Date of trip = 13 July 2024
Time in = 11:00, time out = 2:00
Participants = Bill Gee (trip leader)
Mike Kovacs
Marty Griffin
Martin Carmichael
Kristen Vogel
Purpose of trip = Data logger service
There were eight people signed up for the trip. In the last day and a half three of them had to drop out. One had a positive COVID test, one had a death in the family and one suffered an injury that was susceptible to infection.
Twice each year I get into Carroll Cave to service the stream flow data loggers. Mainly this means visiting each logger to download the data it has collected since the last visit. The loggers can store about 7 months of data before they start overwriting, so the goal is to get there every six months. On the July trip I also change the battery in the rain gauge logger.
This report will be much more interesting than most. There was a major weather event Saturday morning which changed our trip in several important ways.
I left my house at 4:00am for the drive to the cave. Coming out of Kansas City I saw a spectacular lightning show to the southeast – exactly the way I was headed. About an hour into the trip, halfway between Harrisonville and Clinton, the storm hit. It rained so hard that I had to slow down from 70 mph to around 25, and even that was going too fast. I could see barely 30 feet in front of me.
The storm eased in about 10 minutes, though the rain continued light to moderate all the way to Camdenton. I arrived at the cave at 7:30. On the way up the hill I noticed that the lock on the road gate was not fastened properly. It did not daisy-chain with the other padlock on that gate. I fixed that, dodged some cattle and drove up the hill. I sprayed some WD-40 in the lock on the road gate and also in the lock on the silo.
The first task was to change the battery in the rain gauge logger. This is a fairly quick task. It requires hooking up a computer so the logger can be relaunched after the new battery is installed. I got that all done and everything put away. Martin Carmichael arrived while I was doing this task.
Next was to rig the rappel rope. It had been thundering ever since I arrived at the silo. As I entered the silo to hang the rope, the storm hit. I rigged the rope, then looked outside. It was blowing and raining VERY hard. Wind estimate well over 50 mph, and raining at the rate of 4 or 5 inches per hour. I was stuck in the silo. The noise was deafening, and more so when it started to hail. The silo roof is not water tight, so I had to dodge drips. There were no big drips, but enough to be annoying.
About 15 minutes later the power went out. When the rain eventaully calmed down a bit, I made a dash for my truck just ten feet away. I waited another ten minutes, then went to Martin’s car. He and I chatted for a while.
The rain reduced to a slow drip around 8:30. Martin and I got out and surveyed the campground. There was no damage to the pavilion. I put up the ladder and climbed to the attic. Everything up there was wet. The water had blown in through the open gable vents. There were shredded leaves all over the windows and one side of Martin’s car. I noticed a 15 foot tree branch hanging from the lower power line near our pole transformer. There were downed tree limbs near the next power pole and also near a tree out in the middle of the field.
I had called for a meet-up time of 9:00am, so Martin and I both geared up for caving. 9:00 came and went, but no one showed up. We figured they might have been delayed by the weather, so we decided to wait. We decided if no one was there by 11:00 then we would cancel the trip.
Shortly after 10:00am Rusty Clark, who owns the land directly west of the silo, came over in his ATV. He said that he had received over three inches of rain at his house in less than 30 minutes. He mentioned another rainfall measurement from along BB highway south of Montreal where they got only 3/10 of an inch. This was apparently a very localized storm. The problem with our power was upstream from our pole transformer. He said there were trees limbs down all over his property, but no trees uprooted.
About 10:30 Mike, Marty and Kristen came through the gate. They had been searching for a way to get to our drive for close to two hours. The road in both directions from our gate was completely blocked by downed tree limbs. Mike Kovacs used his tow strap to move one and wound up breaking the strap. They tried getting in from both Mill Creek Road and from Carroll Cave Road.
The five of us discussed the situation for a few minutes. We decided to get down to the cave and check out the water levels. There was no chance that the water was high enough to be a danger at the base of the ladder. Carroll River was probably also not high enough to be a problem. Thunder River was an unknown.
As we were gearing up, Rusty Clark returned in his ATV with two LaClede Electric linemen. They brought some tools with them to clear our power line. They did not want to bring the bucket truck up the hill for fear that it would get stuck in a muddy field. A very valid fear as there were big ponds of standing water just to the east of our fence.
We started rappel into the cave about 11:00 while they were working on the dangling tree branch. Marty was the last person down, and he reported that the power in the silo was back on. When we came out of the cave, the dangling branch was gone.
I went down to Thunder River just below the ladder to see what it was doing. The riffle there was making a lot more noise than usual. The stream was 16 to 18 inches above normal and flowing fast. It was very murky. We were not going anywhere in Thunder River today. I did not feel comfortable going over to the stilling well to download data.
Everyone else came down to look at it. Martin is both taller and heavier than I. He was able to wade over to the stilling well and get the data download. The water came to his upper thighs where is is normally about mid-calf deep.
We all went through the shortcuts heading to Thunder Falls. The first crossing after coming out of the shortcuts was flowing very fast and was about 18 inches above normal. I waded out into it a bit. The flow was fast enough that I did not feel comfortable trying to get to Thunder Falls. Everyone else agreed. Thunder Falls was certainly living up to its noisy name!
We returned through the shortcuts to main passage, then made our way to the Rimstone Room where the data logger is. Carroll River was crystal clear and normal level until we got to the Bear Claw Passage. At that point the river became murky and was running about 6 inches above normal. At the Rimstone Room the stream was still murky and 6 to 8 inches above normal. It was noticeably flowing, which is unusual for this section. I had no trouble downloading the data logger.
Out of curiosity we went on to the Water Barrier. The water level was almost up to the shelf that runs down the left side. Perhaps 8 or 10 inches above normal. Mike Kovacs took several photos of it.
We took a lunch break at the Rimstone Room, then returned to the ladder. We were back there by 1:15. Another trip down to the river showed that the water had risen another 3 to 5 inches. Yep, no way we were getting to UL2 today! Mike Kovacs took a photo which we later compared to photos taken several months ago.
We all geared up and climbed the ladder. Martin took two live ring-neck snakes in his pack. We also saw a salamander at the base of the ladder. I think it was a dark-sided, which is a species I have never seen in Carroll Cave. We were out of the cave shortly after 2:00pm. The sky was still overcast but definitely lighter than when we went in, and the temperature was rising.
On the way out, we noted that Mill Creek Road had numerous washed-out spots, especially where fields drain across it. It was not impassible, but definitely required slowing down. There was a lot of sticks and twigs. The big tree limbs were all pushed off the road. Our gravel trail had standing water in two places. I did not see any washed out places and the water was not deep enough to be a problem.
Mid-afternoon dinner at El Caporal in Camdenton, then we all drove home. I was home by 6:30pm.
The next day I got an email report from climate.com with radar rainfall estimates. Their estimate was 1.9 inches at the silo. I think the actual rainfall was higher. We will not know for sure until I download the rain gauge logger in January.
