walking-size passages that terfall visible just beyond. The cave is unexplored
lead for about 150 feet. One ends in dirt fill and beyond this point.
breakdown, while the other narrows to a dirt-filled
crack. From the back of the lower entrance two
 63

NEW CAVE SURVEY AT GRUTAS DE

JUXTLAHUACA, MEXICO
LAURA ROSALES
Grutas de Juxtlahuaca is a tourist cave in the
Municipio of Colotlipa, Guerrero, Mexico. This
cave is very well decorated and contains paintings
and drawings attributed to the Olmec culture,
based on their style and iconography. The cave
was initially measured by Andrés Ortega, profes-
sor in Colotlipa, to determine its length. It was
surveyed with compass and tape in November
1971 by Jess Corson, Enrique Ortega, Charles Roy,
Kathleen Roy, and William Steele. The resulting
detailed plan-view map of Grutas de Juxtlahuaca
was drafted by Terry Cox in 1972 and published
as a loose insert in Association for Mexican Cave
Studies Newsletter, volume 5, number 1, 1974. (See
http://www.amcs-pubs.org/maps/0057.pdf.) A par- to relate the cave to the surface topography, pro-
tial re-survey of the cave was completed in June duce a detailed map of La Sorpresa, and obtain
2011 by Keith Christenson and Laura Rosales to the cave’s profile. The data from the 1971 survey
locate a passage named La Sopresa that was not were apparently lost in a fire, so it could not be
included in the original map. The location of La used for this purpose. The resurvey in the cave did
Sorpresa is important because of recent paleocli- not extend to the end of the cave, so the plan and
mate work there by Dr. Matthew Lachniet, from profile included here shows mainly the location
the University of Nevada Las Vegas, and Dr. Juan of La Sorpresa passage within the front half of
Pablo Bernal Uruchurtu, from Centro de Geocien- Juxtlahuaca Cave. Juan Pablo Bernal named some
cias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, of the most prominent speleothem formations in
to reconstruct the paleoclimate in southwestern La Sorpresa.
Mexico. Various software programs and steps were fol-
The resurvey of the cave was continued in late lowed to produce the maps here. In the case of the
September and October 2012 using a hand-held plan view of Juxtlahuaca, the 2011 and 2012 survey
compass, a clinometer, and a laser distance meter data were first plotted with the Walls program.
by Barbara Luke, Hugo Salgado Garrido, Ramón Secondly, the resulting plan-view map was overlaid
Espinasa Pereña, Ruth Diamant Adler, Sofía Es- in a drawing program on the 1971 map at the same
pinasa Diamant, Ramón Espinasa Closas, Sergio scale and oriented to fit the line-plot as well as
Eduardo Nuño Licona, and Laura Rosales Lagarde possible. Last, the passage outline of the 1971 map
AMCS ACTIVITIES NEWSLETTER 36
 65
was cut in the fewest segments practical to adjust BIBLIOGRAPHY
to the plan view drawn by Walls. To orient the Gay, C. T. E. (1967). Oldest paintings in the New
cave relative to the surface topography, the geore- World. Natural History, vol. 76, no. 4, p. 28–35.
ferenced 1:50,000 topographic map from INEGI Lachniet, Matthew, Asmerom, Yemane, Bernal,
was overlaid in Arc GIS by the plan view of Juxt- Juan Pablo., Polyak, Victor J., and Vazquéz-
lahuaca Cave exported from Walls. The resulting Selem, Lorenzo (in press 2013). Orbital pacing
image was used to obtain the surface topography and ocean circulation-induced collapses of the
above the cave profile created by Walls. The line Mesoamerican monsoon over the past 22,000
plot of the La Sorpresa passage was overlaid in a y. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sci-
drawing program by the in-cave sketches drawn ences of the United States of America: doi:10.1073/
at a known scale, and drafted. The La Sorpresa pnas.1222804110.
passage has 190 meters of surveyed length, which, Lachniet, Matthew S., Bernal, Juan Pablo, Asmerom,
when added to the length surveyed in 1971, pro- Yemane, Polyak, Victor, and Piperno, Dolores
duces a total of 5288 meters of surveyed passage (2012) A 2400 yr Mesoamerican rainfall recon-
in Juxtlahuaca Cave. struction links climate and cultural change.
Geology, vol. 40, no. 3, p. 259–262. doi:10.1130/
G32471.1.
 AMCS ACTIVITIES NEWSLETTER 36

ASTYANAX INTERNATIONAL MEETING 2013

WILLIAM R. ELLIOTT
I retired as the Missouri Department of Con- around Ciudad Valles in the Sierra de El Abra.
servation’s cave biologist in 2011, but recently I A number of cavers and biologists joined us. We
got re-involved in cavefish work in Mexico. I was also descended into Bee Cave near the northern
invited to speak at the AIM 2013 (Astyanax In- end of the cavefish range, Chamal area, Sierra de
ternational Meeting), March 17–21, 2013, at Hotel Guatemala, near Ciudad Mante. Our task was to
Taninul, Ciudad Valles, San Luis Potosí, Mexico. map cavefish caves and collect fish. During this
My wife, Gayle Unruh, accompanied me. This was work I discovered a new species of troglomorphic
like a trip into both the past and the future. cave scorpion while mapping Sótano de Yerbaniz.
The meeting drew forty people, mostly uni- I earned my MS and PhD under Bob Mitchell.
versity geneticists and behaviorists, and a couple Later I did a lot of work in the Sierra de Guatemala.
of old cave biologists, Luís Espinasa and me. We I have studied many aspects of cave biology. My
hailed from the U.S., Mexico, France, China, Japan, career also took me to many caves in Texas, Belize,
Israel, Germany, Slovenia, and Brazil. The AIM many western states, Alaska, and finally Missouri.
group is very active because Astyanax cavefish are Before I went to AIM I had a bibliography of
easily bred in the lab, and they are an interesting 217 papers on cave Astyanax going back to their
model of cave-animal evolution. discovery in 1936, but in recent years 40 or 50 more
I started caving as a University of Texas biol- papers have appeared. The AMCS and AIM folks
ogy student in 1967. Soon I was collecting inverte- largely were unaware of each other, but I hope we
brates and mapping caves in Texas and Mexico. Bill can change this. The major labs are led by William
Russell taught me how to map caves, and James R. Jeffery, Sylvie Rétaux, Suzanne McGaugh, Josh
Reddell amazed me when he reported that some Gross, Richard Borowsky, and Ernesto Maldonado,
of my inverts were new species. I was recruited who have been involved in organizing these meet-
by Dr. Robert W. Mitchell to attend grad school ings. AIM works in the Huastecan region of San
at Texas Tech University and join his research on Luís Potosí and Tamaulipas, including the Sierra
Astyanax cavefish. I started this work for Bob in de El Abra, Sierra de Guatemala, and part of the
the summer of 1969. Don Broussard, Jim McIn- Sierra de Nícolas Pérez, from Ciudad Valles to
tire, and I spent six weeks working in many caves Gómez Farías.

AIM 2013 GROUP PHOTO

BY ERNESTO MALDONADO
 67
The keynote speaker was Suzanne McGaugh,
Washington University, St. Louis, who talked about
the DNA-sequencing project she is leading, in
which the cave and surface Astyanax genomes
will be decoded. There were twenty-four papers
and seven posters given. I gave the concluding
paper on my studies of caves and blind fishes in
northeastern Mexico from 1969–1981, with a lot
of vintage photos and maps of caves, geology, and
hydrology.
AIM started in 2009 with an initial confer-
ence at Hotel Taninul, followed by meetings in
2011 and 2013 at the same place. I obtained PDF SIERRA DE EL ABRA
ROBERT W. MITCHELL
copies of the meeting programs, which they have
allowed AMCS to post on its website. Over the behavioral study in small inflatable pools. The air
three meetings they have hosted sixty-nine papers, quality became progressively worse toward the
seven posters, and one round-table discussion, but end of the cave, with elevated CO2 and reduced
no proceedings were published. The research labs O2, but we managed to have some fun anyway. I
publish their papers in various journals. took some GPS fixes on the entrances Subterrá-
On Wednesday, March 20, we took a field trip neo and Otates. Later I found my 1974 surveys of
by bus to Cueva del Río Subterráneo near Micos, Cueva de Otates, next door, and Cueva de Lienzo,
an interesting cave with an evolving population across the valley. Unfortunately, we don’t think
of eyed and eyeless Astyanax fish. Luís Espinasa anyone ever mapped Subterráneo, although there
led us along the edge of a karst valley of sugar is a sketch map. These three Micos cavefish sites
cane fields to the cave, passing by Cueva de Otates are interesting because the geneticists have de-
on the way. Since a 5-meter cable ladder drop tected some gene flow out of the system into the
was involved, we divided into two groups, half surface fishes. Possibly two of the caves may act
of us lingering outside to eat our lunches. The as estavelles, disgorging as well as taking water,
Mexicans and French expertly belayed us up and but no one has actually observed that yet. I would
down the pitch, and we slogged our way through like to recruit some cavers to map Subterráneo.
a succession of pools inhabited by fish. Espinasa Besides the cavefish, a highlight of the day
and Rétaux netted some fish for a small, in-cave was when I caught a Pteronotus bat just inside
Subterráneo. I’m not sure which species it is yet.
CUEVA DEL RÍO SUBTERRÁNEO We measured and photographed it, and I released
BY SYLIE RÉTAUX
it. We also visited the cascades at the village of
Pago Pago on the way back.
In my presentation on Thursday I looked back
forty-five years to the way we did field work in
the twentieth century, culminating in the big Asty-
anax paper in 1977. This ecological/hydrological/
biological paper has been an important source of
information to many cavefish researchers. If only
GPS had existed back then! We did not discover
Mexican topographic maps until the late 1970s.
I had prepared a large dataset of cave locations,
and part of the talk was a video flight or “tour” in
Google Earth, showing the locations of all known
cavefish and non-fish caves in the area. The data
are being translated into WallsMap format by
David McKenzie.
I had not been in the El Abra since 1974, or
AMCS ACTIVITIES NEWSLETTER 36

Transcriptome analysis in Astyanax mexicanus blind cavefish and sighted surface fish. Hélène
Hinaux, Julie Poulain, Corinne Da Silva, Céline Noirot, William R Jeffery, Didier Casane,
and Sylvie Rétaux.
An analysis of gene expression level changes across development in surface and cavedwelling fish.
Joshua B. Gross and Michael Matthews.
Divergence and Speciation in Astyanax of the Sierra El Abra. Richard Borowsky.
Hybridization and the colonization of the cave environment by fish. Amy Cahill, Maria Yurgel,
and Luis Espinasa.
Genetic structure of Astyanax mexicanus at Mexican Atlantic slope. Sarai Esquivel Bobadilla,
Francisco J. García de León, and Richard Borowsky.
Paradigm shifts and pendulum swings regarding the origin of Astyanax cavefish: What about geol-
ogy? Luis Espinasa.
An integrated transcriptome-wide analysis of cave and surface dwelling Astyanax mexicanus. Allison
Furterer, Brian M. Carlson, Bethany A. Stahl, and Joshua B. Gross.
Compared phylogenies of monogeneans parasites and their host Astyanax mexicanus. Ana Ofelia
Santacruz Vázquez, Rolando Bárcenas-Luna, andFausto Arellano-Carbajal.
An analysis of structural mutations in the gene Mc1r in surface and Granadas cavedwelling Astyanax
aeneus. Joshua B. Gross, Amanda J. Krutzler, andLuis Espinasa.
Caballo Moro breaks Dollo’s law: Recuperation of vision in a blind cavefish population. Luis Es-
pinasa and William Jeffery.
Development of the olfactory system in Astyanax cavefish and surface fish. Maryline Blin, Yoni
Bibliowicz, and Sylvie Rétaux.
Molecular systematics of the genus Astyanax (Characiformes: Characidae)—starter edition. Rubens
Pazza, Luiz Antonio Carlos Bertollo, Lurdes Foresti de Almeida-Toledo, and Karine
Frehner Kavalco.
Characterization of two trophic ecotypes of Lake Catemaco through diet analysis of stable isotopes.
Ma. P. Bermúdez-González, A. Bautista, and C.P. Ornelas García.
Role of αA-crystallin in Astyanax cavefish eye degeneration. Li Ma and William R. Jeffery.
HSP90 as a capacitor for the evolution of eye loss in cavefish. N. Rohner, D. F. Jarosz, M. Taipale,
J. Kowalko, M. Yoshizawa, W. R. Jeffery, R. L. Borowsky, S. Lindquist, and C. J. Tabin.
Development and genetics of the Astyanax sclera: An optic tissue organized by the lens. William
R. Jeffery, Pooja Doshi, Masato Yoshizawa, and Kelly E. O’Quin.
Quantitative genetic analysis of retinal degeneration in the blind cavefish A. mexicanus. Kelly E.
OʼQuin, Masato Yoshizawa, Pooja Doshi, and William R. Jeffery.
Pigmentation loss in cave animals: A high-resolution study of destructive genetic mutations. Bethany
A. Stahl and Joshua B. Gross.
Adaptive changes in vibration attraction behavior and its sensory receptors promote eye degeneration
and disparity between the nuclear and mitochondrial genomes in Pachón cavefish. Masato
Yoshizawa, Kelly E. O’Quin, Go Ashida, and William R. Jeffery.
An evaluation of eyelessness in cave-dwelling Astyanax mexicanus using RNA-seq technology.
Aaron L. Stahl, Bethany A. Stahl, Elke Buschbeck, and Joshua B. Gross.
Fragmentation, fusion, and asymmetry in the craniofacial skeleton of Astyanax mexicanus. Amanda
J. Krutzler, Lauren E. Bruns, and Joshua B. Gross
Transgenesis methods in Astyanax. Laurent Legendre, Yannick Elipot, Hélène Hinaux, Stéphane
Pere, Frédéric Sohm, and Sylvie Retaux.
Unravelling continuous eye growth in teleosts by studying blind cavefish. Manuel Stemmer, Laura-
Nadine Schuhmacher, Nicholas S. Foulkes, Cristiano Bertolucci, and Joachim Wittbrodt.
Isolation and characterization of V1r pheromone receptor gene in cave and surface variants of Asty-
anax mexicanus. Oscar Manuel García-González and Fausto Arellano-Carbajal.
Statistics on Astyanax husbandry in the Gif facility. Stéphane Père, Yannick Elipot, Laurent
Legendre, Hélène Hinaux, and Sylvie Rétaux.
Parallel evolution within the Astyanax genus in Mesoamerica. Claudia Patricia Ornelas García,
Carlos Pedraza-Lara, Marta Barluenga, and Ignacio Doadrio.
Olfactory evolution in cave-dwelling Astyanax mexicanus. Jonathan Bibliowicz, Yannick Elipot,
Maryline Blin, and Sylvie Rétaux
Metabolic regulation of sleep in A. Mexicanus. Alex C. Keene.
Feed or fight: Developmental origin of a behavioral shift in blind cavefish. Sylvie Rétaux, Yannick
Elipot, Lise Prunier, Hélène Hinaux, and Maryline Blin.
Astyanax: Looking back 45 years. William R. Elliott.
 69
the Sierra de Guatemala since 1981. I shared my able to retrieve my many field books, survey notes,
ideas on what ought to be done to further cavefish and some maps archived there. We are scanning
research. I emphasized that the caves are not dots them, and I intend to re-draft the lost maps that
on a two-dimensional map, but complex, three- somehow disappeared forty years ago. Over the
dimensional spaces with dynamic hydrology. I rec- next year I may produce about twelve cavefish
ommended a new expedition to relocate Sótano cave maps and some area maps.
de Soyate, northeast of Los Sabinos. We explored Thanks to Logan McNatt, Bill Mixon, David
and mapped Soyate in 1969 and collected cavefish McKenzie, and others for helping me find my Mex-
from the deepest base-level point in the Sierra ico and Texas field books in the TSS and AMCS
de El Abra, about –234 meters. Soyate had a very files. Bill also had two of my larger inked maps, of
large population of cavefish, but our collections Sótano de Yerbaniz and Cueva Chica, which will
never got into the sampling stream for cavefish be scanned so I can update them. David McKenzie
genetics. I believe this may be the unrecognized is re-training me on Walls, WallsMap, and Adobe
“metapopulation” of cavefish for the southern El Illustrator 10. Thanks also to Linda Mitchell and
Abra. Several biologists may team up with cavers Sharon Mitchell, Bob’s widow and daughter, who
to investigate the Soyate population in late 2013. shared important letters and photos with me and
The AIM researchers still value the maps, the AMCS. Bill Mixon has scanned more than a
descriptions, and insights about geology, hydrol- thousand of Bob’s field-trip slides, including some
ogy, and the origin of the cavefish published by photos of Richard Albert’s airplane and caver crew,
Mitchell, Russell, and Elliott, 1977. A PDF of this including Bill Russell, Tom Albert, and Don Brous-
monograph and others may be found at www. sard. Those flights were important in finding new
amcs-pubs.org/other/otherpubs.html and my web- caves in 1969 in northeastern Mexico, including
site, http://mocavelife.com/. Some of the researchers cavefish caves on the west side of the El Abra
were familiar with AMCS Bulletin 1, Caves of the and megapits on the eastern crest. The ones on
Inter-American Highway, by Russell and Raines, but the crest, deep as they are, do not reach water, so
few knew about John Fish’s 1977 dissertation, Karst they lack cavefish.
Hydrology of the Sierra de El Abra, Mexico, published
as AMCS Bulletin 14 in 2004. My job was to famil-
iarize them with cave exploration and mapping PDFs of the program and abstracts of the
and point them to some interesting caves. conference, as well as those for the 2009 and 2011
Bob Mitchell passed away in March 2010. We conferences, are on the web at www.amcs-pubs.
originally had big plans to publish a series of pa- org/other/otherpubs.html.
pers describing all thirty cavefish caves, with my
cave maps; that was not realized, but we did pub-
lish the monograph. A few maps were published
in caving publications.
With the help of TSS and AMCS I have been

ROBERT W. MITCHELL, 1969

CUEVA DEL REY CONDOY
OAXACA, MEXICO

PHOTO ESSAY
PHOTOGRAPHER: ELLIOT STAHL
71
AMCS ACTIVITIES NEWSLETTER 36
73
AMCS ACTIVITIES NEWSLETTER 36
75
AMCS ACTIVITIES NEWSLETTER 36
77
AMCS ACTIVITIES NEWSLETTER 36
 79

UEYOLBASTLE

GUSTAVO VELA
TRANSLATED BY AL WARILD

When we spoke with the engineer at the later they found the poor missing guy crushed
Protección Civil de Ajalpan, he told us a story under a fallen branch. He’d been cutting a tree
about a sótano in the community of La Esperanza, in a remote part of the forest, and nobody could
where they had had to go to look for a lost person. hear his calls for help, if in fact he had been able
He told us that the people in the community took to call. At least his family was happy to have their
him to a large pit, where when he looked over loved-one’s remains, and the protección civil agent
the edge the floor appeared to be covered with was also happy that he didn’t have to descend
grass, but when he observed it more carefully with the sótano looking for him. We wondered about
binoculars he realized that they were in fact “pine the story for a few weeks (Wow! We’ve got to get
trees.” He finished his story by telling us that a week up there and see this with our own eyes.) until
mid-April, when we got time to get up there and
take a look.
When Al and I arrived in the locality of La
Esperanza (Hope; with so much misery in this lost
corner of the sierra, they didn’t need hope to keep
going, but blind faith), the very accommodating
political head of the community offered to take us
there the next day. He also told us that a few years
before a French group had descended the sótano,
but the community had been upset because they
had gone there without first asking permission.
As we had asked first before going up the hill,
they were happy with us. As is the way in the
sierra, it turned out that the sótano is in fact in
the neighboring community’s land, but they did
presumably have permission as they were living
in the village. Of course, we weren’t so happy that
somebody had beaten us to the sótano, but as we
were already there we thought we might as well
take a look anyway. When we finally arrived at
the entrance, we realized just how big, beautiful,
and impressive this entrance actually is. Surely the
French had found it on Google Earth; it’s clearly
visible if you know where to look.
And so we began the task of finding a good
spot to descend, and with an entrance some 100
by 150 meters, we had plenty of options—a few
too many, really. Al took a look at the tree that
we were told the French had used, but seeing how
badly the rope rubbed, he moved to another spot.
He descended some 80 meters through steep scrub,
rebelaying off several trees. Once he was ready
GUSTAVO VELA
AMCS ACTIVITIES NEWSLETTER 36

50

100

Perfil
150m

N
0 10 20 30 40 50 m

Ueyolbastle Planta
(Sótano Grande)
La Esperanza/Tecpanzacualco, Ajalpan, Puebla, México
X: 0709951 Y: 2046227 Z: 2390, NAD27 Mexico
Profundidad topografiado: 154 m

Explorado y topografiado por los miembros de la expedición Tzontzecuiculi 2013

con DistoX, Suuntos & Auriga
 81
to descend the final drop it was GUSTAVO VELA
obvious that the rope wasn’t long
enough. As he came back up for
more rope, the huge rocks that he
kicked off convinced him to move to
yet another, safer spot. And so it was
Gustavo’s turn to rig from a tree on
the lower edge, where there appeared
to be a free drop to the bottom. After
putting in a few anchors on the steep
slope leading to the overhanging
edge and hanging the rope from the
“perfect” tree, he lowered the rope
only to find that it didn’t reach from
there either. Damn! He called for Al
to bring more rope, and he passed at
the tree and went on down to add
his rope to the one that had been
20-odd meters short.
Once on the bottom, we did
a quick circuit to see if there was
any way on, finding nothing but a
small pool of clear water to drink.
What luck! We hadn’t brought much
water with us, it was hot as hell
outside, and we were climbing in
full sun. Most importantly though,
we did verify that the grass on the
bottom was in fact mostly bamboo
scrub with a few taller bushes, 3 to
4 meters high, against one wall. We
didn’t find any pine trees. On the
way up we took measurements for
the map.
Back in town Gustavo wrote to the French Zactl (Sótano Pino-Pasto, Sótano Pine-Grass), but
cavers, but as their answer was somewhat vague, had to respect the local name that it already had:
we finished the map. The sótano is 154 meters Ueyolbastle (Sótano Grande, Big Hole).
deep. We really wanted to call it Olbastl Ocotl-
AMCS ACTIVITIES NEWSLETTER 36

SUMMER CAVING IN THE RIVIERA MAYA

BEV SHADE, DEVRA HEYER, AND PETER SPROUSE

From August 10 to 26, 2012, a group of cavers into cool subterranean rivers.
from the U.S. and Mexico continued the survey After settling into our set of rented houses in
and exploration of the extensive and beautiful the neighborhood of Chan Chemuyil, our trip
caves of coastal Quintana Roo. This two-week started with an evening swim on August 10 in
trip was part of an ongoing effort to find and Casa Cenote. Casa Cenote is the final resurgence
document primarily dry caves in an area of the of Sistema Sac Actun, located just north of Tu-
Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico that is undergoing lum. There are several other resurgences along the
rapid development. There are challenges to cave way, where water briefly flows along the surface
exploration in this area—caves are hidden by thick before going underground again. The last comes
and spiky jungle, which makes entrances hard to out offshore of a beach; a blue hole about 8 me-
find. Due to the major tourist boom in the area, ters across is located in the surf. The fresh water
lots of jungle is being cleared, but then many flow out of the cave was quite strong, pushing me
caves are destroyed by construction or quarrying. back when I dove in. The mixing of fresh and salt
The dry caves in this area are horizontal, slid- water makes it difficult to see into the hole, but
ing along in the approximately 12 meters between it was wonderful to feel a connection to so many
the ground surface and the water table. But what kilometers of cave upstream.
a 12 meters it is! Spacious, well-decorated river The next day our explorations started in earnest.
caves extend for kilometers, dotted with oasis-like Over the next two weeks we worked in several
skylights where sun-spangled jungle dips down areas, sending out teams to multiple destinations

AIDA FERREIRA AND TERRI SPROUSE SURVEYING NEAR THE

ANDAMIO ENTRANCE TO SISTEMA DOS ARBOLES BY PETER SPROUSE
 83
every day. Most people took a day off here and long Gruta Escondida de Tara.
there, and we did a day of whale shark watch- Toward the coast from Río Escondido the next
ing, but mostly we were surveying like crazy. I’ll system is Sistema Dos Arboles. We got in a day of
describe these activities heading southwest down surveying in this cave with two teams, working
the coastline from Playa del Carmen. around the Clownfoot and Andamio entrances.
Sistema Río Escondido: This cave is located very This system crosses under the highway near an
close to the well-known cave tour called Río Se- ATV park close to the coast. We had found an
creto, which takes place in a parallel system called entrance we named Sistema Trono adjacent to
Sistema Pool Tunich. Gustavo Vela had started the the highway in February, and Aída Ferreira had
survey, but it is an extensive cave, and one of our begun a survey of it. We continued the survey in
objectives on this trip was to put a big dent in hopes of being able to connect to Dos Arboles.
finishing the survey. We spent several days with Several areas of collapsed passage related to high-
multiple teams in this cave, finishing the survey way construction prevented this.
at the south end of the cave, then working from Directly west of the Paamul community lie
the Shaman Entrance toward our recent southern several cave systems located and explored on previ-
survey as well as north toward passages surveyed ous trips: Sistema Paamul, Sistema Muévelo Rico,
on the previous trip. In addition, one team spent and Sistema Menéalo Sabrosito. Sistema Paamul
a day at the north end of the system (aka Cenote was pushed westward to its end in increasingly
Maravillas or Dino’s Cave), pushing the survey smaller remnant caves, while Sistema Muévelo Rico
south toward the surveyed areas near the Sha- was pushed southwest to several new entrances.
man Entrance. Gil Harmon also spent some time In mapping surface sinkholes, we discovered and
chopping trails outside of several entrances that surveyed a cave sandwiched between Menéalo
are only known from inside the cave, in search Sabrosito and Muévelo Rico, called Cueva Dona
of new caves, of which he found several. To the for its donut-like shape in plan view. Cueva Tres
northwest, survey was also carried out in the Tres Días, located about 300 meters south of Sistema
Escalones entrance to Pool Tunich, working both Muévelo Rico, was explored and surveyed. Unlike
upstream to the northwest and downstream to the other large systems on the property, this cave
the southeast. was rather low and stuffy. It was named for how
An attempt was made to push a lead in the long the survey was expected to take, but since
southwest part of Sistema Sac Muul that had been only two days were spent in it, that has yet to be
left the previous November. When the cavers sud- determined.
denly emerged in a huge rock quarry, they realized Close to the town of Puerto Aventuras, we had
that a considerable section of the cave had been the opportunity to visit the boutique jungle lodge
quarried away, along with another cave, 984-meter- of Taninah. While there, we surveyed a cave on

GIL HARMON AND LILIANA VIOLA LIGHT UP THE MAIN PASSAGEWAY

IN CUEVA MEDIA LUNA BY PETER SPROUSE
AMCS ACTIVITIES NEWSLETTER 36

Cueva de Cámaras

Akumal, Quintana Roo Entrada

Topografiado con Suuntos, cinta, y medidor láser

Marzo de 2009 - Agosto de 2012

Will Harris Ed Mallon

Pat Kambesis Rebecca Pokluda
Brad Hacker Rolland Moore
Chris Omura Joel Despain
Cueva de Cámaras
Devra Heyer German Yañez
Aaron Addison Akumal, Quintana Roo

Topografiado con Suuntos, cinta, y medidor láser

Cartografía por Aaron Addison

Marzo de 2009 - Agosto de 2012

Will Harris Ed Mallon

Pat Kambesis Rebecca Pokluda

Longitud: 2116 m Profundidad: 6 m

Brad Hacker
Chris Omura
Devra Heyer
Rolland Moore
Joel Despain
German Yañez
Aaron Addison
Cartografía por Aaron Addison
Longitud: 2116 m Profundidad: 6 m

Ngrid

0 10 20 30 40 50
metros

Entrada
 Entrada Ngrid

0 10 20 30 40 50
metros

Entrada
Entrada

Entrada
Media Luna
Cueva de la Media Luna

Actun Chen Natural Park, Quintana Roo

Topografiado con Suuntos, cinta, y medidor láser

Agosto de 2012
cartografía by Aaron Addison
 diveline to “The Pit”

Sistema Sac Actun

Pet Cemetery Area

Tulum, Quintana Roo tie-in to Dos Ojos dive line

Notes:
Suunto and laser rangefinder survey Don’s $100 Cenote
Many of the columns shown extend only to water level, and are actually stalactites
August 2012
Gold lines are sport “cavern” dive lines
Drawn by Peter Sprouse

Don Arburn Gill Ediger

Aida Ferreira Devra Heyer
0 10 20 30 40 50 Carrie Hutchins Pat Kambesis
metros Chris Lloyd Rene Rogers Ohms
Bev Shade Peter Sprouse Ngrid
Terri Sprouse German Yañez
Jacinto Vela
Colapso Xibalbá

?
Entrada
Vainilla
Norte
Entrada Pozo
Profundo Big Cenote Entrada BFR pantano land bridge
claraboya
Entrada
Dos Plumas
de Toh
Via Vela

sump
Entrada
Vainilla
Sur

Entrada
Sardinas
midden

Entrada Coralillo Falso

Colapso Pet Cemetery
sump
Big Cenote
claraboya

dock Entrada BFR

Entrada
Entrada Pozo Sin Nombre
Profundo
sumps
do

Entrada Mosquitos
ck

dive route to Dirty Dog

(IHOP) Cenote
?

sump
dive route to
Blue Abyss
 87

Cenote
Dos Ojos

Dos Ojos
Cenote Region
Pet Cemetery
Nmag
2012
Cenote
Outland

Sistema Sac Actun

Cenote
Nohoch Nah Chich
Municipio de Tulum
Tulum, Quintana Roo
México
Cenote
Length: 303356.8 Meters Muul Ha
Depth: -125.2 Meters
Cenote
Manati

Sac Actun
Region

Cenote Cenote
Sac Actun Nohoch Kin

Cenote
Naval

2 Kilometers
Cenote Calavera
(Temple of Doom)
Cenote
Abejas
October 2012
Quintana Roo Speleological Survey
AMCS ACTIVITIES NEWSLETTER 36
the premises. The cave is right in the middle of
the accommodations and has been heavily modi- Participants
fied, including a stone stairway, several recirculat- Aaron Addison, Gabriela Cel Delgado, Gill Edi-
ing pumps to make permanent waterfalls, and ger, Aída Ferreira, Gil Harmon, Adam Haughey,
a water slide. We were initially horrified at the Quinn Haughey, Devra Heyer, Carrie Hutchins,
modifications, but after trying out the water slide Christine Loew, Pat Kambesis, Chris Lloyd, Ben
we decided that things could be worse. We had Morgan, Kathleen O’Connor, Rebecca Pokluda,
so much fun on the water slide we really had to Ron Rutherford, Kevin Rutherford, Peter Sprouse,
tear ourselves away to continue our searching for Terri Sprouse, Edmund Tucker, Deysi Uc Puc, Ja-
new caves. cinto Vela Celestino, Liliana Viola, German Yañez
At Akumal, several trips were made into Cueva
de Cámaras, a cave that Aaron Addison had begun
mapping in March 2009. This is located on the
low ridge west of the highway, and it was unusual
for the area in that it lacked water and had only
one entrance. On this trip another entrance was
reached in the northeast arm of the cave and the
length increased to 2116 meters.
At the Actun Chen Natural Park, we surveyed
Cueva de la Media Luna, a well-decorated maze
of columns that stretches about 300 meters west
from an entrance with an impressive headwall. To
our dismay, on the last day of survey we found
that the cave had been previously mapped, but
we finished our efforts in case we could discover
some additional passages and produced a map
which we had promised to the landowner.
Sac Actun is well known as one of the great
Yucatecan underwater caves. However, there is
also some lovely dry passage associated with sev-
eral of its entrances. On this trip, we surveyed the
“dry” (non-diving) passage associated with the Pet
Cemetery Cenote, also known as Mystic River or
Nohoch. This part of Sac Actun did not have a
proper cave map. In the course of these efforts,
we connected the Pet Cemetery passages with the
Sardinas Entrance, the Coralillo Falso entrance, the
Colapso Xibalba, the Dos Plumas del Toh entrance,
the Vainilla Norte and Vainilla Sur entrances, and
most notably Don’s $100 Cenote, which is an en-
trance to Sistemas Dos Ojos. A detailed account
of that connection can be found in the December
2012 issue of the NSS News (The Sac Actun – Dos
Ojos Survey Connection, by Devra Heyer and Peter
Sprouse, p. 12–17).

LILIANA VIOLA AND GIL HARMON IN A

WET AREA IN CUEVA MEDIA LUNA BY
PETER SPROUSE
 89
August 2012 Quintana Roo Expedition Survey Totals
Cave name Feb 2012 survey (m)* Total cave length with previous surveys (m)
Cueva de la Media Luna 1670
Sistema Sac Actun (Pet Cemetery area) 1342 303,357
Cueva de Cámaras 1227 2116
Sistema Trono 993
Sistema Río Escondido 644 5533
Sistema Muévelo Rico 558 1065
Cueva Tres Dias 296 296
Sistema Dos Arboles 291 7082
Cueva Dos Ojitos 209 209
Nen Tun Ha 187 187
Sistema Pool Tunich 81 14650
Cueva Sin Lonche 54 54
Cueva Huerfano de Maravillas 37 37
Cueva Chinche Besucona 32 32
Cueva Dona 31 31
Cueva Hormigas en Pantalones 24 24
Sistema Menéalo Sabrosito 22 400
Cueva Nueva de Memo 17 17

expedition total 7951

*not including re-survey amounts

CHRISTINE LOEW, GIL HARMON, AND

DEVRA HEYER REACH THE QUARRY
DESTRUCTION IN SISTEMA SAC MUUL BY
PETER SPROUSE
 2013 – A BUSY TIME IN THE
QUINTANA ROO JUNGLE

BY EXPEDITION
MEMBERS

PHILIP RYKWALDER AT THE ENTRANCE TO POOL TUNICH BY DAVE BUNNELL

 91
chug along many Mexican roads are replaced by
INTRODUCTION sleek Audis, and drivers are polite and even use
Philip Rykwalder: Members of the Paamul their headlights at night, a novelty. Bikinis are
Grotto, including American Gil Harmon, explored sold alongside tequila at roadside mercados, and
many kilometers of cave passage outside the town every evening there is a sweet sunset silhouetted
of Paamul, south of Cancún, starting in the early with palm trees. Gone are the hours and days
1990s. The goal of Peter Sprouse’s project is to map of grinding slowly up treacherous, dusty moun-
in detail these caves, including Sistema Sac Muul, tain switchbacks, changing flats in the mud, and
Sistema Pool Tunich, Sistema Río Escondido, and building bridges with chainsaws and axes. With
more. When connected they will be one of the a major international airport a short drive away
world’s longest systems, and if the 310-kilometer and most caves within walking distance, there
Sistema Sac Actun is any indication, it is just a is little driving. And then there is the novelty of
matter of time. being beachside. Bikinis and biceps, tequila and
Tales of the deep, swallowing pits of Mexico flip-flops.
first drew me south of the border, and after scaring Even with seemingly unending passages, beauti-
the pants off myself with scalding-hot rack bars ful water swims, wonderful snorkeling, and warm
and struggling to heave hundred-pound ropes out caves, one word sums up caving in Paamul: maze.
of massive pits in San Luis Potosí I spent a few The passages connect and reconnect so frequently
years caving around the country. Tabasco, Chiapas, that navigating is intimidating to the point that
and Querétaro were visited, followed by the big- cavers need to be comfortable being lost, because
sky states of Sonora, Coahuila, and Chihuahua it is unavoidable. Even the most skilled among us
and their dusty desert caves. Later came the verti- was more than slightly terrified about getting lost.
cal water caves in Veracruz and the monstrously I ventured out on my own once, and after only two
deep caves of Oaxaca that test your everything. turns I was lost to a disturbing degree. Feeling like
Essentially most of Mexico seemed like caving frightened children in a confusing mall suddenly
playground, save the Yucatán peninsula, which without our parents, we cavers traveled in tight
in my mind was for cave divers. packs and still made scores of navigation blunders.
When Peter Sprouse started a caving proj- To combat the extreme mazes encountered (i.e.,
ect near Cancún, nightmare images of beaches get out alive) the first generation of Paamul cav-
crammed with pasty-white tourists and towering ers ran many kilometers of string throughout the
resort hotels popped up—not my idea of fun. I caves and conducted line surveys. Although the
pride myself in going where most bikini-clad va- technique sounds hokey, it actually increases safety
cationers never dream of, and having a great time dramatically and reduces, but doesn’t eliminate,
in the process. Flying to a major tourist destina- the chance of people getting lost. Directions might
tion was not on my list. There are mishaps and read, “Follow the yellow string in the Sac Muul
misadventures along the caver’s path, granted, but entrance to the black line. Take it to the orange
epic memories are also born, such as Cipro hal- line and get off on the green one and look for
lucinations, encounters with fer-de-lances, myste- station MU342.” Often the best route to remote
rious jungle diseases, and the fluttery feeling of passages involved a combination of caving and
sidestepping political unrest and narco-traffickers. jungle hiking—in one entrance, out another, back
I bet most Mexican tourists have never been driven in again, and so forth. It felt like a cave version
out of town by a machete-wielding crowd—too of a subway system.
bad for them. I should point out that any survey in such a
Aside from inflated airport food prices and dense maze is a major undertaking. None of the
the perplexity of flying with snorkeling gear in- survey efforts in the area should be diminished,
stead of my beloved vertical gear, the experience even the initial string surveys, because managing
of caving in Paamul, Quintana Roo, was amazing. data from such an exhausting system is difficult.
Water caves are among my favorite types, and the The caves have hundreds upon hundreds of loops,
area does them in style. At first glance it is clear five-way junctions are common, and on any day
that Quintana Roo is an all-around bizarre set- our survey tied in with dozens of previous stations,
ting for cavers. The tottering sugarcane trucks that creating even more loops. Scrupulous data and
 AMCS ACTIVITIES NEWSLETTER 36
survey management is absolutely essential. After passage, connections made, and new entrances
the initial string survey by the Paamul cavers, a found in the jungle. When a new cave was found,
second generation of mappers came in and started it might be surveyed to perhaps 300 meters, but
sketching. Snow-birding Calgary cavers mapped just a few days later it would be extended to a
in Sistema Sac Muul, followed by Mexico City multi-kilometer maze and connected into the main
caver Gustavo Vela in Sistema Pool Tunich and system. The next day another new cave would be
Sistema Río Escondido in the late part of the last found, resetting the process. There are currently
decades. Peter’s survey is the third in the area and dozens of entrances and over 70 kilometers of
aims to accomplish detailed drawings. His teams passage in this one area, with much, much more
have resurveyed many previous efforts, creating the to be found. Ultimately most caves will connect,
most comprehensive survey of the caves to date. either above or below water, to form one of the
It is his hope that through continued exploration longest and most confusing caves in the world.
most, if not all, of Paamul’s caves will connect. But The Paamul caves are very shallow, less than
despite all the surveying efforts there is far more 30 meters deep, and there are many entrances.
unmapped passage than mapped. Rope drops are short, and cable ladders are more
The Paamul cavers and the Maya cavers that common than vertical gear. Over the course of a
came before them did a very thorough job of ex- week’s trip nearly 10 kilometers of passage were
ploring the caves, despite the expansiveness of the surveyed, and to give you an idea of the caves we
mazes. In a week’s worth of caving I traversed per- include below a short summary of a few.
haps 5 kilometers of passage and not a centimeter
was virgin, though we even dug three times—all POOL TUNICH NORTHWEST
led to places with footprints. Though untouched Patricia Kambesis: Peter’s directions seemed
passage in the area is rare, there are many years rather vague at first, “Just walk up the road a bit
of surveying still to come. Each day in the area is until you see a gate on the right. Follow the road
exciting—survey teams return with news of more on the other side of the gate and the entrance will

PHILIP RYKWALDER SKETCHING IN

NORTHERN SAC MUUL BY DAVE BUNNELL
 93
be obvious.” Along with Liliana Viola and Juan section containing pottery, the namesake for the
Izquiero, I found the gate, got on the road on the Vasija Entrance to Sistema Pool Tunich. The room
other side, and peered into the thick jungle. With was floored with crystal-clear blue water, most
no machetes, we were a bit deflated, since there of it shallow enough for wading. Graceful white
could be no success without one in the jungle. columns and hundreds of stalactites decorated
We continued walking up the road and looking the chamber and turned the walking passage into
into the jungle in hopes of seeing an obvious and stoopway in some places. Small alcoves and sub-
easily accessible entrance and were delighted to chambers were hidden by thick stalactites, but we
find one, not in the jungle but at the end of the found and mapped most of them. Our day ended
road, a big, obvious hole in the ground with a when wading turned to swimming in water floored
wooden staircase leading down into darkness. And with thick layers of white calcite rafts.
so began our December 2012 work in the north As is typical on these expeditions, once a
end of Sistema Pool Tunich, while other teams sketcher starts working an area, he develops a
worked elsewhere in the system. vested interested in continuing to work and ul-
At the bottom of the stairs was a large room timately finishing that area. So I fully expected
festooned with a conglomeration of tree roots and welcomed the opportunity to continue the
over breakdown that made an island surrounded survey from the Vasija Entrance, and I returned
by water in the middle of the collapsed passage. with Gavin Elsley and Zuzka Musilova. Picking
We started with a perimeter survey to find the up from my last survey station we were able to
going arms of the cave and quickly learned that stay relatively dry, which is actually unnecessary
the north end of the room eventually leads to in the warm caves of the Yucatan. That desire to
deep water. Since this was a no-wetsuit day, we remain dry likely comes from the fact that all of
left that section for another time. us usually work in parts of the world where cave
The passage leading to the south led to a large water is a lot colder and less friendly. But there did
chamber with a small root-filled skylight and one come a point when it was time to don the wet-

PAT KAMBESIS AT THE MUNDO PERDIDO

ENTRANCE TO POOL TUNICH BY DAVE BUNNELL
 AMCS ACTIVITIES NEWSLETTER 36
suits, as the passage ahead was mostly swimming. Pool Tunich was via the Tres Escalones Entrance
Our survey took us through long stretches of with Andrea Corlett and Gil Harmon. Our march-
the clear, bluish water so characteristic of the caves ing orders for this trip were to find and map the
of this area. This particular section had no side end of the cave, a reasonable objective since Gil
leads or alcoves, which seemed odd compared to had been there before. Though we expected to
other sections of the cave. Gavin and Zuzka were be swimming most of this trip and had brought
fast and efficient surveyors, and while they looked wetsuits and dry bags, we started out without, as
for places to set stations, I packed away the survey Gil assured us we could wade most of the way by
book in a dry bag and swam from station to sta- keeping to the underwater shelves that edged the
tion. Ultimately we came to an area that was thick deeper water. Though it had been years since Gil
with columns and stalactites that dipped into the had been in this section of cave, he successfully
water. Although it looked like the cave might be navigated us to our objective, and we began with
closing down, the good airflow said otherwise. some clean-up survey and making ties to existing
After a few snaky shots around columns and un- stations. Once the shelves ran out, we donned our
der stals we found ourselves coming up on the wetsuits and swam or waded our way from sta-
shore in a very large breakdown chamber. At the tion to station.
far end Gavin found some red flagging tied to a We encountered a little bit of passage complex-
rock. That we could still smell the Sharpie ink ity, mostly because of the islands of flowstone,
told us that another survey team had been here, columns, and stal that populated the cave. Gil be-
likely within the hour. We connected our stations, came uncertain of our route, and while he scouted
likely closing a big loop with legs of survey from ahead, Andrea and I enjoyed the beautiful passage
other entrances of the cave. We headed out, actu- and did some of our own recon. On the back end
ally looking forward to the series of swims in of our formation island I noticed that there was
beautiful cave passage. a lot of wind, meaning either that there was a lot
My next venture into the northern reaches of more cave, a big entrance was near, or both. We
hoped for the latter. While Andrea swam into a
dark, windy passage, I took an alternate route that
opened into a huge breakdown chamber with
two large entrances. This had to be the route, as
we had mapped all other options.
When we finally regrouped with Gil, our con-
cern was that there would not be enough time
to map to the end of the cave, this was the last
caving day of the expedition. I made the “execu-
tive decision” to leave survey of the big room and
entrances for the next expedition, and we focused
our efforts on making it to the end in the time
we had left. Our mellow, laid-back survey turned
into a very efficient but somewhat maniacal push
to the end. With Gil in the lead and Andrea on
instruments we speedily cruised through swim-
ming, walking, and sometimes climbing passage.
Though there were a number of significant alcoves
on both sides of our passage, we did not stop to
survey them, though we did leave good tie-in sta-
tions. When the passage took a definitive western
turn we knew we were close to the end. Thirty or
so minutes later found us swimming around in
a large chamber with underwater leads. We set
our last station at the “end” of the cave just above
where water-filled passage begins. If there were
A TEPESCUINTLE SKULL IN SISTEMA RIO
ESCONDIDO
 RAY KEELER IN SAC XUUX STREAM
95
PASSAGE BY DAVE BUNNELL

any times that I wished to be a cave diver; this scouted the way, Dave stopped to take photos of
was one of them. But it wouldn’t be long before the beautiful passages floored with blue water,
Alan Formstone dove this sump. calcite rafts, and lots of stal.
During the March 2013 expedition I returned Once at the big entrance room, we split into
to the Vasija Entrance with Bill Stephens and Jon two teams, with Philip and Dave working the
Sumrall. We tackled the northern wet leads, and room and Jon and I mapping out the entrance to
Jon heroically swam to the end of the deep water, a surface collapse and into the second entrance.
setting our last station at the beginning of yet While Philip and Dave got stuck with huge, mazy
another sump. As it turns out, this is where Alan’s breakdown, Jon and I had found smaller but much
dives in Weeping Angels ultimately connected to wetter passage. We were able to thread the survey
Sistema Pool Tunich. line through a flowstone formation island and
I was anxious to finish the northern end of shortly found another connection to dry passage
Pool Tunich and to have a good look at the large and the beginning of another underwater lead.
room and two entrances that were left from the Though I wanted to pick up the many alcoves left
December expedition. However, since Gil had led from my previous survey of the area, time once
the way last time, I was not confident I could again got the better of us, so these leads remain
actually find my way back. Typically, we can up- for the next expedition.
load line-plots to our smart-phones and use those Where is the actual northern end of Pool Tu-
for route finding. But I didn’t want to risk drop- nich? Underwater leads continue to head north,
ping my phone in water, not an “if ” but more and there is likely another several kilometers before
likely a “when”, so opted to take pictures of the we hit that regional structure called the Holbox
line plots with my waterproof digital camera, Lineament Zone that currently terminates all
and this worked beautifully. This team, made up known caves in the region. And there are likely
of Dave Bunnell, Philip Rykwalder, Jon Sumrall, more entrances hidden in the jungle that lead to
and me, made our way to the survey destinations other sections of cave that we don’t even know
with the help of my digital camera. And while I about yet.
AMCS ACTIVITIES NEWSLETTER 36
but the line plot showed they had not made the
DOWNSTREAM TOWARD THE connection, surfacing somewhere new instead. Our
BEACH tactic in March 2011 was to examine the perimeter
The flip-side of Pat’s story is the ongoing of the 150-meter-wide surface collapse that sepa-
saga of pushing and uniting caves heading for rated the two caves. Gill Ediger and I each followed
the coast. For the March 2013 trip, the first order a side of the collapse with the plan of uniting
of business was to fill in the missing gap in the on the far side. My search located only a shelter
resurvey of Sistema Río Escondido. This would remnant, but Gill hit paydirt. He found a wide
enable us to draw that section of the map and entrance containing Maya walls that we named
determine the prospects for future exploration in Sac Xuux (White Wasp). This headed northwest
that area. Working from the northwest end of the toward Pool Tunich in a spacious water passage.
system, Laura Rosales and I mapped downstream Subsequent pushes ended up finding the end of the
through some very lovely passage heading toward diveline from 2011, completing the survey connec-
tion to Pool Tunich.
The discovery of Sac
Xuux had reduced the
gap between Pool Tu-
nich and Río Escon-
dido from 200 to 54
meters.
From the down-
stream limit of Río
Escondido there was
a string of discon-
nected caves leading
toward the sea, and
we wanted to keep
working those con-
nections as well. The
first was very close, a
cave previously line-
surveyed by Gil Har-
mon. We named this
Naj Woolis (Round
Room) and found it
to be a pleasant maze
with interesting pos-
the Shangri-La area. We passed a dive lead on the sibilities. Considerably closer to the coast we had
left side that hinted at future discoveries. Ryan another opportunity to explore undocumented
Reid and I pushed this survey with plans to tie caves on the ATV park site where Sistema Kana
into a team, Andy Belski, Dave Bunnell, and Jon Kiwi and the southern section of Sistema Dos
Sumrall, coming upstream to meet us from the Arboles are located. This property consists of 2
Shangri-La area. This was accomplished, though square kilometers of undeveloped jungle coastline
some side surveys remain. just south of Playa del Carmen, known to have
Another focus was trying to connect Sistema numerous caves and unrestored Maya ruins. We
Río Escondido with Sistema Pool Tunich, a big spent a drizzly day being guided to a number of
domino waiting to fall. Gustavo Vela had hoped entrances. Ryan Reid, Laura Rosales, and Mario
to orchestrate that in 2010–2011 with some dives Zabaleta got to ride ATVs far back into the park
conducted in downstream Pool Tunich by Alex to a cave that is part of the park tour, Cueva del
Álvarez and Danny Riordan. They dove for several Arbol. They found this cave to be extensive and
hundred meters and came up in air-filled passage, were not able to finish it. Dave Bunnell and I were
 97
joined by Dutch hydrogeologist Sietse Bos on a Since I was six years old I had heard about
recon hike to a number of interesting entrances. Peter Sprouse’s projects in Mexico, and I jumped
One of them turned out to be Sistema Trono, at the opportunity to be a part of this one. It has
but just to the south we were shown a new one, the potential to be the longest horizontal cave in
Aktun Xuux (Wasp Cave). We got 210 meters out the world, the twenty-minute approach hikes have
of this one, with a continuing crawlway headed little elevation gain, and is only twenty minutes
toward Trono. from the Caribbean beaches. Our adventure be-
We anticipate working for several more years gan when our caving buddy Larry Stewart landed
before the string of caves toward the coast are his plane in Kalispell, Montana, to pick up my
either all connected or played out. Either way, son Talon and me at the community airport. We
they are a lot of fun.—Peter Sprouse quickly fueled up and loaded the plane with large
bags of caving and camping gear and took off
WEST SIDE EXPLORATIONS heading to the international airport in Denver,
Andy Belski: The looks are priceless when you Colorado. This included flying over and through
tell your non-caver friends that you are taking your Glacier National Park and Yellowstone National
ten-year-old son out of school and into the jungle Park during the first three hours. Unfortunately
in Mexico for ten days to survey a cave system. it also included another three hours of flying over
The looks all seem to be followed by a delayed the prairie of Wyoming. Talon counted antelope
diatribe of how dangerous Mexico is, followed and looked for UFOs out the plane’s window.
by, “Why the hell would you go to a Caribbean We rolled into our jungle base camp at the
paradise to crawl around in a dark muddy hole?” Cleoxxo with moments to spare before the chain
I would typically laugh and smile while saying, over the ejido road was locked for the night. Evi-
“It’s not dark. I have a Scurion!” dently this is to keep the locals out of the area and
additionally works well to protect the entrances
THE NAMESAKE VASIJA NEAR THE of the caves. This also means that you have to be
VASIJA ENTRANCE TO SISTEMA POOL back from any off-ranch adventures prior to the
TUNICH BY PAT KAMBESIS
gate being closed or risk the wrath of the off-duty
gate keeper.
Throughout the week we worked in many parts
of Sistema Sac Muul, but the exploits of this story
will be contained in the adventures of Yuk Ha
and The Hobbit House.

Yuk Ha. Team 1: Andy Belski, Talon Belski, Bill

Stevens. Team 2: Patricia Kambesis, Jonathan Sumrall.
Like most adventures, this one sucked me in after
dinner and beers while hanging out at Cleoxxo. It
had the ring of good fun, a large unmapped system
away from the primary Sac Muul area, with its
own river and multiple entrances. Surprisingly, it
only took a minute to get my son Talon and me
onto the trip. (This should have been my clue)
After breakfast the following morning we drove
to Paamul to meet our guide Gil Harmon, who
had discovered the cave not long before. He had
volunteered to take us to the main entrance of
the system.
Following a 180-degree turn off a Mexican equiv-
alent of an interstate to a four-wheel drive road
down a power-line, the standard march through
highway trash, and a minor stomp through the
AMCS ACTIVITIES NEWSLETTER 36
jungle, we arrived at our GPS destination, a beauti- challenges to each. It is here, deep in the jungle,
ful entrance with the immediate opportunity for that you will actually outgrow your love for home-
waist-deep water. Gil had named the cave Rancho made guacamole. You will drink lukewarm beers
de Ranas, for its frog-like nature I suspect. until 10:30 at night while entering the day’s data
We broke the team up into two groups and in preparation for tomorrow. You will walk away
dove in. This wasn’t the standard blue-green water wondering if that passage you left behind—yeah,
with white calcite rafts and beautiful flowstone. It the one that required crawling—might go to some
was muddy chest-deep water with a nasty sulfur new borehole.
smell and twined with roots. We actually had to I look forward to returning.
set stations on the roots with the hope that they
were not the dreaded chechen poisonwood tree. SUC MUUL NORTH
The passage commonly required you to swim to Ray Keeler: This was the first time our group
a station, only to find that the station was on a had worked in the northern part of Sistema Sac
soda straw 6 inches above the mud. This made Muul since November 2011. Drafting of the survey
for some interesting gurgling shots. notes from that expedition had revealed some gaps
After six or seven hours of surveying, we all and discrepancies between the surveys of vari-
came together and decided that the word of the ous teams in confusing areas. Cleanup sketching
day was yuck. Thus Rancho de Ranas became Yuk was needed, and the first day of cleanup was by
Ha, Ha being water and Yuk being Yuck. one survey team consisting of Gil Harmon, Larry
We did leave some great leads, and I imagine Stewart, and me. We used the Big Roots Skylight,
my next trip to the Yucatan will require me to an overhung climb-down entrance, but discovered
return to push these “wonderful” leads. that ants had taken over the fallen tree needed for
The Hobbit House. Team 1: Andy Belski, Talon access and exit, so we used another combination
Belski, Larry Stewart. A couple of times through- of climb-down and jump. We went north, cleaning
out the week I had heard mention of the Hobbit up three areas of the sketch before finding that
House. In my mind it was either a maze complex one wall was not shown because it was actually
built for a three-foot-tall creature or a wonder- not there. With additional survey, the wall was
ful rounded, roomy cave with many corners and found and connected, and it was called a day. We
passages. After a thirty-minute chop-hike through left by the more distant main entrance due to the
the jungle, we made it to the sinkhole. Imagine ant issue.
rolling from the jungle down a wall of 45-degree The next day two teams were sent in. Marion
breakdown to a flat-floored room with 6-meter Smith, Dave Bunnell, and I continued with map-
ceilings and formations everywhere. My second drafting corrections and clean-up survey. Marion,
definition of the Hobbit House seemed to be more being from Tennessee and very tired of the winter
applicable. cold, decided he was overheating and took his
We decided that since Gil had already scoped helmet off. This was a bad decision in the passages
this one out, we might as well take a look and with countless hangy-downies. He tripped on a
set up our survey. What we found was a really sticky-uppy, clipped his head on a formation, and
cool horizontal walking maze with many roots, bled a lot. After much swearing (and pictures) the
formations, columns, tarantulas, and scorpions. survey continued. Marion had a solid headache.
The scorpions were 6 to 8 inches long and fairly Pat Kambesis’s team of Pat, Jon Sumrall, and
nasty looking. Fortunately they were quick and not Gil went to resurvey the right wall of the end of
interested in hanging out with the survey team. the survey and continue north. They broke out
Although two survey trips found nearly 700 meters into large walking passages and left several walk-
of passage, it appears that this cave has sealed itself ing leads. They reached the known water passage
shut and does not connect to nearby Sistema Sac that continues in large, clear-pooled rooms. The
Muul. We did leave an extensive unexplored maze objective here was to resurvey this northern sec-
(of the first Hobbit Hole description) that might tion and reach the northernmost entrance, found
still go somewhere. Only the next trip will tell. by Gil Harmon years before.
All in all, this is a wonderful area to cave. It is On the third day we sent three survey teams
good for all types of cavers and presents its own out to the end of the survey, where the walking
99
AMCS ACTIVITIES NEWSLETTER 36
passages continued in several directions. Dave, on first inspection revealed a large black arch of
Philip Rykwalder, and Laura Rosales continued water that ate the beams of our lights and simply
in the water passage going north. They did not begged to be dived.
survey all the way to the northernmost entrance. A few days later we were back, this time with
Pat and Bill Stephens took the right side of the a couple of 40 cubic foot tanks that fit nicely in
walking leads at the end. Marion and I took the a rucksack, along with the rest of the dive para-
left-side leads and onward to the rear. We tied back phernalia that is the bane of the underwater cave
into a November 2011 survey in a nice, walking explorer. There is something wonderful about slip-
side passage. All met up at the appointed time ping into the unknown underwater, the excite-
and caved out. ment of the exploration enhanced with the relief
On the fourth day Dave, Marion and I did ad- of the weightlessness. A calm washes over you as
ditional cleanup survey in the middle of Sac Mul you tweak for neutral buoyancy and stretch out
North, while a second team of Larry and Barbara muscles fatigued from the strain of the journey
Luke continued mapping in the northern lakes. in. As I settled and kicked gently forward into the
They stopped mapping at a split in large walking overhead, the world around me collapsed as I saw
and then checked forward to find the northern a dive line marked with an unlabeled arrow. The
entrance. disappointment was overwhelming. Someone else
Gil and fellow Paamul Grotto caver Rick Nel- had been here before me. I tied my exploration line
son decided to chop a jungle trail to the north- into this old line and kicked on forward through
ern entrance via a very old GPS location, taken a forest of nasty, grabbing roots descending from
when selective-availability was still turned on and open water. The sump was short, perhaps 7 or 8
hence inaccurate, and re-found the 75-meter-long meters. The line ended abruptly, and I surfaced into
entrance sink after much zigzagging and hacking. a huge dome room with a dry island. Gil needs
They took a new GPS at the entrance and decided to see this, I thought, and I quickly returned to
it would be easier to go out through the entire get him. I gave him one of my tanks for security,
cave than suffer the hike out through the jungle. though he certainly didn’t need it, and we passed
Philip, Dave, Larry, Andy Belski, Aida Ferreira, through the sump so he could check out new
and others completed the northern-end mapping room while I pushed on underwater.
effort two days later by using the new, more ac- The upstream underwater passage was obvious
curate GPS location, hiking through the jungle, and massive, and it contained no line. With virgin
and surveying to the tie-in. They also walked the cave ahead, I aimed my reel and the adventure
sides of the sink to see if there were any other started, and what an adventure it was. Over the
entrances continuing north. Unfortunately there course of four dives the cave revealed its upstream
were none. secrets. Finally the upstream pinched into massive
breakdown piles in places, low, helmet-scraping
WEEPING ANGELS passages provided plenty of drama, and all too soon
Alan Formstone: Gil Harmon first introduced all the easier leads died away. Sketching out the
me to Weeping Angels Cave at the beginning of dry passage revealed a possible dirty leads down-
2013. It didn’t have a name back then, which is stream. With other projects on the go, Weeping
pretty normal for a Gil lead. He was pretty con- Angels was put on the back burner.
fident that the cave was going somewhere un- But I eventually returned to satisfy my curiosity
derwater and that I should take a look. And so about the much-talked-about downstream possi-
one fine sunny morning we headed out with our bilities for tying into the super-massive Sistema
machetes in hand and dive masks in bags to see Pool Tunich, less than 2 kilometers away. I ex-
what was what. pected that the downstream route would go for
Weeping Angels is a pretty cave, large pas- a ways, but not at all the way that it did. A tiny,
sages with comfortable, wadable water. There is dirty entrance led to massive rooms with leads in
an abandoned Maya corn-grinding stone at one all directions and a dry exit that would be later
of the entrances, and a very pleasant peace lies connected to a downstream cenote that would be
about the whole place. The main dry passage is the next center exploration efforts.
fairly short, leading ultimately to a large sump that As I got closer and closer to the Vasija Con-
 101
nection, the cave became trickier. Surfacing in a
new cenote amongst troops of coatis and a very
suspicious tayra (a giant ferret-type animal), I lo-
cated a difficult-to-get -o lead in the direction I
wanted. It was difficult in the sense that I had to
manhandle my dive gear through dry cave and
short sumps, an effort that I really wanted to avoid
at all costs. I spent a few subsequent dives scrap-
ing my gear and helmet, trying to find a better
way to push, but to no avail. I eventually gave
up and succumbed to the inevitable relaying of
cumbersome and heavy equipment through dry
passage in my wetsuit booties.
What I expected would be the connection
dive quickly met a dead end. So near but so far. I
worked my way backwards and around obstruc-
tions, not really expecting a way through, until MARION SMITH ENCOUNTERS A
STALACTITE BY RAY KEELER
eventually seeing open water ahead. I remember
the feeling of annoyance as I surfaced, expecting It’s difficult to describe how achieving such a
to carry gear out of the water again. Swimming goal feels to a solo cave diver. There is nobody to
through the passage and looking above, I suddenly high-five and congratulate. The moment is quite
spotted a survey flag. It’s worth seeing how I react lonely and noticeably so, and even though still
to the flag on the YouTube video from my helmet immensely exciting, there is a feeling of anticli-
cam. [To see Alan’s videos on YouTube, just search max. I murmur something to the camera, but the
on his name.] Eighteen dives, many ticks, endless moment is finished. The work is mainly done,
relaying of tanks, a lot of machete slashes, and a bar the survey back and the huge mapping task
connection made. ahead. Still I feel good!

THE CREW, MINUS A FEW BY DAVE BUNNELL

END OF THE WORLD CAVING EXPEDITION
DEC. 2012

CHRIS LLOYD
CHIBEBO AT THE CHAC MOL ENTRANCE, BY CHRIS OMURA
 103
“Dry” caving in Quintana Roo has been tak- several kilometers of the system for wild-cave
ing off in the last few years, with more and more tours, issuing tourists with wetsuits, helmets, and
passage surveyed in every trip, but with the end lights, without any installed in-cave lighting. To
of the world approaching, time was running out. gain access to the cave the tour operator made a
So lead organizer Peter Sprouse did his best to try deal with the landowner, the same fellow who
and get everything done before the end came by was renting us camping space and cooking for
inviting some thirty people and declaring that 20 us on this trip. So this trip had no commuting to
kilometers of survey was the goal. That seemed the cave, other than a 100-to-200-meter walk from
pretty ambitious, but considering that we had camp in just about any direction to reach one
connected two caves on our last trip to create of numerous entrances. A previous attempt had
the second-longest cave in the world, we needed been made at making a proper map of the cave
something to up the ante. We had done over 10 after Gil’s line survey, but was lacking in quality
kilometers on one trip previously, so 20 kilome- sketching and follow-through, so our group had
ters was possible, but seemed so far away. With volunteered to re-survey everything. We quickly
sketching standards so high and the cave passage realized that it was going to be a big job when
so large and complex, each survey team would the first couple of days of survey added 2 kilo-
do well to get 300 meters surveyed in a day. But meters to the cave without really touching the
with thirty-eight people in the end, we did end previously surveyed area. If the cave continued
up with a lot of survey teams. As it turned out, in the same manner we would surely double the
we fielded at least three teams everyday from the previous 14 kilometers of length.
fifteenth of December through to the twenty-
ninth, peaking at nine teams on a few days. A The first couple of days the group was sketcher-
total of ninety-two survey trips were made, so poor, so only three survey teams could be as-
the meters rolled in.
In past expeditions accommoda-
tions had been farther south, in or near
Akumal, but this trip arrangements were
made to camp out in the jungle right
over the main cave we would be map-
ping, Sistema Pool Tunich. The cave was
originally found by American ex-pat Gil
Harmon about twenty years ago, and
Gil had made a line-plot survey of the
main routes over the years with various
friends from their nearby community
of Paamul. They named it Río Cristal,
and before long the owner of the Pool
Tunich entrance tried to commercial-
ize it by building a bar inside. Others
recognized a better use for the cave, and
thus the Río Secreto tour operation be-
gan some seven years ago. They utilize

“THESE ARE GREAT, I GOT

THEM FROM A DUMPSTER,
AND MY TOES ONLY CAME
OUT AFTER ALL THE CAL-
CITE RAFTS PILED UP UN-
DERNEATH THEM”
—JUAN LADEN
ZUZKA, BY PETER SPROUSE
 AMCS ACTIVITIES NEWSLETTER 36
sembled; they had up to four people each. The so light pants and a tee shirt was normal cave
first day the groups collected 703 meters of survey, attire for most people, unless one was going to
which bumped up to 1248 meters the second be in deep water most of the day, when wetsuits
day, once they got used to things and each other. were advisable. My first day was fairly typical, with
Once the next wave of arrivals came in, the group a couple of large rooms centered around a tall
became sketcher-rich, and Peter used that to best flowstone mound crowned by a roof-supporting
advantage. column and flanked by small lakes. There were
some side passages that lowered to just walking
On the seventeenth we were up to five survey height and were 2 to 10 meters wide. My side pas-
teams, with everyone going in the Tuch entrance. sages ended soon, but it did happen to a number
Tuch means belly button, or center of the body of groups that they would pop into a side lead
in Mayan, and is aptly named, being fairly central thinking just to knock it off, and then end up
in the whole cave. This was my first day of caving, there for the rest of the day, and possibly the next.
and Aaron Addison delivered me to my assigned Mid-day I gained an extra survey member when
area, which covered part of one of the tour routes. Tania Ramírez (the general manager of the tour
It was only about five minutes’ caving from the operation) stopped by to help us for a couple of
entrance, but did require a short swim to get to, hours. After Tania left, we then picked up Mau-
at least for the shorter people. To clarify the term ricio, one of the many Mexican tour guides, for
“dry” caving: here it means that one does not the last few hours. Mauricio then took us out a
need scuba gear. Occasionally teams managed a slightly different route to avoid the deep water
totally dry day, but typically the water was over and back to camp.
your knees, and in some parts, particularly in the
southern portions of the cave, swimming was the (They have guides from at least three other coun-
norm for at least part of the day. Cave tempera- tries as well, to cover many of the languages of
ture was very comfortable, around 20 degree C, the various tourist groups.)

THE ALTAR ENTRANCE, BY SEAN LEWIS

 105
open spaces in the cave, some 30 meters wide
“I WANT TO GO BACK TO SOME- and 8 meters high with a flat floor. The trail we
WHERE LIKE KENTUCKY WHERE had followed in was there because this chamber
THERE ARE WALLS” had been used for an Austrian boys choir concert
a year before. It was quickly apparent that we
—SEAN LEWIS were right underneath the main access road, as
On the eighteenth Gil suggested to Peter that we heard the traffic running overhead. We ended
he take a survey team in a different entrance up going right around that main room and out
more to the northwest to start branching out a along a side room with a long lake before I ran
bit from the central area. After caving with Gil out of space on my survey page in that direction.
in August, I knew he liked big pretty stuff, so I And so began what became a common practice:
happily agreed to be his sketcher, and we took Instead of continuing to follow the line of the
Gary Resch along to read instruments. This en- cave and jump onto a new sketching page, the
trance was only 150 meters out of camp to the sketchers chose to fill our pages first. This was
west and just 15 meters off the main access road. somewhat annoying for the lead station setters,
It did not look like much initially, being only who were continually being told to come back
1.5 meters high and some 10 meters long, but it and go in a different direction until the page
seemed to continue to the south past some trees. was full, but this was needed for the goal of a
We ignored that direction and went in where high-quality map, and it all had to be drawn at
there was an obvious trail, beginning our survey some point anyway. With the over-sized survey
at the dripline. Beyond a short section of stoop- books that Peter had found, it sometimes took
ing, it quickly opened up, and we climbed down a whole day just to fill in one page of sketching.
a ramp into a big chamber that just continued To facilitate drawing, the sketch often spanned
to get bigger as we went farther in. Before long both pages, with the data being crammed in on
we were in the Auditorium, one of the biggest the left side as small as possible. All drawing
 AMCS ACTIVITIES NEWSLETTER 36
was being done to scale and correctly
oriented with a protractor. Aside from
aiding in the final drafting, this al-
lows the sketcher to confirm if loops
are being closed accurately. If loops
did not close within a meter or two,
the team then went back to re-check
the instrument readings right away,
or the next day. If bad closures were
not caught in the cave, they would
be revealed that same evening as we
entered each day’s data every night.
This also meant we had a daily run-
ning total and knew that after only
four days we were up to 6136 meters
of survey. The planned objective of
20 kilometers was now looking quite
attainable.

The next day I returned to go in

the same Auditorium Entrance, now
with Gil and Heather Túček, where
we continued on the concrete tourist
trail that led us under the entrance
into another spacious area with en-
trances visible all over. We had wanted
to at least close the loop to the end
of the lake we had surveyed, but did
the usual “let’s just finish this small
side lead first” approach. We ended
up popping up into yet another big
area and finding the continuation of
the main Auditorium entrance to the
south that we had glimpsed the previ-
ous morning, which was more the size
of entrance we were expecting, some
20 meters wide by 4 meters high. We
could not go farther south and stay
on my page, so we did manage to
close the original planned loop and
get back on the new concrete tourist
trail heading off to the east. This trial
is still under construction, and it is
part of a planned expansion for Río
Secreto’s tour operation to make the
cave experience more accessible for
people who don’t want to squeeze
into a wetsuit and swim through the
cave. While I personally like the wet
parts better, this trail was quite well
SANDY IN SISTEMA POOL TUNICH, located to take in a series of beautiful
BY SEAN LEWIS
 107

entrances from below. This time we brought in time. Out past the large, dry space of the Audito-
Aaron and his team to continue south of where rium there is a sizeable lake in the still-tall main
my page had ended the previous day and see if he passage and a lower side passage filling out the
could work the other way around this large col- left side. Taking the main route up the lake kept
lapse and meet us on the other side. This collapse us occupied the whole day and only advanced the
was quite unusual, in that normally when one cave some 100 meters in that direction, since the
drops into a collapsed doline on the surface the lake split into two branches with the common
cave continues on in the direction away from the high flowstone-and-column complex in between.
collapse, but here it went away, but also cut back This area had an abundance of fried-egg-style
under the collapse with very sizable passage. We stalagmites, with their classic yellow yokes, and
spent the day filling that passage in, with most a profusion of other stal (m’s and t’s). I spent the
of the holes and all of the concrete trail covered. whole next day as well continuing the Fried Eggs
and we did manage to connect with Aaron. section without even getting into any of the side
passages. On the twenty-second Gil, Gary, and
Now, with the large Auditorium Entrance area I finally tidied up the stooping passage on the
taken care of, it was time to try and advance left, spending the whole day in low, water-filled,
beyond. I headed northwest with Gil and Paul beautifully decorated passage. In this area the
Bryant, while Aaron headed southeast with Chris ponds had not been disturbed in some time, and
“Batgirl” Omura and Andrea Corlett. Five other the calcite rafts were often solid layers like ice on
teams were in other parts of the cave at the same a pond. We also saw some boulders with calcite
 AMCS ACTIVITIES NEWSLETTER 36
rafts plastered all over them, showing that past
water levels had been at least 1.2 meters higher.

“WHO NEEDS A HOT TUB WHEN

YOU HAVE HABAÑEROS?”
—PETER SPROUSE

By the twenty-third the central area around the

tourist routes was getting pretty much wrapped
up, and Peter asked me if I could go back and
finish off the area where I had first started. So
I undertook that task with Sandi Calhoun, and
led Pat Kambesis and Batgirl into an adjoin-
ing area. Pat thought I was joking when I com-
mented that I “thought” I could find my way
back in there. It was all of five minutes from
the entrance, so how hard could it be? We got
to the Tuch Entrance at the same time as three
other teams, and all headed in along the first
part of the route that I remembered. As soon as
we hit the water they went one way and I went
another. And then another, and then another. It
was pretty clear after five minutes that we were BY JUAN LADEN
not where I had hoped we would be. But we
couldn’t have gotten too far off track. Not in five out in force, and we were continually passed
minutes. So we went back. And back. And then by tour groups, with Spanish and English the
around. And after some thirty or forty minutes least common languages. Some of the guides in-
of this we came across two of the other groups corporated us into their spiel, while others left
doing the same thing. So it was time to get out it to the tourists themselves to ask us what we
our smart-phone, which had an updated PDF were doing. Even following along a well-trodden
with the line plot and all the station numbers route, we managed to find two more sumps that
on it. Sure enough we were way off from where looked like nobody had been to before, as they
we should have been. But even with the map, were up and across a large chamber and into
it took us another forty minutes to get back to a side alcove with lots of large and loose rocks
where we were supposed to start surveying. Pat on the floor (a rarity compared to the normal
was not impressed. My survey cleaned up a few almost-continuous flowstone everywhere else).
side leads, one of which connected back into the With our connection back to the Perdidos En-
“main” passage right near a beautiful looking trance done, we headed out a bit early to prepare
sump. Crystal clear, deep blue water led down for a second shift, this time with Peter over into
into a 3-by-4-meter-wide opening heading off into Sistema Río Escondido, which Peter had been
a lower, submerged level. Sumps like this one will working all week to gain access to. As they also
likely be he key for later connecting this whole had a tour operation of their own, they did not
cave into neighboring caves to make a hoped-for want us around while the tourists were there, so
(by us at least) longest cave in the world. we had to wait until 5 p.m. to go in. There we
picked up a survey I had left in August, and in
Despite having five survey teams in that area, a couple of hours I managed to fill a complete
it was still not finished, so I went back again, this survey page with sketching, which was only pos-
time with Paul. We followed the tourist route sible because most of the floor was water and
back out to the Perdidos Entrance. It being the thus easy to draw.
twenty-fourth of December , the tourists were
 109
“I WOULD NOT TRADE MY ASS On the twenty-seventh we were back up to
FOR HIS EYE” full strength, with nine survey teams going out,
and they turned in what turned out to be our
—KATIE GRAHAM COMMENTING biggest survey day of the trip, with 2659 meters
ON HER BRUISED BUTT AND SEAN’S completed. The twenty-eighth only had five teams
EYE, SWOLLEN BY A WASP STING. out, but they still managed 2359 meters.

Christmas day was a caving day, of course. Groups were taking about having connected
Seven teams went out for more meters, but all from one area to another, so things were finally
the locals were home nursing their hangovers. starting to come together. The twenty-ninth, our
(Christmas Eve is the time of celebration in last day, had eight teams out, and various legs
Mexico, and most families don’t start dinner were connected together. I continued northwest
till midnight, so it is a late night.) I was back to from the Ramón Entrance, which we had been
the northwest of Fried Eggs, while the rest were able to leave by on the previous day, and man-
now spread out over many areas, continuing on aged to connect up with a previous survey that
where things were still going, which was still I had done coming in from farther northwest,
pretty much everywhere. The twenty-sixth was but had left due to deep-water swims. So this
a slower day, with the first of the fly-ins flying was my first time doing a truly floating survey,
out and many others wanting a beach day, but and my plastic inflatable donut worked just
four teams still went out. I continued northwest fine—even if it did look quite ridiculous. I just
this time, with Jacinto Vela and Deysi Uc Puc, pulled it up to my chest, and it supported my
two young cavers just up from the EspeleoZots weight enough to keep my shoulders and arms
club in Chetumal. The highlight of that day was out of the water, so by propping my elbows on
that we surpassed the 20-kilometers survey mark, the donut I could keep the book dry and write
and we still had more days left in which to add just fine. Propulsion was interesting, as I wanted
length. The highlight of the day for Deysi was to keep my hands dry, until I figured out that a
probably that Jacinto was willing and able to normal bicycling motion of my feet would pull
dive down and retrieve it after she dropped what me forward without making waves or upsetting
turned out to be our only station-marker light my balance. Jacinto, on the other hand, had to
into a deep pool of water. work harder to keep the instruments dry, write

GARY RESCH BY CHRIS LLOYD

 AMCS ACTIVITIES NEWSLETTER 36
the station numbers on the flag-
ging, and stay still while floating
to read the instruments when
there was nothing to hook a foot
onto. Fortunately we had a low
ceiling in most of the swimming
areas, so placing stations wasn’t
too hard. A truly fine way to
finish off a spectacular trip in
an amazing cave.

The total passage surveyed

on the expedition was 27.7 kilo-
meters. Most of this was within
BY JUAN LADEN
Sistema Pool Tunich. This article
focuses on my experiences; there was a lot of
mapping in other sections of the system that I EXPEDITION PARTICIPANTS
never saw. This includes southeast along the arms The fly-ins: Peter Sprouse, Aaron Addison,
to the Botella and Quinto Elemento entrances Gary Resch, Juan Laden, Andrea Corlett, Katie
and north to the Chac Mol and Vasija entrances. Graham, Sean Lewis, Sandi Calhoun, Heather
While we did not quite manage to survey ev- Túček, Chris Lloyd, Andrea Croskrey, David Ochel,
erything known or connect to the nearby Río Terri Sprouse, Chris “Batgirl” Omura, Saj Zapp-
Escondido as we had hoped, we did likely see itello, Matt Zappitello, Paul Bryant, Sofia Casini,
some parts nobody has seen before, and have a Pat Kambesis, Gavin Elsley, Zuzka Musilová. The
better appreciation for how big the cave really locals: German Yañez, Alan Formstone, Liliana
is. We still can’t rule out a “dry” connection to Viola, Roberto “Chibebo” Rojo, Gil Harmon, Tania
Río Escondido, but it is likely that the sumps Ramírez, Rodrigo Pimienta, Mauricio Munguía,
will be a key to that effort. Hector Cahum, Antonio Alanis, Carine Gouila,
Aida Ferreira, Jacinto Vela, Deysi Uc Puc, Europe
Mercier, Juan Izquierdo, Mario Zabaleta.
 111

EXPLORATIONS IN THE SUMIDERO DEL HIGO,

SAN FERNANDO, CHIAPAS
KALEB ZÁRATE GÁLVEZ, GILBERT SALINAS PÉREZ, ALESSANDRA LANZETTA
The high plateau of the municipio of San Fer-
KALEB ZÁRATE GÁLVEZ
nando constitutes an important limestone area
near the capital of the state of Chiapas in south-
ern Mexico. This area is characterized by a typical
tropical-karst morphology, with blind valleys and
dolines. The San Fernando plateau is delimited
to the east by the vertical fault of the Cañón del
Sumidero, to the north by the Río Grijalva basin,
to the south by the valley of Tuxtla Gutiérrez,
and to the west by the border of municipio Ber-
riozábal. This limestone massif is also part of the
same range that continues to the west toward the
Cañón del Río La Venta area.
The area of San Fernando has been the subject
of previous speleological investigations. The first
reports, since 1985, were made by foreign expedi-
tions, one Dutch and some Italian, which visited
a few interesting caves of this area. Subsequently
a French expedition occurred in 1987, but after
this date no more speleological explorations were
carried out in this zone until the year 2000, when
Grupo Espeleológico Jaguar A.C. started a system-
atic cave-exploration project in this area.
Sumidero del Higo was discovered in May
2010 by members of the GEJ and the La Venta
exploring team during the final days of an expe-
dition to Cueva del Puercoespín (see Speleologia
64, page 44; see also AMCS Activities Newsletter
28, pages 104 and 185 for the first reports about
the exploration of Cueva del Puercoespín). Appar-
ently other local cavers had explored the entrance
shaft of Sumidero del Higo, but their explorations
didn’t make it beyond this point and were not
documented. That May GEJ made its first incur-
sions into the cave, exploring a couple of shafts.
The cave promised to have extensive development,
but the arrival of the rainy season stopped the
explorations. In November of the same year we
returned to the cave with more equipment and
longer ropes and continued with the rigging of
new pits. That same November, during another
joint exploration with the La Venta, we reached
a depth of 200 meters, just beyond the bottom of
AMCS ACTIVITIES NEWSLETTER 36
Pozo de los Cristales, the second-deepest shaft, 45 into a short and narrow but dry meander that
meters, that has been discovered to date in this intersected a new, wider passageway. To the left,
cave. After this pit, an active passage with water the gallery continued for a hundred meters to a
continues down through a pair of short drops low roof. This passage was narrow for about 10
and finally, after a hundred meters, becomes a meters, but finally opened into a big room known
diagonal-shaped crevice. The water disappears long as El Bosque, where the exploration ended. This
before reaching this point. From the Pozo de los trip lasted three days and two nights.
Cristales, a window in the wall was observed on The cave was visited once again in April 2011
the left-hand side and 9 meters up, but we did not in order to explore some of the passages that were
climb to it. On our way out from this last pit we not previously investigated. El Bosque is a huge
took down any fixed gear. In total, 400 meters of room formed by the collapse of the roof, and con-
passage had been surveyed within the cave thus far. sequently there is a large conical pile of boulders
In January 2011 further visits were made in in the center of the room. Above the boulders
order to re-rig the final pits. In February a team beautiful speleothems are growing, including many
made up of Christian Cisneros Pérez, Gilbert Sa- tall stalagmites and some giant columns that were
linas Pérez, and Kaleb Zárate Gálvez took part in roughly 10 meters in height. Below the boulders it
establishing the first extended camp within the is possible to continue to a little drop that leads
cave. Base camp was set up only two pits from the to the top of a big mud ramp that finally inter-
entrance, so that the gear would be more secure cepts a new active passage. This is an important
during projects in the cave. During this expedition stream, with much more water than is in Pozo de
the window in the gallery of Pozo de los Cristales los Cristales. On April 30 a new team (Francesco
was reached; it proved to be a nasty climb because Sauro, Roberta Tanduo, Roberto Trevi, Greta Guidi,
the wall was covered in a layer of mud. Beyond the Giorgio Annichini, Stefano Guarniero, Christian
window the cave opened again, and to the right Cisneros Pérez and Kaleb Zárate Gálvez) entered
there was an crumbly, slightly inclined gallery with to survey and explore this new lead into active
a slope towards the Pozo de los Cristales. On the passage. It had a meandering shape, not unlike a
other side, continuing to the left, we went down small canyon, as it was high and narrow in some
parts and low and wide in others. Upstream the
KALEB ZÁRATE GÁLVEZ cave stopped in a shallow sump. Downstream the
cave was explored for almost 1 kilometer until the
team reached a waterfall , the Sumidero Sigue
Adelante shafts, that were not descended for lack
of equipment. At 2:00 a.m. on May 1, after remov-
ing gear from the Sumidero del Higo, except for
the window climbed in the Pozo de los Cristales,
the team reached the outside world. During this
season the explorations within Higo ended up
surveying 991 meters of horizontal progression
and 251 meters of overall depth.
In January and February of 2012 the rigging
of the cave started again, and a new underground
camp was established at –233 meters of depth on
February 11–12. This was positioned as near as pos-
sible to the newly discovered active passageway,
close to where the big muddy ramp ends. The idea
was to save time, since it normally required three
to four hours to reach this point from the cave’s
entrance. During February 25–26 and March 3–4
we continued surveying and the waterfall section
was descended. Immediately following this a new
shaft was discovered.
 113

GALLERY “EL BOSQUE” BY FRANCESCO SAURO

Therefore we started to organize a new, ex- went upstream to try to drain and pass beyond the
tended-camp expedition. From April 2 through 8, sump. They started by digging the floor around
with eleven cavers in two teams and seven days to the sump, which was made of sediment, princi-
dedicate to this project, this new, extended camp pally sand and small stones. Finally the water level
was created. This final exploration is detailed below. was sufficiently low to permit passage as long as
the caver was facing upward. A small gallery was
The Extended Exploration of 2012
discovered that was approximately 1.5 to 2 meters
April 2 high and 10 meters long. The water in this space
reached to knee level, and then the passage ended
The first team, consisting of Alessandra Lan-
in a new sump on the right-hand side of the gal-
zetta, Rodrigo Monjaraz Ruedas, Ulalume Hernán-
lery, so the explorations upstream were stopped
dez Arciga, Gilbert Salinas Pérez, and Kaleb Zárate
here. As this team headed back they took pictures
Gálvez, entered the Sumidero del Higo at 1:00
of the water passage downstream and were joined
p.m. Numerous kilos of equipment and food were
by A. Lanzetta and G. Salinas, both part of the
brought into the cave so as not to run out in the
second group, who had gone to rig and explore
coming days. At 8:00 p.m. the team arrived at base
downstream. This group descended the Sumide-
camp, located at a depth of 233 meters. The rest of
ro Sigue Adelante, which measured 10 meters in
the evening was spent re-establishing this camp.
depth. Then tens of meters farther on a new drop
April 3 was descended and named Pozo Extremo. Beyond
The team was divided into two groups. Three these shafts, a waterfall was discovered spilling
into the main passage from the left side of the
UPSTREAM FINAL SIPHON. cave. Downstream there were several small drops
KALEB ZÁRATE GÁLVEZ that could be easily down-climbed without ropes.
Along the stream passage there were speleothems
that nearly closed the passageway in some places,
leaving only a small and narrow space to squeeze
through. In these area we found it was necessary
to remove our harness to get through. The cave
continued, but it was necessary for the team to
start heading back to the camp to eat and get
some much-needed rest.
April 4
The push team had been reduced to three
people because two members of the party had
started their long ascent out of the cave. The survey
AMCS ACTIVITIES NEWSLETTER 36
team continued on downstream, and the explora-
tion team continued on from the end point the
previous day. The cave continued on in a meander-
ing fashion, with small drops and some low spots
under formations. Near the end of this section the
narrow passage began to be choked by boulders.
Then, over a mountain of mud, there was a large,
10-meter-high gallery with a beautifully immense
stalactite in the center that hangs down until it
almost touches the top of the mud mountain.
The water ran through 25 meters of a low-roofed
phreatic gallery and then disappeared abruptly in
a sump similar to the one found upstream.
April 5
Early in the morning another member of the
group left the cave. At times throughout our ex-
peditions members have had to leave for various
personal reasons, often independent of caving dif-
ficulties. We were definitely feeling like we needed
reinforcements at this point, and, thankfully, the
arrival of the second team was scheduled for this
day. Meanwhile the two cavers who remained
continued working on surveying the cave. The
waterfall found beyond the Sumidero Sigue Ad-
elante was explored. It was necessary to climb
the waterfall, which spilled from a narrow, mean-
dering canyon. Alessandra was the only member
who could pass through it, so alone she explored KALEB ZÁRATE GÁLVEZ
this new passage, the Meandro de la Cascada, for
about 400 meters. She returned after roughly one asleep. This new group, consisting of Christian
hour, but the canyon continued. At 1:00 a.m. the Cisneros Pérez, Juan Carlos Franco Guillén, Ga-
next morning the two-member exploration party briel Alberto Franco Guillén, and Gabriel Merino
returned to the camp and found that the second Andrade, had arrived at 7:00 p.m. that evening.
team had not yet arrived. Unfortunately food sup-
plies and extra batteries had run out.
April 7
We started to work at noon because of the
April 6 general fatigue that was felt from the previous
The team headed back to the Meandro de la day. The group was divided in three parts: two
Cascada and found over the top of the waterfall members went upstream to try to drain of the
an easier access point where the meander widens sump again, another two went downstream to
a bit more, though the first part is still narrow, survey the main passage to its conclusion, and
with sharp, jagged walls. About half of the canyon the rest of the group went back to the Meandro
was surveyed, and it was pushed until the team de la Cascada to complete the survey. At 9:00 p.m.
arrived at another sump. Most of the meander the four cavers downstream were gathered at the
is narrow, but the final part widens and is beau- base of the Sumidero Sigue Adelante. The survey
tifully sculptured by erosion. The final sump is to the final sump in the main water passage had
turquoise in color and measures roughly 1 meter not been completed, so two of them came back
in depth. The food for this day consisted mainly for finish the survey, because it was the last day
of nuts and granola. Around 1:00 a.m. the team of exploration. At 3:30 a.m. they arrived in camp
returned to base camp to find the new team fast after derigging all fixed gear from the pits down-
 115

FIRST SHAFT OF SUMIDERO SIGUE

ADELANTE. KALEB ZÁRATE GÁLVEZ KALEB ZÁRATE GÁLVEZ

stream. The other four were already sleeping in nas Pérez, Alessandra Lanzetta, and Kaleb Zárate
camp when they arrived. Gálvez returned to Sumidero del Higo to derig
the cave and survey on the surface between the
April 8 entrances of Sumidero del Higo and the nearby
At 10:00 a.m. the majority of the team started Cueva del Puercoespín. A possible connection be-
the long, arduous ascent to the exit. Meanwhile tween these two caves has been expected to exist
the camp was dismantled, and around 2:00 p.m. since the discovery of the Sumidero del Higo. Even
the rest of the cavers began their return to the though this connection has has not been made,
mouth of the cave, carrying with them kilos of due primarily to the upstream sump, the plans
waterlogged ropes and equipment. At 8:00 p.m. the show an undeniable link between the two caves,
final members were coming out of the Sumidero which are currently only separated by 15 short
del Higo. The cave was left rigged from base camp meters between the sumps of the two caves.
to the entrance.
A month later, on May 5–6, team members The explorations of Sumidero del Higo have
Christian Cisneros, Barbara Macini, Gilbert Sali- thus far led to 3,057 meters length and 368 meters
AMCS ACTIVITIES NEWSLETTER 36
depth. Currently, this is the deepest cave know in
the San Fernando area. If the connection Puer-
coespín-Higo is made, the combined length will
be more than 7 kilometers. [There is a much larger
and more detailed map of Sumidero del Higo at
amcs-pubs.org/maps/2643.pdf.]
We would like to give our thanks to the
community of Benito Juárez, especially to Don
Reymundo and his family, and to the comisariado
ejidal. Equally we would like to thank to La Venta
Exploring Team for their help and support during
these trips. We thank Francesco Sauro and Calvin
Smith for their comments on this manuscript.
The following is a comprehensive list of all
who have participated in the exploration of this
cave: Francesco Sauro, Carla Corongiu, Leon-
ardo Colavita, Roberta Tanduo, Alessio Romeo,
Roberto Trevi, Greta Guidi, Giorgio Annichini,
Stefano Guarniero, Cyntia Reyes Hartmann, Gizzan
Gibrand Tapia Ramírez, Luis Arturo Hernández
Mijangos, Claudia Valeria Sánchez Flores, Gabriel
Merino Andrade, Juan de Dios Rendón González,
Gabriel Camacho Hernández; Christian Cisneros
Pérez, Gilbert Salinas Pérez, César Andrés Pérez
Bonifaz, Juan Carlos Franco Guillén, Gabriel Al-
berto Franco Guillén, Benjamín Chuy Siu Hau
Soto, Sandra Inés Ocaña Hernández, Omar René
Ortega Chavarría, Zenaido Ortega Chavarría, Ro-
drigo Monjaraz Ruedas, Ulalume Hernández Ar-
ciga, Alessandra Lanzetta, Barbara Mancini, and
Kaleb Zárate Gálvez.
117
AMCS ACTIVITIES NEWSLETTER 36

2013 TZONTZECUICULI EXPEDITION

GUSTAVO VELA
PHOTOS BY GUSTAVO VELA

“There are men who fight for a day authorities. They wanted money for us to be in the
and they are good. area, and even though it wasn’t much divided among
There are other who fight for a year the group, paying for nothing is a bad habit that some
and they are better. groups fall into, and things usually start going downhill
There are those that fight for many years from there. We promised to leave them some old ropes
and they are very good. when we left. After all, in most communities in the
But there are those that fight their whole lives: sierra nobody asks for anything just to be there. Due to
and they are the unpredictable ones.” a phone failure, we could only get three mules instead
- Bertolt Brecht of the twelve we needed, so only three of us could take
loads up to base camp, enough to start making camp,
For our sixth season there, Al Warild, Franco while the rest of us stayed in the Conasupo.
Attolini, and I got together fourteen cavers in the Sierra The next day we had less rain and nine mules
Negra in the south of Puebla. We hoped to answer some and could move our chattels up the mountain in the
questions about the area that we’d been exploring since mud, slime, and cold. At least building the camp at
2007, but it seems that as time goes by we come away 2300 meters was relatively fast, because our furniture
with more and more questions and fewer answers. from the year before was still in place. That is, all the
wood that we’d used to make the kitchen and dining
Week One area was still intact. At last, on day five, the first group
The start was a little complicated: two days in could head out to Suapili (Damsel) cave to find and
Tehuacán shopping and getting permission from the re-flag the track and set up a rain-capture system. After
municipal head in Ajalpan, then as soon as we went three hours up and the same back in the rain, the
up into the sierra the first cold front arrived, and with group was soaked through.
it, rain, low temperatures, and problems with the local On day six we all hid in camp as the rain poured
 119
down. At least we collected 150 liters of precious water. group didn’t do much better; after the window went
Due to a long dry spell—which apparently had ended— nowhere, the new pits they found went only to 50
the tiny spring was just a small puddle of brown water. meters. The best of the day was TTW28, our best find
On day seven, the sun was shining, and we could at last in these first two weeks –60 meters. Incredible.
find a route up to the plateau at 2700 meters that we On the other side of the mountain near Damsel,
wanted to explore. We all returned with well-beaten feet. we took a look at TT103 that had been found in 2012.
To our surprise, it went, with a good breeze down to 36
Week Two
meter, where we stopped at the top of a 40-meter pitch.
Along with the sun came an incessant wind that We began to get the impression that luck just
shook the trees and wrecked our sleep for several nights. wasn’t on our side, considering that we’d been spiked,
One group went out to the plateau at 2500 meters, hurt, twisted, sun-burned, sweated, soaked, scraped,
where Jesus lost his sandal, the same area where the and tired, apart from lost, dehydrated, and left asking
year before we’d found Olbastle Suapili, Damsel Cave. ourselves what on earth we were doing here. After
Three went up to bivouac in the entrance, with four two weeks of walking over the karst, all we had was
more helping to carry the gear. Thanks to our ingenious a meagre –500 meter, a –700 meter, and a –600 meter
design (i.e., good luck), our water collection system . . . oops, sorry, I meant a –50, a –70, and a –60 meter.
there had collected 20 more liters of precious, slightly
discolored liquid. High in these limestone sierras, the Week Three
only rivers are in your dreams. Once organized, they On Sunday we had a bit of a scare when two of
checked all the climbs and windows left undone from the group hadn’t returned by 7:00 p.m. as they had
the year before, but none went anywhere. Next day said they would. They’d left very early for a day trip to
they returned to base camp, and a second group went TT103 on a “path” that tortures the body and feet for
up to check one last window and begin the derig. The three hours, before entering the cave to rig the 40-meter
poor damsel was dead. pitch that awaited them. To add a complication, the
Others went up to the 2700-meter plateau, and a few cave bifurcated at the bottom of the pitch. Which
went to explore the big doline near Paisano, otherwise way to go? They took the right, as the left had no
known as hell because of the huge concentration of apparent continuation. Twenty-five meters down they
scrub and spiny bushes that choose to live there. All hit a squeeze with a drop on the other side, but they
they got were a few holes that went 30 meters or so couldn’t fit through. When they got to the surface, the
and choked. Someone remembered there was a good- next cold front had come in, and the mountain was
looking 40-meter hole near the route up to the plateau. covered in fog as night fell. Returning in the dark,
It went 70 meters and stopped abruptly. The Damsel in the rain, they lost the way and had to backtrack
AMCS ACTIVITIES NEWSLETTER 36

TTW28
0

p30 Ventana de madera

Ventana de piedra
p12 p30
pm

gatera

p25

p12
p30 pm TTW28
pm 10
¡Que no piensan!
p30 100
pm 10
pm 10
p25
Estrecho de la escopeta
pm 10
p80?
Planta
p40 p50
p10 p40
p40

p6

p6

p10

pm

N 200
p50

0 10 20 30 40 50 m

Ventanita de coral
/estrecho

Olbastl Tlanexilotl
(Sótano de las Ventanas) p40

Ocotempa, 300

Puebla, México
X: 714745 Y: 2037589 Z: 2690, NAD27 Mexico
Longitud: 383 m, Profundidad topografiado: 285m ¿Quieres bailar?
p 80?

Explorado y topografiado por

los miembros de la expedición
Tzontzecuiculi 2013
con DistoX, Suuntos & Auriga

Perfil Alzado
400m
 121
several times, even though it was well marked with As they were bivouacked nearby, they were back early
flagging tape and the odd reflector. Back in camp, we the next day and continued to what looked like a
were asking ourselves just how long we’d wait before 50-meter drop where they ran out of rope. The survey
going to look for them. Lucky for us, they arrived a added 146 meters that day.
9:30, soaking wet but happy.
Next day the pair in TTW28 or Olbastl Tlanexilotl
Week Four
(Window Pit) returned in the rain. After another 50 By the last week there were only six of us left
meters it had become narrow, with no apparent way standing, but at least the scrapes and sunburn were
on, so they began to derig. During the next few days starting to pay off. On Sunday the pair from TT103
we hid from the rain, huddled in the kitchen, bored, returned with the news that our pit was 60 meters
and eating like pigs in a
mud-wallow. The only positive
was that we collected 200 liters
of rainwater.
On Thursday we
emerged from the mud and
recommenced exploration. A
group returned to Tlanexilotl,
rerigged, and realized that
beyond the impossibly tight
part was something that
sounded like a 30-meter pitch.
On Saturday they returned with
a bigger hammer, and with a bit of work passed the and beyond it the cave didn’t look so good. It became
tight spot and descended a 40-meter pitch followed narrow and went down a few awkward small drops.
by a 6-meter drop, but with no rope and a three-hour At least the breeze was still there; the sediment was
walk home, it was time to leave. Another group went to dried out to a fine, flour-like dust. So the next day two
TT103. Instead of turning right to a sure squeeze, they more took the long walk up to continue the push—
took the left branch, which had an easy continuation and returned the next day with the bad news. Yes it
tucked around the corner. Following the air, they went continued, a short way, sort of, down a couple of small
down one drop, then another, and stopped at a third. drops, then some really tight passage to nothing. The
air slid off down an impossible tube. Three o’clock
in the morning, 256 meters deep, and nothing left
but to derig.
At the same time others went to Tlanexilotl to
drop the 6-meter pitch and three more, stopping at
the top of a 40. Good air, and plenty of enthusiasm,
but no more rope, so time to do battle with the rocks
and scrub for three hours. A day later the 40 became
53 meters to a completely blind pit. What? How? All
this for nothing! Not possible! Where does the air go?
Tlanexilotl is Nahautl for window, so one was found
8 meters up. With the help of a hammer it was just
passable, but not headfirst, you’d never get back out.
Feed the feet in, curl in a ball, and roll forward to
continue. Five meters doesn’t sound like much, but
five meters covered in Velcro-like coral and with a
nasty rock sticking out at the end is a long way. Exhale
and slip through. Two anchors on the other side and
down to the end of the rope that wasn’t long enough.
Back home the total said 226 meters, and going well.
AMCS ACTIVITIES NEWSLETTER 36

By Thursday everyone was ready for Tlanexilotl year on a bad note.

again, but cold front number 37 arrived and pinned us There are years, and years. Some give good
down for another forty-eight hours. On Saturday we results and others not. In 2013 we definitely had a
got our chance. The partly descended a 12-meter drop season that didn’t give us much that went very far. We
and started down the next. Forty meters down it was checked out eighty dolines and pits, and the only one
obvious that we didn’t have nearly enough rope. The that ever looked any good was Tlanexilotl. Given the
last rope hung in space, and a rock fell for another density of deep caves just a few kilometers away, it is
four seconds. With Palm in hand, Auriga said we were surprising and frustrating that we’ve now checked so
at –285 meters. many features and almost none continue. If you added
On Sunday the last group climbed up to up all the caver-hours we’d invested in searching for
Tlanexilotl hoping to explore at least a little more, caves on Tzontzecuiculi, we’d surely have spent much
but the accumulated fatigue from bashing scrub for a more time in the scrub than in the caves. So much
month didn’t leave enough room for enthusiasm to do limestone and so few caves. Curiously, looking at the
a deep trip down a big pit. They contented themselves profiles of Damsel and TT103, both stop at the same
with bundling up the ropes and removing the anchors. level. Is there something there that kills caves, or have
The very last bash was to pass the squeeze in we just not yet found the cave?
TT103. Optimism or madness I don’t know, but they This year was also exceptionally wet. In total, we
got through and it went nowhere. Oh well, derig that lost six days in the month sitting out cold fronts. We
too, but at least TT103 was done. No need to start next only saw six or seven rattlesnakes instead of the usual
 123
TT103
fifteen. How much more prospecting before we 0
p8 Olbastl Telpochtli
find the cave? How many more pits before we p8
(Cueva Galán, TT103)
get beyond the entrance drop? Our best option Ocotempa,
Puebla, México
is Olbastl Tlanexilotl. p12

Tlanexilotl kana miktlantli 2014? (Window to p6 X: 715976 Y: 2036981 Z: 2639, NAD27 Mexico
Longitud: 432 m, Profundidad topografiado: 257m
the underworld 2014?) We’ll be back.
50 Explorado y topografiado por
p40 los miembros de la expedición
This project could never have been possible Tzontzecuiculi 2013
con DistoX & Auriga
without the team. Without the laughs, the tears,
the sweat, and occasionally the blood, but above p8 p20

all the efforts of our friends who gave their

enthusiasm and time, this project would never 100 p15

have got underground. To all of you, thank you. p3

N
p15
0 10 20 30 40 50 m
Participants (in alphabetical order)
Lorenzo Armas (Mex)
Franco Attolini (Mex) p60

Rodolfo González (Mex) 150 p60

Jennifer Hopper (U.S.) Planta entrada

TT103
Alejandra López (Mex)
Ramses Miranda (Mex) p40
r3
David Ochel (Alemania)
Hasan Ortiz (Mex) El Polvosfera
200 p11
Guillaume Pelletier (Quebec) r3

Bev Shade (U.S.) p7

David Tirado (Mex) p12 p12

Gustavo Vela (Mex) Perfil Alzado imposible

p9
Ángeles Verde (Mex)
Al Warild (Australia) p20
imposible
257m
ANTHODITE HALL
SISTEMA HUAUTLA, OAXACA

PHOTO ESSAY
PHOTOGRAPHER: ELLIOT STAHL
125
AMCS ACTIVITIES NEWSLETTER 36
127
AMCS ACTIVITIES NEWSLETTER 36

USING THE MICROSOFT KINECT TO CREATE

A 3-D CAVE MAP
JON BEACH
In March 2013 we field-tested a semi-automated video camera. For more information see www.dmi
3-D cave mapping system based on the Microsoft .unict.it/~battiato/CVision1112/Kinect.pdf.
Kinect. The system takes advantage of Kinect’s Once the camera has determined the distance
portability and flexible implementation to create to the objects in front of the camera it converts that
3-D maps of the cave environment. The system information into a 640-by-480 pixel depth-image. A
we implemented was used to create a 3-D map depth-image is simply an image in which each pixel
of 30 meters of Cueva de Playas in Veracruz. (see not only contains the X and Y coordinates of a
“Mexico News” in this issue ). The process to normal digital image but also contains information
capture the data was comparable to traditional on how far from the camera the object that pixel
tape and compass mapping but the post-processing represents is. The Kinect can also layer the RGB
was quite labor intensive. In all the final product color video images over the depth image.
is quite impressive, but the system requires some The Kinect sends depth-map data through a
modification in order to be truly useful in the field. USB cable to a computer. There are a number of
The Kinect was released by Microsoft in 2010 as applications that can import, save and manipulate
an add-on to their popular Xbox 360 game system. Kinect depth image data. In this case we used
Its primary use is to sense the location of players the Point Cloud Library (PCL) for acquisition of
and allow them to use their body positions as an the depth images. PCL is an open source set of
input device or “controller.” The Kinect does this programming libraries and comes with a number
by producing a 3-D image of the area directly in of pre-made applications that can interact with
front of it and using specially designed software the Kinect. For more information see pointclouds.
to identify body position. org. We used the KinectPCLviewer tool to capture
The Kinect accomplishes this feat by using a individual depth images from the Kinect.
process called structured light analysis in which Once depth images have been captured,
the Kinect projects near-infrared light in a pseudo- the most vexing issue that must be overcome is
random pattern in front of the device. An IR stitching them together into an accurate 3-D map.
camera that is offset from the IR projector images When the Kinect captures a depth image, each
the scene with the IR pattern projected onto it. image represents what is directly in front of the
Based on the relative position of the imaged IR camera at the time. If the camera is moved between
pattern, software in the Kinect determines the successive images, what one ends up with is a
distance from the camera to objects in the field of series of images that need to be linked to form a
view. The Kinect has an effective range of about 20 full 3-D representation of the area of interest. In
to 25 feet depending on how reflective the surface order for a number of images to be linked, they
of the object is. The Kinect also has a standard RGB must be run through some form of a registration
 129
process.
There are a number of semi-automated and
automated registration processes that have been
developed by a wide array of groups and companies
for a variety of applications. Automated registration
programs take successive 3-D images in real time
and link them into an ever-growing global map.
A room or interior space can simply be scanned
with the Kinect and a 3-D map created in real
time. There are a number of commercial and open
source automated registration programs available around each sign. This allowed us to do two things.
today. These programs tend to be computationally First, using easily distinguishable features on the
intensive, requiring high-end computer power. sign (the three corners of a side) greatly improved
Additionally, most automated registration our ability to manually identify identical points
programs rely on both the depth image and the between different images. Second, by placing the
RGB video image to register successive images signs 10 feet apart we were able to register different
in real time. These programs have little use in a stations together.
cave, as the lighting required to light the scene To use the entire system in the cave everything
needed to be portable. We converted the Kinect
from AC plug-in power to DC battery power. The
conversion was straight forward and only involved
cutting the cord and then splicing in a 12-volt
battery pack. In this case we used a battery pack
based on 8 AA batteries. Field tests indicated we
could get about three hours of effective use from
a set of high-end AA batteries. The wet -floor signs
are of the collapsible variety, so we were able to
pack four of them with us in our luggage. To run
the entire system we brought a mid-range ASUS
laptop with an Intel Core i3 processor with 6 GB
would be prohibitive. or RAM.
There are also numerous semi-automated The data-acquisition process in the cave was
programs and tools that can be used to register relatively quick. It took a little over 45 minutes to
3-D images after the images are captured. These acquire all of the images for eleven stations. We
are less computationally intensive. In this case we had to work through a number of issue, including
chose to use the open-source program called Cloud water dripping from the ceiling onto the computer,
Compare. It provides two ways to align 3-D images dirt, and cramped spaces. To alleviate these we
together. It has a manual point-picking process and had a small metal camping table that we set the
a automated Iterative Closest Point (ICP) process. computer on when we took images. We also carried
We experimented with both options and settled a roll of paper towels and several rags to clean
on the manual point picking process. To use the
process, corresponding points from two image
are manually identified and the program then
aligns the images. It is a labor-intensive process
but provides significantly better results than ICP.
In order to be able to manually select points
that overlap between images we designed a system
where we used common triangular wet-floor signs.
The signs were set up in the cave every 10 feet
and used as stations. We took a series of twelve
to fourteen depth images in a 360 degree circle
AMCS ACTIVITIES NEWSLETTER 36
 131
our hands with. in relation to the entire image means that the
Once back in the U.S. it took quite a bit of time small discrepancies that occur when two points
to register the images together into a single 3-D are identified as identical between two images is
map. On average it took about 60 to 90 minutes to magnified.
register all of the images around a single station. To overcome these issues rugged equipment
The variability comes from a bug in the Cloud and variety of differently sized signs would help.
Compare program in which about 33 percent of And a different way of laying out the signs could
the time the program will randomly invert images help with the registration error. But the post-
during the registration process. This error forces processing requirements are quite time consuming,
closing the program and a redo of that registration and a system that automatically registers the 3-D
step. Kinect images in the dark cave environment would
While the system worked well overall, there be best. There is a group of programmers that
are still some issued to be addressed. These fall developed an automatic registration tool called
into two broad categories, data acquisition and Kinfu Largescale that apparently does not require
data processing. the RGB image and therefore large amount of light
For data acquisition the issues primarily in the cave. This could potentially be used in the
revolve around the cave environment. First, the cave environment. The tool is still in development
test was conducted in a cave that had passageways and requires a laptop far more powerful then we
that were 3 to 5 meters wide and taller than 1 currently have. Additionally, as more and more
meter. This provided the space necessary to set people create new tools for the Kinect something
up the sign, maneuver the computer and Kinect may become available that could be appropriated
around the wet floor sign, and ensure the Kinect for use in cave mapping.
is far enough away from the sign to capture a full Beyond the Kinect there are some recent
side, which is required to pick up the three points entrants in laser-scanning technology that may
to register images with. Second, the 20 to 25 foot work as cave-mapping tools. Typically laser scanning
range of the Kinect would make capturing 3-D is very expensive and quite cumbersome. But, after
images in a room taller than 30 feet impossible. coming back from Mexico we became aware of a
Finally, this system will only work in relatively consortium in Australia and the UK that recently
dry and clean caves. While a ruggedized laptop developed a backpack-wearable 3-D laser scanner
can be obtained, there is no ruggedized version called Zebedee (http://www.3dlasermapping.com).
of the Kinect, and it will likely not respond well Zebedee maps indoor spaces as the user walks
to large amounts of mud or water. around and holds the laser scanner on the end of
In terms of data processing, the primary issue is a randomly rotating wand. No word yet on cost
the size of the wet-floor sign and the time required or ruggedness.
in post-processing. During the registration process The Kinect has the potential to become a
it became clear that using the three corners of the powerful cave-mapping tool. While it likely won’t
triangle formed by each side of the sign as the completely replace tape and compass, it could
common points between images introduces its augment the standard toolkit and speed up the
own error. The distance between the three points normally glacially slow process of cave mapping
on the sign is not that great relative to size of the while adding a new level of detail that is currently
images. There are 2 feet between the top and the very difficult and expensive to obtain.
bottom corners of the triangle and 1 foot between
the bottom corners. This relatively small distance
INHABITANT OF IXTACXOCHITLA RETURNING HOME
AFTER A DAY’S WORK. DAVID CILIA GARCÍA.

EXPEDITION IXTACXOCHITLA 2012

RAMSÉS MIRANDA GAMBOA

ANGELES VERDE RAMÍREZ
ULISES RIVERA ARROYO
 133
In December 2012, twenty-five members of because interaction with nature and caves is part
the Asociación de Montañismo de la UNAM vis- of their daily lives.
ited the region of Ixtacxochitla (from Náhuatl, The specific objectives were to finish the
white flowers), in Puebla state, to continue the mapping of Ayaucalli, Ilama Coatl-Tomabak, and
exploration and mapping of caves. We decided Chaneques that were not finished in 2011 due to
to take a large group of people because the trip weather and logistics, to prospect for new areas
would last only ten days, and in this time we around the base camp and Ixtacxochitla village,
had to complete the remaining objectives from and to enjoy our holiday with friends in these
2011, and it was necessary to spend at least two beautiful places.
days after arrival and before departure to install We prospected toward the Tzizintépetl massif
and uninstall the whole camp. Simply, there was to find new cave entrances, but the karst morphol-
little time and much to do. We left Mexico City ogy did let us advance long distances; progress
on the night of December 14 and arrived to the through the fissures and cracks was too difficult
base camp, at Cueva Tlaloc, on the night of De- and dangerous.
cember 15. We stayed seven days at the foothills of Ayaucalli had been discovered previously,
Cerro Tzizintépetl (or Zizintépetl) and returned but the mapping could not be finished because
to Mexico City on December 23 because many of a cold front at the end of 2011 expedition. We
of the cavers wanted to spend the holidays with had been very excited about this cave since its
their families. discovery; the sinkhole is huge, and also one of
This time we had two teams. The first and the first rooms has very large dimensions. It has
most numerous, nineteen people, installed the a total length of 1411 meters, with a horizontal
base camp in the cave and finished the work extent of 1356 meters and a depth of 202 meters.
remaining in the 2011 caves [see AMCS Activities The descent starts with an 80-meter slope down
Newsletter 35, pages 77–88], and the second group, to the northeast. Right after the slope there are
six people, remained in the village to prospect four pits, of 6, 17, 22 and 11 meters. Then, we
for new cave entrances and make preparations climbed up to a huge room, approximately 110
for a documentary on the people in the region, meters long and 75 wide. Next to the Great Sa-

HUGO SALGADO AT AYAUCALLI´S FIRST DROP.

DAVID CILIA GARCÍA.
AMCS ACTIVITIES NEWSLETTER 36
135
AMCS ACTIVITIES NEWSLETTER 36
Unfortunately, we found some evidence of
previous explorations in this place, probably car-
ried out by the Société Québécoise de Spéléologie,
but we cannot say if they completed survey.
The Ilama Coatl–Tomabak System (Old Snake)
was explored in March 2010, but it was not until
December 2012 that we finished the mapping and
found another entrance that we called Tomabak.
Ilama Coatl has five drops: 7, 7, 10, 22, and 25
meters respectively, and connects with Tomabak
in a large room full of great blocks. From here
we found four passages. One of them was at the
top of a 10-meter cascade that we climbed up. At
the top we found a little paper that showed that
members of the SQS had been there. We think
that they connected their CT-1-6 cave with the
Ilama Coatl–Tomabak System in the large room,
because none of the others passages showed evi-
dence of exploration. Two of the passages are
almost horizontal ,and the fourth one comes
lon we found two chambers, one to the south, from the Tomabak entrance. From outside to
with a lot of speleothems, and the other, to the inside, Tomabak has five pits, 9, 8, 20, 3, and 44
northwest, covered by mud, which has a curi- meters respectively. The part of the system that
ously shaped mound that looked like a grave; we thought was unexplored has a total length
we call it the Speleologist Tomb. This room was of 1332 meters, with a horizontal extent of 1133
followed by a small passage. At the east of the meters and a depth of 144 meters.
Great Salon we followed a passage and found a Chaneques was found in 2006, but the cave
final 10-meter pit. remained lost for three years due the dense veg-

SUSANA KAJI ARRIVING AT THE GREAT

SALON IN ILAMA COATL-TOMABAK SYSTEM.
DAVID CILIA GARCÍA
 137
etation. It was found again in 2011, when de- Nacional de Aracnidos of the Instituto de Biología
forestation exposed the area. According to the at UNAM. Rodrigo Monjaráz, a member of the
inhabitants’ legends, the chaneques are entities expedition, studies at this institute. The cave is
that protect the forest, they are naughty, and it 11 meters deep and 115 meters long.
is necessary to ask permission to enter to virgin After several years of exploring the area, we
zones or caves, otherwise they can scare you. At realize that geology the region favors the forma-
the drop entrance of the Chaneques sinkhole, tion of doline karst and an extensive underground
we found speleothems that look like little huts, network that functions as a natural drainage for
where it is believed that these guardians live. It heavy rainfall throughout the year. Most caves are
has a total length of 369 meters, with a horizontal semi-active, i.e. they carry large flows of water dur-
extent of 237 meters and a depth of 111 meters. ing the rainy season or in the presence of strong
The 25-meter ramp entrance is in a wide sinkhole storms, which are very common throughout the
approximately 50 meters in diameter. The initial region because the Sierra Negra receives much
pit of 45 meters is very pretty and connects to of the humidity from the Gulf of Mexico to the
a room that has two main passage that connect southeast. But the rest of the time the caves are
and end in a very narrow places where water quite accessible. The morphology of the caves is
flows. This cave has a couple of internal pits of predominantly horizontal, with few deep pits, and
5 meters and is mostly dry, but has a couple of they do not reach 300 meters deep. It is common
small resurgences and some drips. On rainy days to find long, winding, and narrow galleries that
the wide sinkhole captures rainwater and funnels carry water through the karst. Also we found a
it into both passages. large number of sinkholes of all sizes, and be-
La Llorona is a little cave near the Tlaloc cave low them it is common to find large rooms. It is
that is formed by two ascending galleries, one dry characteristic of the region that caves connect to
that is used by a little bat colony as home and the form large systems. These features may be due to
other one carrying water to the spring entrance. the fact that the cave resurgences are high in the
The cave is interesting due the great diversity of mountains, so water has not had the opportunity
cave fauna. During this expedition we collected to amass the velocity, volume, and energy to cre-
some specimens of arachnids for the Colección ate great pits. In addition, we observed that the

LORENZO ORTÍZ AT THE ENTRANCE RAMP IN

AYAUCALLI. DARÍO ZUBILLAGA MARTÍN
AMCS ACTIVITIES NEWSLETTER 36
rock at Ixtacxochitla is very weak, and maybe Participants: Víctor Bravo Reyna, Vitza Cabrera
at–300 meters there is a bed that prevents the Manrique, Elizabeth Calderón Flores, Jonatan
formation of caves. Canales Millán, Lydiette Carrión Rivera, David
Two caves show evidence of the presence of Cilia García, Itzel Cortéz Fernández, Julio Cesar
SQS members, this group having exploring near Díaz Montes, Tepeu Eldae, Hannali Yuruem Frías
the area twenty years ago, so we conclude that López, Susana Kaji García, Alejandra López-Portillo
the areas of both groups have overlapped and it is Chávez, León Martínez, Myriam Miranda Gam-
unnecessary to spend our efforts in repeat work boa, Ramsés Miranda Gamboa, Rodrigo Monjaráz
mapping while there are many other places to Ruedas, Lorenzo Ortíz Armas, Hassan Ortíz Mon-
explore in the Sierra Negra or the rest of Mexico! talvo, Verónica Ortíz Zavala, Tonatiuh Paz, Ulises
Ixtacxochitla gave us many things: joy, ex- Rivera Aroyo, Hugo Enrique Salgado Garrido,
perience, exhausting but satisfying days, lots Edgar Soto Valdés, María de los Angeles Verde
of laughter, teamwork, local friends and their Ramírez and Darío Zubillaga Martín.
ideologies, and in particular the opportunity to
learn extraordinary things about the cloud for-
est that hides many wonderful caves. Thank you En diciembre de 2012 un grupo de 25 espe-
Ixtacxochitla! leólogos de la Asociación de Montañismo de la
UNAM se dieron cita durante 10 días en la zona
We would like to express our gratitude to de Ixtacxochitla para continuar con las labores de
Javier Vargas Guerrero, AM-UNAM president, exploración y topografía de cavernas. Durante la
Arturo García Gómez, AM-UNAM director of campaña de exploración de diciembre del 2011 y
speleology, and Rafael Reyes Márquez, treasurer, enero del 2012 tres cavidades no fueron exploradas
for their teaching and support in the realization por completo debido a la falta de tiempo, así que
of this project. We would like to thank, as well, los objetivos principales de esta expedición eran
Iván González for the loan of surveying equipment continuar con la exploración de estas cavernas y
and the members of the GEU for their enthusi- encontrar nuevas entradas en la zona. Además de
asm and collaboration during the explorations. estas labores, parte de los integrantes realizaron
Special thanks to Gregorio Cacho and his wife una serie de entrevistas y videos a los pobladores
Juanita for their hospitality and kindness; they para conocer los mitos y leyendas de las cavernas
always made us feel at home. de la región.

MYRIAM MIRANDA, VÍCTOR BRAVO AND

ALEJANDRA LÓPEZ TAKING A REST IN THE
ILAMA COATL-TOMABAK SYSTEM. DAVID CILIA
GARCÍA.
 139

EXPLORATION OF ACTUN JAALEB

RAÚL E. MANZANILLA
TRANSLATED BY HAAS KRISTEN W. TAYLOR

On January 14, 2012, based on information During the work in the cave, many of the local
from Lucio Cupul, a farm worker from the com- townspeople collaborated, as well as Miguel Xacur,
munity La Estrella, the Grupo Espeleológico Ajau Pía McManus, María José Gómez Cobá, Fátima Tec
learned of the cave Aktun Jaaleb (Guinea Pig Cave Pool, and Raúl Manzanilla Haas, all members of
or Paca Cave), located on the common land of Ajau; the French speleologists Christian Thomas,
the community of Buena Vista, in the municipio Odile Champart-Curie, Jeanne Private, and Gilles
of Chemax, in eastern Yucatán. Carmine from Espéléoclube L’École Polytechnique;
The townspeople knew of the existence of and American Kristen Taylor from the Richmond
the cave, as it was commonly used as a hunting Area Speleological Society.
ground for the jaaleb or tepezcuintle (Agouti paca Aktun Jaaleb is without a doubt one of the
or spotted paca), which is a small mammal that most interesting discoveries in the state of Yucatán,
often seeks refuge in caves. The cave had not yet not only because of its length, but also because
been totally explored, however, nor had it been of the pre-Hispanic cultural elements found in-
visited by experts. side it that show the ritual and sacred importance
After completion of our first expedition, of this subterranean space for the ancient Maya
three more were carried out with the objectives people of the zone. With a length of 1,700 meters,
of exploring and mapping the cave. The second it is one of a group of the longest subterranean
expedition occurred on January 29, 2012, with cavities in eastern Yucatán that were registered by
the goal of surveying the cave’s main passage and Ajau and the French group under the leadership
identifying possible leads. The expeditions that of Christian Thomas between the years of 2006
followed occurred from August 20 through 22 of and 2012. Others are El Pozo de Santa Rita and
that same year with the purpose of taking passage Madre Cristalina, which encompass 1,100 and 3,500
measurement. The surveying was completed on meters, respectively, in the community of Santa
February 5, 2013. Rita in municipio Valladolid and Aktun Copó (Star
MARÍA JOSÉ GÓMEZ COBÁ FÁTIMA TEC POOL MARÍA JOSÉ GÓMEZ COBÁ
AMCS ACTIVITIES NEWSLETTER 36
Cave) in the community of Cocoyol, with a length and some formations in the shape of curtains;
of 1,900 meters. stalactites and stalagmites are very scarce here.
The main passage continues in a section that
Cave Description runs north; this took us to a room with mul-
Aktun Jaaleb has an entrance formed by a tiple columns, stalactites, stalagmites, and large
collapsed depression in the shape of a circle that breakdown piles in some parts. Various leads were
allows for easy access into the cave on one side of identified here, and from here to where our sur-
it. This entrance leads to a semi-open main passage vey ended, the main passage runs northeast. One
that the local townspeople utilize as temporary of these branches is parallel to the main passage
refuge when this area is affected by hurricanes. of the cave, but is not very long; another three
The cave expands horizontally into large passages were found to the southeast and north,
rooms, some parts of which are as wide as 30 but they were not explored.
meters and as tall as 20 meters in their highest Continuing along the main passage of Ak-
sections. The cave was 1,409 meters long after the tun Jaaleb, one arrives at the Sala de las Manos
first stage of mapping; 291 more meters were docu- (Hands Room), which is characterized by a large
mented on subsequent survey trips, arriving at a number of hand prints that were made with pig-
total length of 1,700 meters thus far. ments from carbon and red clay. This section has
The cave has two routes. The first runs north- an area with a lot of dripping water, small depres-
east and does not go far. The size of the entrance sions where infiltrating water accumulates, short
to the first route is reduced by a wall constructed drops, breakdown piles, and a small tunnel that
with large stones, which was made by the ancient is parallel to the main passage and merges with
Maya people. In front of it is a flat stone that it a little farther along.
could have served as a means to close off this Continuing in the same direction towards the
access completely. This area is characterized by northeast, passing an area of breakdown and some
many collapses and some archaeological relics, off-white dry depressions, one arrives at la Sala de
like ceramic fragments. The second route is longer la Puerta (Door Room), which has a flat ceiling
and runs southeast; it has confined spaces that with few formations—just the occasional small
lead to large cavities, like the Bóveda de la Rana stalactite, barely centimeters long. Large quanti-
(Frog Room), named because a common frog of ties of sharp stalactites, stalagmites, and small
the northeast of Yucatán and north of Quintana columns were found near the walls, however. A
Roo, Eleutherodactylus yucatanensis, was found there. little farther along, beside a small, shallow body
This place has drops, breakdown piles, and a small of water, two leads open up, running parallel to
vertical entrance that allows the splendor of the each other towards the northeast and eventually
sun to come in. An entrance to area was identi- merging. The first lead is small and tunnel-like,
fied in the north that leads to an area with much with a low ceiling from which water drips, small
dripping water. In some parts there are temporary stalactites and some stalagmites, very thin and
shallow bodies of water, as well as an elevated brittle walls that divide other segments that do
concentration of carbon dioxide gas. Something not develop into much of anything, a small place
of note here is the almost complete skeleton of a that is uncomfortable to pass through due to some
species of small deer known as the yuk (Mazama sharp broken stalactites on the floor, and some
pandora), likely the victim of some type of feline carbon dioxide gas.
predator, such as the jaguar, that hunts in the area. The second lead is more spacious and is large
Following the cave’s main passage toward the enough to be traveled through upright; it was a
southeast, one arrives at la Sala de la Navajilla bit more difficult, however, because its concen-
(Knife Room). An intact pre-Hispanic obsidian trations of CO2 were even higher. There is much
knife and some fragments of others were found water dripping in this part, which makes the floor
there. The room has an extremely flat floor, which a bit muddier, and as a result small, shallow bod-
makes for comfortable passage through it; some ies of water are found throughout. At the end of
loose stones, however, are dispersed throughout. this passage, where it merges with the tunnel, the
The walls are very white in some parts and are ceiling becomes lower and lower, to the degree
composed of formations, such as small flowstones that one had to lie down completely in order
 141

to continue on. Here, where the cave had been this part there are numerous natural formations,
thought to end, two small holes were found that like sharp, active stalactites, stalagmites, columns,
appeared to lead to more cave. The first goes to fragile curtains, and in some places large break-
the northeast, where a body of natural water that down piles. All of this impeded comfortable ad-
is 60 centimeters deep was found, as well as two vancement, as one had to drag himself through
more leads, one of which abruptly bends to the small spaces where the formations were located,
southeast, and possibly merges at some point with as well as negotiate large pieces of breakdown,
the unexplored branches of the cave; the second which had deep cracks and pits to traverse.
bends to the southeast, becoming very small and Past these obstacles, the cave apparently ends.
tapering off. The second small hole is located be- In one of the northeast walls, however, a small,
tween two columns and heads to the northeast. In barely passable crack was found that went down
AMCS ACTIVITIES NEWSLETTER 36
1.5 meters. This area has a compact red clay floor, fires. In other parts, we found markers that were
some scattered stones, and thin, brittle beds of made with broken stalactites or stalagmites that
rock. The flat ceiling is between 60 and 80 cen- pointed towards the two deepest bodies of water
timeters high with no formations. After passing in the last section of the cave.
this very low place, one arrives at a slightly more Various rock paintings were also identified.
comfortable section in which he can sit up, and They consisted of different designs, some in the
where there are some small columns clustered in form of anthropomorphs and zoomorphs and
such a way that it was impossible to get by them some with geometric and abstract shapes, as well
to other parts of the cave. A very narrow way on as a lot of hand impressions on many of the cave’s
was also identified here, but it was difficult to pass walls. All of these were carried out with carbon
through due to its position and the form of its and red-clay pigments.
ceiling. Past this obstacle, the cave becomes more
open and takes on the form of a tunnel that can Acknowledgements
be walked through, with the exception of some As the majority of Yucatecan caves are found
places where the ceiling becomes lower, where within ejidos, Grupo Ajau has pushed itself to in-
one must get down on all fours. In some places volve the people from these rural populations in
it was necessary to lie completely down, which its explorations, as these individuals are the ones
was awkward, as the delicate formations, high in charge of taking care of and safeguarding the
concentrations of carbon dioxide gas, and broken natural and cultural assets of these subterranean
stalactites on the floor made passing through slow, places. For this reason, I would like to thank
tiring, and painful. Two deep bodies of water were the authorities and people of the community of
identified here. And though it was evident that the Buenavista; if it were not for them, these hidden
cave continued, our tiredness at this moment and cavities in the Yucatecan jungle would have re-
the high concentrations of CO2 made finishing mained unknown. I would especially like to thank
exploration of this part of the cave impossible. Felipe Neri Pat Balam, Placido Pool Caamal, Pe-
Things of note in this last section of the cave dro Pool Caamal, Severo Pool Caamal, Teodoro
are cultural remnants that were identified as hav- Pool Canúl, Bernardo Pat Cen, José Mateo Chimal,
ing been made by the ancient Maya, but the pas- Joselito Valdés Arjona, José Concepción Pat Cen,
sages and accesses to get to this place are very and Vinicio Felipe Pat Cen, as well as Lucio Cu-
small and too difficult for regular use by them. It pul Sánchez from La Estrella. Their cooperation
is possible, then, that this cave could have a sec- was important and necessary in each exploration,
ond, more comfortable entrance from the outside. as well as that of Gerardo Cordero and Vanessa
Romero, who accompanied Grupo Ajau on its
Archaeological Relics of
first expedition.
Pre-Hispanic Origin
As in many caves in the Maya area, the sub-
terranean cavities of Yucatán boast innumerable El siguiente articulo trata sobre la exploración
pre-Colombian cultural displays; Aktun Jaaleb is de la cueva Aktun Jaaleb, en el Oriente de Yucatán
no exception. en México, durante el 2012 e inicios del 2013 por
Among the relics that were identified in Aktun el Grupo Espeleológico Ajau (México), el Espeleo-
Jaaleb are alignments of stones in the semi-open clube L’Ecole Polytechnique (Francia) y gente de las
section of the first room, accesses blocked by flat comunidades cercanas. Esta cavidad subterránea es
stones that restricted the size of some spaces, an importante no sólo por ser una de las más largas
obsidian knife, and multiple ceramic fragments de la zona, sino por la evidencia arqueológica que
that were arranged on the floor with a purpose. In los antiguos mayas dejaron en su interior.
some places we observed charcoal left over from