Trip Report Meeting
Location: UT Brackenridge Field Laboratory, Room 119
Officers in Attendance: Enzo Monfre (President), London Darce (Vice President), Holly Klein Perrine (Treasurer), Aaron de la Garza (Secretary), Joel Haus (Webmaster)
Presiding officer Enzo Monfre called the meeting to order at 7:30 pm
Official Announcements
UTG’s special Halloween meeting will take place on Wednesday October 28 at 6:30 pm at Inner Space Caverns. Members should meet in the main lobby. We’ll take our annual photo in the cave; costumes are encouraged.
The Grotto’s Halloween party will be hosted by Gary Franklin on Saturday, October 31 starting at 7:00 pm. 3503 Kellywood Drive, Austin, Texas 78739.
Unofficial Announcements
The 2026 Texas Cavers Reunion will take place at Camp Sol Meyer near Menard, October 22-25. Register at https://2026tcr.rsvpify.com.
The National Cave Rescue Commission (NCRC) will hold a training session in Bend, Texas from January 22-30, 2027. This session will feature Level 1 and Level 2 courses, an optional vertical system workshop, and a Small Party Assisted Rescue course. Registration opens on November 9th at 8:00 am. 2027 NCRC South Central Regional.
Eléonore Le Corvaisier spoke of the need for donations to the Texas Speleological Association’s scholarship fund, which supports sending cavers to NCRC training. See the Texas Speleological Association’s website to donate or to nominate a worthy caver for a scholarship. NCRC Scholarship | Texas Speleological Association.
Eléonore notified members that the next Godwin Ranch cricket count will be on the first weekend in November and that volunteers are needed; interested members should contact Eléonore.
CaveSim is in town and is visiting Lake Austin ISD campuses. If UTG members wish to visit and watch CaveSim in action, consult the CaveSim website for visit locations and times. https://www.cavesim.com/ CaveSim founder also thanks the Grotto for its August donation to CaveSim.
There will be a free screening of a documentary about Texas rivers, “Deep in the Heart 2,” at 6:30 pm October 22nd in the San Marcos plaza. Oct 22 Free Screening Deep In The Heart 2 | Facebook.
There will be a vertical training session at the Thicket on October 29th. A sign up for this training will be posted on Monday or Tuesday of that week via Facebook and the mailing list.
Upcoming Trips
Andy Edwards is planning a Fisher Ridge trip November 6-8, 2026 which has room for a couple of qualified cavers. Contact Andy for details or to join.
Aaron de la Garza provided a reminder of the November 3, 2026 Midnight Cave trip and November 6-8, 2026 Deep & Punkin trip. These trips are full; contact him to join the wait list.
New Attendees
A new attendee, Jose, introduced himself. Jose found the Grotto through a Google search and has gone on a Whirlpool trip.
Trip Reports
Garrett Smith presented on his and Kathryn Jager’s experiences at this year’s Texas Hydro-Geo conference.
Dave Jackson of CaveSim presented on CaveSim’s visit to a Tennessee high school and CaveSim activities and developments.
London Darce presented on the recent NRCR Orientation to Cave Rescue held at the TMCA’s Deep & Punkin Preserve.
London Darce also presented on the Karst Hydrology of the Lost River, based on a geology trip she joined at the NSS’s 2026 convention in Corydon, Indiana.
The meeting concluded at approximately 9:00 pm. Members met up afterwards at the Hold Out Brewery.
The UTG’s next meeting will be its special Halloween meeting, which will take place on Wednesday October 28 at 6:30 pm at Inner Space Caverns. Members should meet in the main lobby. We’ll take our annual photo in the cave; costumes are encouraged.