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DEEP SECRETS

Author: Steven Reames, Lawrence Fish, Paul Bruger, Patricia Karmbesis

Publisher: Cave books

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Deep Secrets is the story of the discovery and exploration of Lechuguilla Cave.

In 1986, a group of explorers dug through the floor of a small cave in the New Mexico desert to discover one of the most spectacular caves in the world. Lechuguilla Cave quickly gained national attention for its stunningly beautiful passages, deep pits, and scientific wonders. Cavers from all over the world swarmed to explore the cave, and over the next ten years, more than fifty miles of passage were discovered in Lechuguilla, as cavers probed its depths to make it the deepest cave in the United States.

 

This is a story of discovery danger and adventure, and of the cavers who explored the cave. It is also a story of politics, conflicts, and intrigues as various individuals vied to control the exploration. And in the midst of it all is the rescue of an explorer whose leg was broken by a falling boulder over a mile underground. More than a hundred cavers cooperated to complete four days of transport through narrow crawlways and up immense pits to remove her from the cave. Lechuguilla Cave has been featured in The National Geographic Magazine, The Smithsonian Magazine, and in a National Geographic video. Here, for the first time, is the complete story of the trials and triumphs of the Lechuguilla Cave explorers.

 

Dedication

v

 

Acknowledgments

vii

 1

The Diggers

1

 2

Breakthrough

15

 3

Boulder falls

37

 4

Triumphs and Tribulations

51

5

Beyond the Rift

75

6

Traversing the Overpass

85

7

In Search Of Depth

103

8

Westward Expansion

123

9

The End of Western Domination

147

10

BackAgain

175

11

Lost

189

12

Fire and Brimstone

199

13

The Alternate Expedition

215

 14

Lights, Camera, Chaos

231

15

The Far East

251

16

Adventure in the Outback

275

17

Rescue!

297

18

The End of an Era

337

19

Bibliography

359

20

Index

 375

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