Maxwelton Sink Cave Project Page
Maxwelton Sink Survey Participants:
Please click here for additional information for active participants.

First planned Maxwelton Sink Survey Project day is Saturday, October 9, 2004!!! Plan to meet at WVACS, and please email prior so we know who to expect and can give you directions to WVACS if you need them.

Maxwelton Sink Cave is now open for survey and science trips. The dig is temporarily complete (all that is left is to attach the permanent hatch, which will be done in 6-12 months, after the ground has stabilized). We now have a need to do some mappin’!

You may notice the entrance is not a 60-foot culvert, but a 40-foot culvert. This change was made at the last minute and we feel that the 40 feet will be quite sufficient and will not compromise the dig and the end product. The ladder that will be placed in the entrance is under construction and will be placed there ASAP. Until then, the entrance is vertical, and rig points will be pointed out when you arrive to the cave.

The entrance is managed by the WVCC, and the management plan has been approved by the board and outlines the activities that are permitted in and around the cave and property. Please read the management plan if you intend to visit this cave. It is also imperative that all groups going into the cave abide by all trail suggestions and survey guidelines so that the work we all produce is of high quality, integrity, and of course respectful of the delicate nature of this resource.

The survey guidelines are as follows, and are uniform for all trips entering the system:

1. Frontsights and backsights are required. Compass is the data-crunching software used in this survey.
2. All instruments need to be calibrated prior to the start of the trip.
3. Sketchers need to be very precise and need to be prepared to draw a working map of whatever is surveyed prior to leaving the area after each trip (or submit a workable sketch so our cartographer will not have to telepathic).
4. All frontsight/backsight readings will need to be within 2 degrees of each other for each station.
5. Group size is limited to 5 per group, although exceptions can be made in certain circumstances. Days with multiple teams will need to stagger their entrance to the cave, both for the cave and to keep people jams from forming.
6. Survey as you go, meaning, no scooping, and mop up all side leads before moving on in the big stuff (or little stuff if you’re not as lucky!).
7. The cave is vertical just about from the get-go, so you must be efficient with your vertical system.
8. Stay on all trails, and if you come across something that needs a trail, make one.
9. Please coordinate with one of the various survey coordinators in advance and upon exit so that everyone is on the same page.
10. The temporary entrance is locked, and a key is needed to enter. Keys are available from Dave Scott, Carroll Bassett, Jeff Bray, Tim Bleech, Dave Cowan, Ed Saugstad, and various other members of the digging crews. You must plan ahead for your trip with Jeff, Dave, or any other designated survey coordinator, and contact any of the key holders for the key if none of the key holders are going in on the same day.
11. Upon exit from the cave, after completing any points mentioned above, we ask that you please deposit the key and sketch book and notes in the locked box at the entrance, or, if no box is present yet, return to whomever you got the key from.
12. Don’t forget to close the hatch upon entrance and exit, and don’t lock the lock unless you are the last ones out!

Survey particulars, lead lists, working maps, and anything else that can be made available to the various groups taking part in the survey will be managed from a password protected portion of this site, once the need arises. (Until then, the survey coordinators can help out). All participants will be able to view these pages (once formed) and will be able to be a part of the project email list after taking part in the survey and while staying active.

Hopefully, many of the crews will be repeat crews. At this time there are no voluntary closures expected at any time of the year for the cave, so cave trips can be planned year ‘round. There is expected to be a normal monthly project weekend which will coincide with the monthly WVACS project weekends.

Stay tuned to this site and the WVCC Maxwelton Site for more updates!

Photo by Jeff Bray.