Where is the boat ramp that is used to scooter up to Telford and how far of a scooter trip is that?
Any special challenges with doing this (the scooter trip, not the dive)?
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Where is the boat ramp that is used to scooter up to Telford and how far of a scooter trip is that?
Any special challenges with doing this (the scooter trip, not the dive)?
At the end of the dirt road that leads to Telford (Telford Spring Road). 30.108555,-83.165156Quote:
Originally Posted by chilldive
The ramp is a few 100s feet downstream from the Telford run. ~5 min scootering. Stay close to shore, less current but a few branches in the way. I stay at the surface while scootering. You will see clear water when you get there.
Be warned - it is a ***** to carry stuff up over the shallow section. I did it with 2 stages, 2 108's and a scooter a couple of times - NOT fun. So I'd suggest doing it with minimal equipment.
I spent the whole scooter looking for alligator eyes... by far the scariest part of that dive is that river scooter...
Depends on river level. I did it a few months ago. Didn't need to stand up or crawl... I just scootered in...Quote:
Originally Posted by aainslie
One other thing, if you gonna scooter in the cave, I suggest you drop your scooter after the last sink. That's a great way to do the "boring" first few 100'. It gets smaller/silty after that and IMHO not "scooterable"
Seriously? On both?Quote:
Originally Posted by chimie007
On the first - you suck! I wish I'd had those conditions.
On the second - Telford is the coolest scooter ride out there. Assuming you are willing to push it occasionally (there's a low flat portion), there's some AWESOME scootering after that. Usual caveats - good chance of siltout, plan LOTS of gas just in case. IIRC people have died in siltouts in that bedding plane.
Lots of good advice and info. Thanks. May have to give that a shot.
we had to crawl over that shallow bit in the run. I wish someone video'd it. it was a pretty ridiculous sightQuote:
Originally Posted by aainslie
Actually there was a near accident when some people scootered Telford,and blew the system out for the people who were in there at the time. Telford is probably even a less attractive scooter dive,because now that we have less traffic there is a greater accumulation of silt etc. Don't surprised to find an "easy" scooter back there,and a slow exit due to impaired visibility.Quote:
Originally Posted by aainslie
I suspect that we would just swim it. At least after a few hundred feet as suggested. I've only been in there once before, so no need to get too far back in there just to see new stuff.
If you're on 51 turn in at Cave Excursions, drive past the shop to the end of the road and take a right at the dead end (Telford Spring Road). If on 180th St. turn onto Telford Spring Road (the last turn before you hit 51). Follow the road to the end and you are at the ramp. Can't say I enjoy the trek upriver without a scooter; over logs, under branches, tripping and/or falling into holes. Either that or swimming way too far if the current is up. I think a guy could do alright there with a scooter rental stand! chimie said "The ramp is a few 100s feet downstream from the Telford run." but I'd swear its about a half a mile ;o}
Gary
I'm too lazy to swim that. What I meant was I would scooter to the spring and maybe a few hundred feet into the cave, THEN swim. :-)Quote:
Originally Posted by Garyd
Speaking of the swim up river. I did that once too. Wasn't as bad as expected... took me ~8 min doing pull and glide on the branches in the shallows. Wasn't too excited about potentially putting my hand where I wasn't supposed to.. Much better to scooter.Quote:
Originally Posted by chilldive
Enjoy your dive. I had a blast there last time. Beulah land is awesome. I was planning on getting back the next day but I ripped my neck seal coming out of Ruth later in the day.
I would say it was 350 to 400 feet easy. When I did it 2 months ago I had to crawl over quite a bit just to get into the run. (was not fun.)
River was 0 vis so I scootered the surface but current was so strong I had to keep going up and down just to keep moving forward.
I will say this.... with no moon and exiting the run solo after 11PM, it sure is an interesting place to be all alone...
How hard would it be a kayak to??
Oooh, I'm not sure about that one. Being a Missouri boy, I can deal with snakes, but gators I know nothing about except they are better in the water than me and have big teeth! Seeing glowing eyeballs, swimming in a river at night... nope.Quote:
Originally Posted by sam
So if the water is down and you have to crawl from the river to the spring, what's the difficulty? Slippery? Muddy? Just trying to know what to expect.
About three minutes.Quote:
Originally Posted by Blackchains
I did the scooter ride from the "ramp" to Teleford last month. Water was just low enough so that you couldn't scooter in and high enough that it was pretty hard to get over the shallow with a CCR, the scooter, and 2-steel 85s for bailout.
I think it's best to drop the scooter at the second gap or before and swim from there, as it is pretty tight and pretty silty in some places.
One mistake that I made: Put the scooter in and tied it to the low hanging branch/tree to the left of the ramp. On the way out I took off my drysuit before hauling the scooter out. That tree/branch must be poison something because I had a reaction down my right arm, on my stomach, and down my left ankle. It's finally just about gone. Don't make that mistake!
The difficulty is the flow (which is fairly high right there at the shallow as it enters the river), the geography (it's fairly deep on both sides of the shallow, so you can either crawl over the shallow or find a safe way to get to your feet), and the algae at the shallow is slippery with some water vegetation.Quote:
Originally Posted by chilldive
If you go in at night, you can tie-off the scooter in the river, and nobody will find it. Then all you have to do is stand up, and walk to the spring. It might not hurt to leave a light on inside your vehicle, so you can find the ramp.
I was there Sunday... It's a short walk, but you're walking over big, slippery rocks in high flow; it can be tricky. It's a fun game too: try not to touch any dry land! From what I was told, if you set foot on that private land, you WILL be arrested! :smt102Quote:
Originally Posted by chilldive
Also it's silty right now since the traffic is down, vis maybe 30 feet, but a lot of fun :)
They don't really care if divers go in there. They just don't want anymore fights, etc. Don't have any picnics, though. Just stay near the run, so you don't have to fight the current.Quote:
Originally Posted by JeremyW
Quote:
Originally Posted by FW
True dat! Scootering up to the spring is no problem (don't sweat the gators...really). It's mostly sandy, so the walking, when necessary isn't all that treacherous.
Scootering back to the boat ramp in the dark, however, is more *interesting*. I'm shining my 10W all along the bank, thinking "we MUST have passed it!!!" Forrest is saying something comforting like "don't pass the ramp, or we'll end up in the Gulf of Mexico." He's sweet like that.
Then, hark, what light from yonder HID shines...a beacon in the night! It's our very own Webmaster, standing at the ramp, shining his light for us. We're saved!! We're saved!! :dancingbear
Telford is well worth the extra effort required, and not having to wade through the dirty diapers and heavily intoxicated grandmothers is just a bonus!
Great story. Had you passed it or not? Was yonder light in front, or behind you?
Quote:
Originally Posted by sskasser
It was dtill ahead of us, it just seemed like we had gone half way to the Gulf :-DQuote:
Originally Posted by Squirrel Girl
Besides, Marbry wouldn't have let us get past him, they were his scooters :rollguy
Get on the road! It is a long drive to FL :roll:
I was typing up BTD invoices for the NSS Bookstore. Now I have to try on my new Joop boots to see if they fit. Then either pack them back up or stick a check in an envelope. Tons of things to do before I leave.Quote:
Originally Posted by FW
The three times I have done it , we pulled on the river bottom to avoid getting hit by trees. (well , US hitting the trees)
(no scooters)
It actually wasn't bad.
We did all of ours in the daytime , so no problem finding the boat ramp. (SMILE)
I still miss the times we would go over (when it was still open) and the locals had glow-sticks sitting in the basin (at night) so they could traverse from the little hole to the big hole :D
(or Versa Visa etc)
Beano
You can use my handy technique - at the top of your list, where it says: "Things To Do Before Leaving for Florida", scratch it out and write: "Things To Do When Back From Florida".Quote:
Originally Posted by Squirrel Girl
Works every time!
Mike
:clapper:clapper:clapperQuote:
Originally Posted by MORGAN
Now there's a man with some serious cognitive skills! I love it!
Quote:
Originally Posted by MORGAN
Mike - That's pretty good :)
I have a similar technique for dealing with fall jobs that I'm rushing to do before snow. I pick out the ones that can wait, and convert them to spring jobs. Makes my fall to do list much shorter. :)
I haven't been in Telford since the access was gated - maybe I'll try the river route in February. The first time I went there, I was looking forward to seeing the dumpster that my NACD dues were helping to pay for. The dumpster was there, on its side, with about a dumptruck load of garbage spilling out of it.
A beautiful cave, though, and a beautiful topside setting except for the garbage and etc. I've only been as far as the Rifts, and am looking forward to getting back in there.
Mike
Send me your dates for Feb, so Jason doesn't schedule a survey class in the middle of it :-)Quote:
Originally Posted by MORGAN
I have 2 scooters, and a tow rope :-D
I don't know what it looked like before, but the site is perfectly clean now. It's very nice.Quote:
Originally Posted by MORGAN
I will let you know as soon as I confirm the dates. I am switching jobs - my full time job is becoming my part time job and my part time job is becoming full time. It is screwing up my vacation time a little, but we'll still make it to Dive Outpost in February. Just not sure of exact dates yet.Quote:
Originally Posted by FW
Mike