Pettyjohn’s cave mile six is a push to the extreme limits of the cave, The Outer Limits was pushed, then the Discovery Room discovery and study and then the Schreiber Extension study.
The Discovery Room is currently the northernmost room in the cave. High above the Emerald Pool and directly below Pigeon Mountain, it is the second largest room in the cave. Two hundred and fifty feet long and over forty feet wide in places with ceiling heights approaching twenty feet. The room ends with a major breakdown.
The Schreiber Extension may have been explored prior to this survey, and is the longest stretch of stream passage found to date. Coming to the edge of the mountain to the west and south, it is the least explored and understood section of the cave.
February 22, 1974 – Richard Schreiber and Allen Padgett surveyed at The Labyrinth and on the first 32-foot reconnaissance shot they exceeded the 5-mile mark. They continued unaware of the event and measured 585.89 feet of Total THC now 26,969.69 feet.
May 26, 1974 – Richard Schreiber, Rod Price and Ted Wilson took the passage downstream at the outer limits and began surveying at Station X38. They explored and surveyed almost to the lower end of the outer limits, but at the lower level of the creek. To get out, they had to go back up the stream to the junction, climb to the upper level, and go south back into the cave. It’s about a six round trip from the entrance!
The survey resulted in a total THC survey of 440.54 feet which is now 27,410.23 feet.
June 8, 1974 – Richard Schreiber and Gerald Moni collapsed to the beginning of Tobacco Road and pushed a passage upriver. Note: There are two stations labeled W151, one is at the northwest end of the outer limits and the other is at the beginning of Tobacco Road. The June 8 survey was recorded in two different survey books. The correct location used on a map by Jeff Harris in November 1990 and Richard Schreiber’s own survey plot is at the end of the Outer Limits.
From the junction of station W65, Tobacco Road and Outer Limits, they surveyed down to the creek level and connected to the lower level of the Outer Limits. And then he brought the creek down to the northwestern edge of the Outer Limits and pushed this passage another two hundred feet.
The survey resulted in 732.90 feet of total THC measurement now 28,143.13 feet.
November 2, 1974 – Richard Schreiber and Ted Wilson did some topographical surveys on the outer limits. They extended the current from the outer limits to a nearby siphon less than thirty meters from where it emerges again.
The survey resulted in 430.01 feet of total THC measurement now 28,573.14 feet.
August 10, 1975 – Richard Schreiber, Marion Smith and a group from Massachusetts and Connecticut took sections of a climbing pole to the Emerald Pool and Warren Heller climbed, but nothing was gained.
August 23, 1981 – Richard Schreiber, Dwight Drennan, Wesley Sprunger, Pete Uberto and Keith Lynn returned to the Emerald Pool and climbed the wall or used a rope left over from climbing the pole. They discovered the Discovery Room after climbing higher and some tight squeezes.
The survey resulted in 409.23 feet of total THC measurement now 28,982.37 feet.
June 11, 1983 – Richard Schreiber, Wesley Sprunger and Pete Uberto began the survey of the Schreiber Extension from station Z19 in the Squirrel Room. Discovered by the same group on April 30, 1983.
The survey resulted in 1,400.59 feet of total THC measurement now 30,382.96 feet.
July 9, 1983 – Richard Schreiber, Keith Lynn, Wesley Sprunger and Pete Uberto returned to Schreiber Extension and continued the survey. In this study, the cave was pushed beyond the westernmost limits to date, as the Schreiber Extension continues around the mountainside.
The survey resulted in 497.36 feet of total THC measurement now 30,880.32 feet.
August 13, 1983 – Richard Schreiber, Ed Strausser, Wesley Sprunger and Pete Uberto resumed the survey, breaking the six-mile mark at station ZA111.
The Schreiber extension is full of potential customers mostly coming up. The survey followed the level of the stream and there are upper levels that are almost along the passage and few have been explored or surveyed. Schreiber’s notes are full of lead feedback and rise to higher levels. The next mile will bring us to the end of the Schreiber Extension and one of those upper levels.
The raw survey data for the sixth mile is available in pdf format on my caving website.
