Inside the nation's deepest spring

The cave system under Weeki Wachee is now regarded as the
deepest underwater cave in the United States at 403 feet.
A team of cave divers with Karst Underwater Research have
pushed the system to that depth during a series of dives
earlier this summer.

Weeki Wachee's depths and beauty humble researchers.

It's a world of sapphire blue, with boulders as big as houses and passages wide enough to accommodate a jumbo jet.

To a diver who has explored the deep, naturally formed Weeki Wachee Springs, there's one word to describe being 403 feet down.

"Humbling," said Brett Hemphill. "When you're that deep, you might as well be between the Earth and the moon."

As part of the Tampa's Karst Underwater Research team, Hemphill, 40, and 19 other divers have confirmed that the home of the world-famous mermaids is indeed the deepest spring in the United States.

"Some of the rooms were so large that I had to focus on one wall and make sure my compass was pointing the right way," Hemphill said. "There were sections where you could see formations that looked like piles of bones."

Though the spring water is mostly crystal clear with visibility of about 100 feet, below 350 feet it becomes a deep, rich blue. The water at that depth, Hemphill said, has not gotten light of any kind for perhaps hundreds of years.

Cavers explore a hidden world

Christy Mehrlich takes part in a caving expedition for
more than four hours, which had her squeezing and crawling
around rock formations

If you enjoy maneuvering between fallen boulders barely far enough apart to fit your inhaled torso, I have a sport for you.

Like traditional sports, helmets are mandatory. A steady stance is recommended, seeing as how there are drops of more than 100 feet. And upper body strength is a must.

I can testify to this requirement, as I was barely able to lift my arms to type this sentence.

However, unlike more traditional sports, an affinity for bats – the flying mammal, not the wooden club – is a plus.

I learned these tips and many more while spelunking in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas.

So you are probably thinking, “What is spelunking” and “Why did you pay someone to expose you to these dangers?”

Probably to avoid this exact question, young spelunkers now call it caving, as in to explore caves.

South Dakota Spelunker Awarded

A 51-year-old South Dakotan has won the world's top award for cave exploration.

Mike Wiles not only plays in caves. He also works in one. Wiles is an employee at Jewel Cave National Monument about 13 miles west of Custer.

He's given credit for helping explore the cave and moving its ranking from the world's fourth-longest to the second-longest. Jewel Cave is 140-miles-long.

Wiles attributes his win to the more than 100 other cavers who have helped him, and to his commitment to go where few others will. For example, he recently lost 15 pounds so he could squeeze through narrow passages.

Overview of past winners on the NSS website.

Source: Keloland

Flintknapping Revival of an ancient craft

Flintknapping, the art of making chipped stone tools, may have begun as much as three million years ago, when our ancestors began fabricating crude stone hand axes. Through the ages, stoneworking skills were refined, and eventually spread to all inhabited continents. In North America, the manufacture of chipped stone tools can be traced to the arrival of the "Clovis" people on the continent, about 12,000 years ago. The Clovis people (also referred to as Paleo-Indians) got their name from a site near Clovis, New Mexico where the first examples of their stone tools were found. Archeologists debate the date of first arrival of humans in North America, with some holding to the "Clovis First" theory, while others insist that people arrived here earlier. Either way, it is safe to say that when people first arrived in North America, they brought with them a sophisticated stone tool technology.

Over the last 40 years, there has been a renewed interest in this ancient craft. Today "flintknappers" are found around the world. The word "flintknapper" most likely had its origin in the German language. When pronouncing this word in English, the "k" is silent, so the word is pronounced "flint-napper." When saying the word "knap" in German, the "k" is pronounced, and the word sounds like "ka-nap." The German word "verknappen" means to reduce something or to make less of something, and the German word "knacken" translates into "to crack," as in to crack a nut. Both cracking, and reducing a stone in size, pertain to the flintknapping process, since larger pieces of stone are reduced by chipping it into smaller finished pieces. At some point, probably during the era of flintlock weapons, this German word morphed into English, and those who produced gun flints for the King of England, became the Royal Flintknappers.

Belgian potholer rescued after 4 days trapped in Pyrenees cave system

nnette Van Houtte, the Belgian caver who was rescued
after 4 days trapped below ground.

The journey to the surface covered a distance of almost five kilometres

The Belgian pot-holer who has been trapped in the underground cave systems of the Navarra Pyrenees since Saturday has been safely brought above ground.

Anette Van Houtte was brought out by a specialist team of the Civil Guard early on Wednesday, with the team taking it in turns on carrying the stretcher along the almost five kilometre journey to the surface.

She was trapped at a depth of 650-700 metres in the Sima AN 51 Piedra de San Martín cave near the town of Isaba, suffering fractures to three toes and an open wound when she was caught in a rockfall.

She is now being transferred to hospital in Pau, in France.

Dominique le Senechal, the fire brigade commandant from Pau who was with the French team helping in the rescue operation, told El Mundo newspaper that the rescue concluded at 5.38 this morning. He described it as perfectly coordinated.
Óscar Esteban, his colleague with the Spanish Civil Guard, said only one of the rescuers was slightly injured and was able to reach the surface on foot.

There was some difficulty as the team neared the exit, where the passage was too narrow to get the stretcher through: the team was delayed some five hours while blasting took place to open up the route.

Source: Typically Spanish

Rescue operation for Belgian potholer trapped in Navarra caves

Spanish police say it could be another two days before the woman can be brought out of the fissure in Isaba

A medical team is reported to have reached a Belgian caver who has been trapped in a fissure in Isaba, Navarra, since Saturday.

Spanish police name her as Anette Van Houtte, and say she is at a depth of between 650 to 700 metres in the Sima AN 51 and four to five kilometres from the entrance. She has an open wound and fractures to three toes.

A telephone cable has been in place since Monday, keeping the injured woman in contact with the surface.

The rescue operation is expected to be complicated, and could take more than two days. EFE reports that explosives may have to be used to make the exit route more accessible.

Source: Typically Spanish