CRF Presidents’ Day 2008
By: Tammy Tucker
February 16, 2008
Sharon restoring an area near
Red Pool.
By: Tammy Tucker
William Tucker, Tammy Tucker, and Sharon Welch drove from Lubbock to New Mexico the weekend of February 16th for CRF restoration in Carlsbad Caverns. We arrived after the gate had been locked, but knowing the combination we soon let ourselves in. This would most likely be Sharon’s final CRF trip, so she stayed in the research huts with longtime friends. William and Tammy parked the camper at the "tennis courts".
The next morning approximately 21 cavers convened in Research Hut #6 to receive instructions for the day. Barbe Barker indicated the survey teams and they dispersed to begin their work. (William was on a survey team with Kevin Glover, Jennie McDonough, and Phyllis Boneau.) The rest of the cavers were assigned to “Red Pool” (near marker #29) for clean up. The morning was spent brushing, scrubbing, vacuuming, flooding, sponging, etc. to remove the red clay in the third pool. Much progress was made, but there is more to do.
Sharon climbing
Rock of AgesBy: Tammy Tucker
After a supper prepared by Ed Wooten, the group headed back into Carlsbad. Three of the men lassoed the Rock of Ages formation and then attached a “cleaning lady” to each rope. Sharon was the first to climb the massive rock and was soon scrubbing away. Workers at the bottom dabbed with sponges to stop the rivelets of water from getting out of hand. It was truly a group effort and we called it a night around 12 p.m.
The next day looked a lot like the first with survey teams going into New Section and cleaning teams at Red Pool. Sunday night we enjoyed another meal cooked by Ed Wooten and the headed our separate ways.
Sharon and Deb Runyon cleaning
Rock of AgesBy: Tammy Tucker