Mid-Atlantic Karst Conservancy

Cavers, can we plan something for fall, for a conservation-minded, scientific, planned restoration of this formation? It's going to take some research and consultation and planning. Let us know if you are available to help and we will come up with a plan and present it to Ann for approval, and have it reviewed by experts with the NSS.

Congratulations to Team Sarah Survey. The survey crew led by cartographer Bert Ashbrook, data manager Chris Hill, and cave surveyors extraordinaire, including Dr. Hazel Barton, and dozens of others, have made the cave on our Barbara Schomer Preserve the longest cave in Pennsylvania this weekend, surpassing Harlansburg Cave. To celebrate, MAKC is having an event at the preserve for members, the last weekend in June. Members for whom we have email addresses should check their ...mailboxes for two recent e-newsletters with the information. To receive more details, email [email protected]. Please RSVP if you are coming. Five miles of "borehole."

There are only 29 spots left for our Penn Aqua Preserve and our property improvements to be paid for! That is 29 $100 donations or pitch in with a friend or two for a smaller gift to come up with a combined $100 for a plot. Here is the updated map!

MAKC is in the process of completing the acquisition of Penn Aqua Cave in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania. Help us buy this true caver's cave!

On Halloween, Dwight headed west to Clarion County to help survey a cave on the MAKC Barbara Schomer Cave Preserve. On this routine monthly trip, we had 4 teams... of people survey, had an excellent day of progress, with over 900' of survey added, and now the cave is 2.8 miles long, 350th longest in the US. Our team went into a part of the cave that is basically either sticky mud or water in the passages, so it truly was a horror. Fun stuff!

On Friday October 23, 2020, Bert Ashbrook, Tom Metzgar and Dwight Kempf worked on a trail to a cave in the MAKC Barbara Schomer Preserve in Clarion County, PA. Building on the significant work of two other workdays and individual efforts by Tom and others, we finally finished the trail, with a nice grade/pitch, and a covering of 2a rock. We had a beautiful fall day to work in; a lovely day.

As a part of the survey of a cave on the MAKC Barbara Schomer Cave Preserve, Bert Ashbrook, of the Greater Allentown Grotto, developed a day long cave sketching... seminar to develop new cave sketchers to aid surveying the SF cave, as well as other caves throughout the region. In the past, the number of map survey teams at the cave was limited by the lack of sketchers. The seminar, on Saturday, October 24, 2020, had nine students, four instructors, and three assistants. Participants came from 4 states in the region, plus a student from Minnesota. There were lessons both on the surface and underground, covering every aspect of the sketching process. Feedback from the participants was excellent, and the caving community will benefit from Bert's outstanding seminar.