Chinn Survey Trip

So, this past weekend I went on my first major survey trip, and it was amazing! Survey....as in taking measurements to map a cave. Jeff and I had stayed the night with Matt in Conway so that we only had to leave at 6:30 am. Haha. It was still way early for a Saturday. We drove up to Batesville and met the team (8 people total). In a caravan, we headed to the Chinn Springs Cave, a wet cave about 10 min from town. The cave is privately owned and kept locked up. This was my second time to visit it.

In cave, we waded through (cold) water for 1-1.5 hours and then traveled through mud and crawls to reach the survey site. Jeff and I learned to read the compass and klinometer. I must say, though, that they are difficult to read with little light and when your eyes are having difficulties focusing.

I think I actually overheated in cave, b/c I felt very light-headed and weak for a few hours, but almost instantly felt better when we hit water on the way out. This was my first wetsuit trip, so maybe that had its effect.

Overall, the trip was great! We stayed in cave a little over 12 hours. Haha. The estimated time was only 7 hours to begin. We got out around 10:30 and left site by 11:00. McDonald's was amazing afterward. We were so hungry!

We finally got back at 3:00 am Sunday morning. A warm shower was definitely welcomed!