"Deep south 97/98" - SUOC TAG trip post-Christmas'97 and New Year '98

The logs

Some photos, should really be a log too but that never happened.

The plan

Steve will drive to Rob's in Philly. Rob will have already taken the bulk of the kit in his truck. Steve and Rob will leave from Philly in Rob's truck on the 27th.

Audrey and Julie will get buses or whatever to Syracuse on the 26th (from Mass and Buffalo respectively). Audrey, Julie, Jeff and Simeon will leave from Syracuse in Simeon's car on the 27th.

People

So far, I think the following people are coming. The maximum number will probably be 10 people. At some stage I may demand something like $20 deposit towards food and stuff, that the people who do go will enjoy if you bail.

NameCarLeaveReturnComments
1Simeon Warner 3/4 27Dec 4/5Jan? -
2Jeff Hazboun - 27Dec 3Jan Organizing cooking
3Julie Liberante - 27Dec - -
4Audrey Cournoyer - 27Dec - -
5Steve Buer 3 27Dec 5Jan or later -
6Rob Dawson 2 27Dec 4/5Jan? Leave from Philadelphia

Dates

Leave: Saturday 27th December
Return: around Friday 2nd January -- Monday 5th January
(possibly a day or two longer if people are keen) 

   December 1997            January 1998 
 S  M Tu  W Th  F  S     S  M Tu  W Th  F  S 
    1  2  3  4  5  6                 1  2  3
 7  8  9 10 11 12 13     4  5  6  7  8  9 10
14 15 16 17 18 19 20    11 12 13 14 15 16 17
21 22 23 24 25 26 27    18 19 20 21 22 23 24
28 29 30 31             25 26 27 28 29 30 31

Cost

Gas. About 750miles one way => 1500 miles round trip, allow 200 miles per day buzzin' about for 8 days => total 3100 miles. If we have 3 people in a vehicle doing 25mpg that is $42 per person. So, lets allow $50.

Food. We'll cook basic food as a group, Jeff if coordinating. Say $5 a day each for 10 days, that is $50.

Camping, say four people on a site at $10/day, that is $2.50/day each so for 10 days that is $25 (should be less).

Basic minimum cost about $125.

Extra stuff - you may want snacks (like a buck a day for cave candy) and other food/drink. Maybe we'll go somwhere with entrance fees, maybe you'll take photos.

I guess allow nearer $200 if possible but you should be able to scrimp if that is a problem.

Camping

Cloudland Canyon State Park (NW GA)

Telephone: (706) 657 4050
Reservation (all GA): (800) 864 7275

Booked 1 site (max 6 people, 1 big tent + 1 small tent (max 2 person)) for Saturday 27th December -- Sunday 4th Jan (8 nights). Paid for first night ($13??, then $15 per night) non-refundable. Cancellation must be made 3 days in advance. Must arrive by 10pm, if not going to then call ahead (booking ref 236802).

Site has water and electricity (normal socket). Campground has hot showers and laundry facilities.

Stuff to take

Camping kit (tent, sleeping bag, sleeping mat, eating utensils, washing stuff or very strong deoderant, clothing suitable for WET and COLD).

Caving kit (clothes including polypro or similar underwear, lamp (carbide or petzl style), spare lamp (petzl style or carbide), second spare lamp (eg. 2AA maglite), helmet, vertical kit (see below), gloves for rappeling and maybe general caving - thing of having 7 times the number of abrasions you get on a normal caving trip, shoes/boots that will be okay for longish hikes to caves). I would also recommend gloves for caving, these are nice for long rappels and trying to preserve your hand from the rigors of a weeks caving.

Sense of humor

Training and experience

You should: Note that you should also work on being fast and efficient with vertical kit. Chew on this: if 10 people each take 20 minutes climb out of a 100' pit then it would take over 3 hours to get out (and this is just a short pit!). Everyone should be able to climb a 100' rope in 2-4 minutes (the best people can do it in is about 30 seconds) so it should be possible to reduce the total time of putting kit on the rope, climbing and getting off the rope to less than 10 minutes per person (still 1 hour 40mins for 10 people!). If we could do it in 5 minutes each then that is just 50 minutes (which is perfectly possible).

As the calculation shows speed is not irrelevant. Speed on the ropes comes partly from fitness, partly from technique. Speed getting on and off the rope come only from practice. Speed gives us safety (less hanging around getting cold) and more time to enjoy the caving.

Vertical kit

One of these options and the knowledge of how to use it effectively:

System 1 - trad. club system

Harness, Rack + biner, Foot Gibbs, Knee Gibbs, Shoulder Gibbs (stainless steel shell).

System 2 - improved club system

Harness, Rack + biner, Foot Gibbs, Knee Gibbs, Chest roller, Free sprung Gibbs (on tape/rope to harness) + biner.

System 3 - Double bungee ropewalker (not club kit)

Herness, Rack, Foot jammer (Gibbs/Petzl), Knee jammer (Gibbs/Petzl), bungee cord + pulley, chest roller, Free sprung Gibbs (on tape/rope to harness) + biner.

Group stuff

Simeon:
  Guide books
  Ropes
  Webbing
  Ladder?
  Tackle bags
  Carbide
  Carbide bottles?
  First aid kits
  Extra lamps

  Party tent, communal tent

Jeff:
  Stove/s
  Pots and pans
  Lamps
  White gas
Written by Simeon Warner