Hancock Cave with Walker Mountain Grotto

On March 8, Ken Walsh led a group through Hancock Cave. Four members of Walker Mountain Grotto were introduced to the cave during a thorough bat count. We tallied six bats on this trip. That's three fewer than were recorded last March, but five more than we spotted there in the fall. Bill Grose has posted a trip report with photos on Walker Mountain Grotto's website:
[link to Walker Mountain Grotto trip report]

Aoogah! Zachary Taylor navigates the Comic Book Hole.
Photo by Emily

I tagged along and got the opportunity to revisit the graffiti cleanup sites that we worked on in November. Our efforts weren't wasted. The Grantham Room looks remarkably better. Our man-made mud still masks the writing on the sloping walls there. The more vertical areas that we had abraded with wire brushes look a little raw by comparison, but the overall result is gratifying. I didn't see any signs of new vandalism, unless you count the pack rat rubbish. A lot remains to be done. If you took part in the bat count last fall and you have any interest in a future cleanup trip, you'll be delighted to know that hauling giant buckets of water into the cave is entirely unnecessary; that was just for fun.

Grantham Room cleanup in November, 2014
Photo by Peter Hertl