Objectives:

The main aim of this expedition was to connect Alpazat to San Miguel and San Andres. Using a phone system to allay the fears of flooding efforts were concentrated solely on the Alpazat end of the system. Secondary aims of the expedition were to continue exploration of the many going caves to the east of the main system.

The UK Team: Tim Allen, Pete Ward, Pete Hall, Tony Revell, John Palmer, John Beavan, Lee Cartlidge, Colin Whitfield, Dave Omrod, Mike King & Paul Swanson

The Mexican Team:  Ramon, Ruthy & Tachi.

The Expedition and Selected Log Book Entries:

In January 95 a smaller expedition was launched. To overcome the fear of flooding a telephone line was installed in Alpazat.

15^th January 1995.
"Pete, Pete, Tim & Tony. Walked down to Alpazat and set up camp in the bivi cave. Weather good and water levels low. Started laying telephone cable into the cave. Tony down with the shits so he went out to monitor the base station. Didn’t quite have enough thick cable to lay through the sump area but carried on anyway and will replace on the next trip. Tested line at each junction and were all amazed that each time we heard the re-assuring pips if not Tony’s voice. Layed cable up to the junction with Never Ending Story in 8 hours. On way out found inlet passage going off main streamway at the shower bath. Left still going. Pete also checked out several leads near the old camp. Two were still going. Arrived back to bivi site near midnight."

Later the phone line was taken up to Horror Inlet and the Flood Overflow. This worked successfully as an early warning system as the expedition was again hampered by flooding.

21^st January 1995
"Tim, Pete H & Colin. Back at Horror Inlet located the dropped tape in the now clearer water and continued up to the limit of the ’94 survey. Slab Highway continues for 150m to a collapse of the roof. A sandy crawl on the left before this seems to loop around into the collapse. The main water cascades down from a 2x5m passage. Gentle gradient up this for 300m to the limit of our push the previous trip. Only a few very small cascades and short swims over flooded pots to negotiate. From here the gradient increases and we pass 3x2m cascades which are all best traversed into. Finally the passage widens and we climbed up onto a huge rock just before a 7m waterfall. Tim climbed the waterfall with difficulty and the passage continued narrower and a lot more sporting. 586m surveyed."

After a few days success in Alpazat the rain came down and the phone alerted the underground team. A hasty exit was made and early the next morning…

30^th January 1995.
"A rude awakening as the bivi cave flooded at 6am. We watched amazed and in twenty minutes all the sleeping areas were awash. We packed up and returned to town."

The route towards San Andres ended in a very large, complicated boulder choke with a large stream present. The Horror Inlet route towards San Miguel ended in a large sump pool. However, well over a kilometre of dry complex fossil passage was suveryed in this area and the expedition ran out of time before these could be fully explored.

5^th February 1995.
"Tim, Wardy & Dave. The flood overflow team left the bivi at 8pm after replacing stolen phone wire to the entrance. Made quick time to the end of the line. Dave re-rigged the pitch up with the PMI. At the top a strange one foot thick, vertical chert barrier held back a lake. This could be either swam or traversed on underwater ledges. Beyond the lake the passage continued in a straight line much as below the pitch. Several fine formations were passed before arriving at a pitch down after 300m. hopes were high for a connection with San Andres as a large stream could be heard at the bottom. A 7m pitch led to a boulder slope down to a small immature passage with a large stream in it. Pete and Dave continued into a variety of bouldery or immature passage checking out all possible ways on. At the furthest point small holes in between boulders took a howling draught. We got the impression that we were in the side of the terminal choke of San Andres. Who knows. Tim climbed into a passage continuing over the pitch but this soon choked. Shot out in an hour and forty minutes from the end of the phone line. Left pitch rigged for next generation."

"Tony, Lee & Mike. Went into the cave with Tim’s team leap frogging to check the phone line. Made our way to Horror Inlet which was very wet. The pitch was rather sporting nearly been washed off the ladder and the traverse even more interesting. On arrival at the junction with the San Miguel passage we headed in the downstream direction. Mike found a by-pass to some traverses. We started to survey and followed 1.175km of passages. A short crawl leads to a walking size passage parallel to Horror Inlet, across a traverse to a junction with many passages leading off. Some in the direction of San Miguel. We followed a passage to a climb down. At the base was a junction. We took the left hand branch which led along a 20m high by 2-3m wide passage with mud floor to another junction. This had several leads and we went right and continued over muddy floors to another junction passing many more leads. Eventually we came to a junction with a large passage coming in. We took the right to an area of stals where we stopped surveying. We had run out of water so had to piss in our generators which stank. Came out after 12 hours.

Two new stream caves, Sima Veg and Sima Banana Tree, were connected to Sima Talcomitl adding two and a half kilometres to the length but no significant progress could be made downstream.

1^st February 1995.
"Big Nose & Swanny. Sima Banana Tree. Rigged entrance pitch of 10m and second of 20m on one rope and one million assorted pegs, slings and bolts to aviod the lemming like rocks. Continued to where Pete Hall got to last year at a crawl and continued for 600m in Yorkshire’ish passage with tight bits, sharp bits, pretty bits and wet bits. At an 8m pitch or handline the passage meets a fault with conglomerate on one side and limestone on the other and proceeds generally narrow to our furthest point. Plenty of draught and small stream. On drawing up the survey it looks obvious that if we had carried on another five minutes we would have hit Talcomitl at the bottom end of Sore Bums passage. Tortuous survey on the way out and when we got back the doubting bastards had been thinking we had been drinking San Andres dry!"

Over to the east a new resurgence, Tepetzala, was located which could be linked to the Sima Grande area. A total of 7km was surveyed.

The Cuetzalan Blues

And the rain is falling down
And hitting the ground
All around, pitter patter
We got those Cuetzalan Blues
And the rain is pouring down
And the rain is pouring down
And there’s fog all around
The caves are flooding all around
We got those Cuetzalan Blues
And the rain is falling down
And the rain is falling down
The sun is out all around
We gotto go underground
We don’t have the Cuetzalan Blues

Cuetzalan Blues.
Tony Revell 1995

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