Still have never done the Grand Traverse at Peacock

[tstormdiver]

I have been full cave certified for over 5 yrs & as of yet, have never done the Grand Traverse at Peacock. At first my air consumption was not good enough. Then I started mentoring on- coming cave divers, then my CCR Training..... Well,... hopefully this year, that can/ will change. I have done most of the parts except Challenge to where the Peanut line ends. I've done all the rest in 1 way or another.

 

[Jack Hammer]

The section between Challenge and the Peanut restriction is a nice part of the cave and not too far apart, ~800' iirc. We've seen quite a few albino crayfish in that area before.

 

[karstdvr]

Be proud of yourself, because it means you are not goal driven,but are doing dives when the opportunity arises and you are ready. Goal driven dives, like have to see the well casing at LIttle River, the Grand Traverse, the Heinkel etc etc, really cause people to exceed their level, and promote damage to the cave. FWIW, the section between OG and Challenge is a smaller section of cave and requires great buoyancy and trim. Yesterday I swam that area for a biota inventory and noted more impact on the floor since that last time I went, which was 3 months ago,especially knee prints. It has been conjectured that many rebreather divers tend to have heads up trim, and when they get into these small areas they are making impact. Haven't seen it first hand,but an observation made by many others.

 

[karstdvr]

The section between Challenge and the Peanut restriction is a nice part of the cave and not too far apart, ~800' iirc. We've seen quite a few albino crayfish in that area before.

Hotspots for crayfish in Peacock are typically on the downstream side of a sink. I did document less crayfish yesterday throughout the system,but that is nothing anomalous.

 

[tstormdiver]

Be proud of yourself, because it means you are not goal driven,but are doing dives when the opportunity arises and you are ready. Goal driven dives, like have to see the well casing at LIttle River, the Grand Traverse, the Heinkel etc etc, really cause people to exceed their level, and promote damage to the cave. FWIW, the section between OG and Challenge is a smaller section of cave and requires great buoyancy and trim. Yesterday I swam that area for a biota inventory and noted more impact on the floor since that last time I went, which was 3 months ago,especially knee prints. It has been conjectured that many rebreather divers tend to have heads up trim, and when they get into these small areas they are making impact. Haven't seen it first hand,but an observation made by many others.

No, I'm not generally goal oriented,.. though from time to time, I do like to test my parameters (within my training, of course) to measure improvement. I have worked extensively on my buoyancy & trim during the past year. Believe me,... if my trim is not horizontal & buoyancy is not on par,... my instructor would kick my butt to the moon & back, if I caused damage to the caves (the picture in my profile was a couple months into my CCR diving & my configuration was not yet perfected). I work with my instructor on a daily basis & know his standards are quite high. One of his tests for me during my CCR Cave course was he had me swim back & forth through the crossover tunnel 4 times without stirring anything up. I had absolutely no problems. IMO, CCR divers should not even consider taking their units into a cave until their buoyancy & trim is perfected, to prevent the damage you are seeing..... Unfortunately,... we are all too familiar with the quality of some divers in the caves... No, I'm not perfect, but I do try my best to make sure I am up to snuff with my configuration before entering. If, for some reason, I am not comfy with my CCR, I am not ashamed to fall back on OC for some dives,... until I can get the issue straightened out.

 

[TONY CHANEY]

Tammy,
I have about the same time since cert. and have not done the grand traverse yet. Waterhole and the Distant Tunnel are great dives as well as the Well and Nicholson tunnel to Cisteen. I have dived most of the system and from a few hundred feet past the Peanut restriction and a few hundred feet past Challenge I have almost completed the course. I have no desire to push it thus far. So, just have fun and do what you like to do. If you are hitting the caves anytime soon please let me know. You sound like the kinda caver that I will like to be with underwater. No pressure / no goals and just fun.

 

[tbone1004]

one of my favorite parts of the cave is between Challenge and Olsen, but I only do it when the flow is up because I'm lazy and don't want to kick back in. Went with two buddies for our first time last year when the flow was moving pretty good and it was spectacular, have done it a few times since because the walk back is easier than kicking back from Challenge.. I also find it an incredibly relaxing dive, especially being able to break it up a few different times. You will absolutely love it when you get to complete it, it really is incredible. Was about 5 years for me, 2 for one of the buddies, and 7 for the third when we did it

 

[tursiops]

There is a conspiracy brewing for a bunch of 70+ year-old divers to do the Grand Traverse in late July. Have to wait until then so that a couple of guys have their birthday and become eligible.

 

[karstdvr]

I do this dive at least once a quarter for our research project, and have done it for 12 years, so looking back I have done it around 60 -70 times. The thing that amazes me is what you can't see, and only instrumentation can see. From OG to about 300ft short of Challenge, the water source coming out of the Distance tunnel is fairly high in dissolved oxygen for ground water. At 300ft you have a dramatic drop in dissolved oxygen because of the ground water coming out of the Woody room tunnel near Challenge. It is almost like that water from Challenge is trying to go toward OG,but hits a wall of hydrostatic pressure from the Distance tunnel source, and these two water sources are in a tug of war at that point. While swimming out toward P1, things remain a constant from a water chemistry stand point. Sometimes when you get close to P1, there is a change because frequently there is some river intrusion at this point. The life in the system is unique because there are frequently clusters of stygobytes that occur. When there is a reversal the system becomes devoid of life,but after 6 months everything has returned to baseline, and the clusters return. Why? That is what we are trying to understand. So where I have put away my knotted line, compass, I have not given up exploration,because the amazing thing is very,very little is understood about this ecosystem.