Deep and Punkin Caves Nature Preserve was the venue for an exciting weekend of adventure for 15 Dallas-Fort Worth Grotto members.
The cavers rappelled the massive entrance pit of Punkin Cave before visiting Deep Cave and its horizontal maze passages. Both caves are owned by TCMA in Southwest Texas.
The DFW cavers were also joined by the Taylor family from the Bexar Grotto: Matthew, Tobin, and Leo. Most of the DFW Grotto members arrived at the preserve’s cabin late on Friday night, August 14. The Taylors from the Bexar Grotto had already arrived and got the water and electricity running.
By 8 a.m. on Saturday, DFW Grotto members started to get up and eat breakfast and then mobilized to go caving an hour later. Four of the grotto members began working on the rain-water collector pipe, while other members packed up their cave gear and the gardening gear.
The first group of cavers left the cabin by 10 a.m. to hike down to Punkin, clearing up the trail and repairing cairns. The second group of cavers hiked down around 10:30 a.m. after the rain-water collector pipe had been completed. A total of 15 cavers hiked down to Punkin while three people stayed back at the cabin.
The trail to Punkin was straightforward to follow. The signs and cairns were especially helpful, and we cleared out the brush around some signs and rebuilt some fallen cairns. Around 11 a.m., the first group of cavers had arrived at Punkin and began rigging three different rig points that all had existing bolts. Two of the rig points were in the main entrance, and one rig point was on the smaller, side entrance.
The groups reconvened at Punkin and began going down the pit around noon. A total of 12 cavers went into Punkin to explore the cave. Photos were taken with the DFW Grotto banner and cavers poked in some holes before heading out. By 2 p.m., all of the cavers in Punkin were out of the cave and the pits were derigged.
The group of 15 cavers then hiked to Deep Cave, following the signs and cairns. We arrived at the entrance of Deep around 2:30 p.m. and spent some time squeezing through the tight hole at the entrance. By 3 p.m., we began entering the cave. We followed the main orange route into the cave until we got to the Helictite Room, named a speleothem that changes its axis from vertical at one or more stages during its growth.
Cavers enjoyed exploring the many passages and climbs in this beautiful cave before organizing a group photo with the DFW Grotto banner in the Helictite Room. They emerged from Deep by 5:30 p.m. and began hiking back to the cabin, arriving at the cabin around 6 p.m. Cavers took turns showering and preparing a potluck dinner to eat an hour later. Then it was time for entertainment, including some card games, until 10 or 11 p.m. The next morning after breakfast was reserved for cleaning up the cabin and securing it for departure. Multiple procedures are required to shut off water supplies and other services.
Everyone was out of the cabin around 11 a.m. on Sunday – but already thinking about when to return for the next exploration.
DFW Grotto’s adventure at Deep and Punkin Preserve
