EXTENDING THE SYSTEM

Much of the post-connection efforts in Sistema Purificación concentrated on pushing to the south, where we suspected there was a lot more cave and perhaps more depth to be added. An examination of the geology and passage trends of the system suggests the prospect of extensive upstream feeders coming from the south, particularly considering that the mountain in which the cave is formed continues some 20 kilometers in that direction and extends some 800 meters higher than the known portion of the cave. In 1981 we put in the first camp through the Brinco entrance, Camp III, with the specific goal of pushing to the south. This camp was a new challenge for us, 2500 meters in and 350 meters deep. Six cavers spent five days surveying from Camp III, mapping 5 kilometers of new passage. At first we seemed to be having no luck in making major extensions to the south, but on the fourth day we descended a fault-dip maze to the level of the Infiernillo complex and intersected a major north-south lead, the Southbound Borehole. The last survey day there resulted in 2000 meters mapped, and we left a great lead going south. A couple of grueling pushes from the surface to the Redrock Breakdown convinced us that we had to set another deep camp in Brinco to continue south.

So in March 1986 twelve cavers established Camp IV in the Southbound Borehole, twice as far in as Camp III had been and 600 meters deep. Camp was set up in a low, wide sandy passage scattered with the ever-present death coral (tower coralloid) common to the Infiernillo level. Survey teams worked in a variety of areas around camp, steadily racking up more meters, but no progress could be made to the south through the Redrock Breakdown or elsewhere. Then, as it so often happens, a breakthrough was made on the last survey day. An obscure lead off of the newly-discovered Texas Tunnel dropped into a southern extension, the Tex-Echo, ensuring a return expedition. One fortunate result on the Camp IV trip was a new route found to the Infiernillo complex, allowing an easier exit through the lower entrance rather than the arduous climb back up to Brinco.

One year later we set up Camp V along the Nile River near the original survey connection point of Brinco and Infiernillo. We hadn't worked extensively in this area since the connection was made nine years earlier. Numerous leads needed to be checked close to camp, besides the more remote Tex-Echo. This time we had 14 cavers and planned to stay in for 10 days, our longest camp yet. Two principal south-trending passages from camp were Goes One and Never Stops Going. Both of these yielded considerable new passage but presented an abundance of death coral, hampering progress. Various leads off the Goes One area earned names such as ¡Hay Chihuahua Mamacita! and God Let It End. In Never Stops Going an arrow-straight south trend led through 2-meter-tall reefs of death coral named Reefer Madness. Loss of blood and clothing is the only obstacle in these areas. A more pleasant complex near camp called the Tetricos Trunk yielded easier meters.

The main attraction was of course the Tex-Echo at the south end of the system. About 700 meters of wet and windy new passage was mapped to another new stream, the Midnight River. This was followed southward for 300 meters upstream to a sump, a new southernmost point for the cave system. The airflow had apparently gone up some high leads in the canyons before the river. So the way south into the heart of the mountain is not opening up easily, and the remoteness of this part of the cave is a major impediment. Still, Camp V was the most successful PEP camp to date, with 6341 meters mapped.

One more attempt at following the air in the Tex-Echo was made from Camp II in 1994. Various climbs into ceiling holes only led to pinching body-sized tubes. This trip did result in an unexpected breakthrough near Camp II, however. An extensive series of upper level crawls was found that became known as No Wasted Space. These crawls generally paralleled the main Monkey Walk passage, but above it. The Psycho Tube sloped down to tie into the Isopod River. The Psycho Prophylaxis went up to a climb to a new level, which ultimately pinched.

Camp II was occupied again in 1996 by 11 cavers. Some routine mapping was done in No Wasted Space in the gypsum filled Barber Shop, and some nice passage was discovered off the Arne Saknussem Borehole. The biggest ush was another attempt to break through to the south in the death coral nightmare of ¡Hay Chihuahua Mamacita! We descended a short drop to find a crawl that spiraled down to a new river, the River Savage. This pinched out, but and upstream lead led into more death coral, affectionately named Satan's Love Nest by those involved. Naturally, it still goes.