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| The project...to replace the old screen covering the pit. | Here's the old net ...metal screening (like window screen). There is a place here in the pit that drips water all the time... it's rusting through... | Not to mention, the net isn't fit to the pit...it gets close but stuff just happens to find the holes and fall beyond, down into the pit. |
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| Looking up from the screen is the top of the pit.. you can't see the visitors but they sound like they are about a foot above your head! | Before tearing it out, you clear the coins and garbage thrown down that gets caught on the net and sides. | It's a lot easier to clean the stuff off from the screen rather than digging in the mud (and sometimes water) down in the pit. |
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| So the first thing was to cut the old pipe and screen away. | And then bag it. It was at this time Dale T. saw this BIG rubber footprint next to his right foot. | Looking closely, his entire boot had just deteriorated into nothing...the sole was gone and the soft spongy rubber cushion was turning into powder. |
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| So Dale had to ditch the boots right away and headed back up the trail barefoot & socks going up the ladders, the visitor trail, outside, up the mountain, to his car to find that Lil (his wife) had the keys and she was on trash detail. | So he limped back into the cave and was our trail interpreter above us (about 85 feet) while he waited for Lil to show up. About an hour and a half, she came and he was able to get some soft shoes. | While that was happening, D was cleaning the pit of the rubber and Dale A and Jon went to putting new screening on the mini pit. |
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| We kept the pipe as is, as it wasn't in bad shape. | This is on the other side of a large speleotherm (we call Big Boy) and rarely had junk on it, but it's a skinny area and hard to clean out... so it is worth it! | We then took everything around the corner to make a trash pile. Everything was in bags. There isn't much space around there for a work area, so the trash had to go! |
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| There is the speleotherm (Big Boy) that separates the big pit from the screen you just saw. We took some of the trash all the way back to the ladders so it could be taken up later. | A view from the trash pile back towards the pit... | and... the other side of the view...into Lower Cave. |
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| Now the time to start building. We had a plan, but being there, we started thinking otherwise... | Our Engineer in Charge (Dale A) laid out the fittings. Our plan changed from one large net to two smaller ones. | Then one could go to the far side, pick up the whole structure and dump it all on the other one where it will be easier to clean. |
