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  • From: <eureka AT hctc.net>
  • To: bobford79 AT yahoo.com, homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Homestead] Wild water
  • Date: Wed, 05 Nov 2008 19:42:44 -0600

I hate rappelling! One year I took up rock climbing and did two routes about the equivalent of a 20 story building with my teacher. That part was OK, I'm actually good at that. But rappelling back down frightens the daylights out of me. I once slipped about six feet (200 feet up) with my back to the ground before my gear caught me. Adrenaline filled my body and I was paralyzed by fear. I also watched an experienced climber next to me take a twenty foot fall and heard his hip break as it hit the granite. I learned a lot from climbing, but I never, ever had fun. The only positive outcome is that I am no longer afraid of climbing the ladder to my roof. :)

--S

On Wed, 5 Nov 2008 14:35:15 -0800 (PST)
bob ford <bobford79 AT yahoo.com> wrote:
Somehow I missed the extra pages the first time I went to the link. That sounds bad about the river no longer flowing in the well. Water is life.

I can't believe that someone who has done as many adventurous things as you have described has not rappelled or otherwise climbed down to the rivern thru the well. If you ever do, take pictures. I wouldn't do it, but I wouldn't get in a kayak on white waters , either. :-) ....bobford


----------------------------------------------------------------------


--- On Wed, 11/5/08, eureka AT hctc.net <eureka AT hctc.net> wrote:

From: eureka AT hctc.net <eureka AT hctc.net>
Subject: Re: [Homestead] Wild water
To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
Date: Wednesday, November 5, 2008, 2:53 PM
Bob, if you paged through the article and saw the underground water chambers on the following three pages, this is more of what I have starting at 40 feet below the surface where the pioneers dug through rock to get to it. The opening and shaft all the way down is about the length and width it would take a man to swing a pick axe, so rectangular, maybe 4' x 5' or so.

I don't have an above ground natural well like this
one, I have something that's tapped into the watery cave
below, and the 40 feet down to it is air space. Our well is covered with a heavy iron lid so that animals don't
fall in (lots of rocks and blocks piled on top, wild vines growing taking it over), but it doesn't have a lip as
it should. Our well service men have been down in it, but
I'm not that brave, I only peer in with a flashlight. During this drought we've been able to see more of the cave
space which looks barely big enough for a skinny person to squeeze through. We have an electric submersible pump bringing the water to an above ground tank housed in a small "well house".

I just thought it would help you visualize how a river might be flowing through the bottom of my well. I'm on
the same aquifer as Jacobs Well. I have a friend that used to climb down into a Hill Country cave near there and swim in a large underground lake. This is not a place you want to be in one of our flash floods.

Apparently my worst fears are confirmed on Jacob's
Well:
http://www.visitwimberley.com/cgi-bin/water/viewnews.cgi?category=2&id=1225125916

--Sage

On Wed, 5 Nov 2008 13:06:19 -0800 (PST)
bob ford <bobford79 AT yahoo.com> wrote:
> That's neat Sage. Okay, I went to the photo at
the link >(Of jacob's well). That water comes to the
surface. If >I understand correctly, your does not? You have to
send >a bucket down (or some pumping apparatus) thru 40 feet
of >open air before you touch water? In other words, you
can >see, way down, but not touch, the water?. How big is
the >opening of the open well? An underground river 40 feet

>down would be a trap for any animal ? ...bobford
> > >
---------------------------------------------------------------------
> > > --- On Wed, 11/5/08, eureka AT hctc.net
<eureka AT hctc.net> >wrote:
> >> From: eureka AT hctc.net <eureka AT hctc.net>
>> Subject: Re: [Homestead] Wild water
>> To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
>> Date: Wednesday, November 5, 2008, 1:53 PM
>> I think it was Bob that was interested in my
pioneer >>well, >> where about forty feet down you can see a river
flowing >> through it. Although it is clear and cold and
coming up >> from deep within the earth, undoubtedly stuff
trickles >> down into this very wild water. We use a reverse
osmosis >> filter for most things, but honestly we drink it
from >>the >> hose and haven't died yet.
>> >> Speaking of wild water, I am reminded of another
Hill >> Country locale I've visited called Jacob's
Well, a
>> natural >> hole in the bottom of a rock bottom creek that
goes down >> at least 400 feet and during the pioneer days
pumped a >> geyser up. When I swam into it a decade ago it was
just >>a >> couple inch roil on top of the water, but still
strong. >>A >> golf course and subdivision have since been built >>nearby, >> so I wouldn't doubt if it's a depression
in the
>> creek now. >> All of this is from a large system of pockets and >>tunnels >> through our limestone known as the Edwards
Aquifer, >>where >> San Antonio gets all of it's water.
>> >> Here's a link, with some interesting photos if
you care
>> to >> page through the story of how divers lose their
life >> exploring it. This might give you an idea of what
my >>well >> is like on a much smaller scale.
>> http://www.visitwimberley.com/jacobswell/
>> >> --Sage
>> >> >> On Wed, 5 Nov 2008 13:15:13 -0700
>> Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com> wrote:
>> > >> > On Nov 5, 2008, at 12:50 PM, bob ford wrote:
>> > >> >> Don, one time I was hunting along the
stream bed
>> of a >> >>wooded area of >> >> a farmer's land. I drank from thwe
beautiful
>> clear >> >>water of the >> >> stream.. 'Walked up aways , bloated
dead cow
>> in stream, >> >>possum >> >> crawled out of its butt ..
>> > >> > And you appear to have not died. At least not
all of >> >you.
>> > >> > All surface water is rife with bacteria. As
even with >> >the water you >> > now drink, no matter city water or bottled,
the key to
>> >> >health safety >> > is the percentage of bacteria and your state
of health
>> >> >when you drink >> > it. The water in Hurricane Creek has bacteria
>> "too >> >numerous to count." >> > Beavers had populated the upper reaches, so
the water
>> is >> >also full of >> > giardia.
>> > >> > Btw, for others in a similar good
circumstances, which
>> >> >is to say with >> > abundant surface water, I learned this summer
of an >> >apparently sure >> > cure for giardiasis--our old friend, garlic.
Raw
>> garlic. >> >Mince two or >> > three cloves, put it into a glass, add water,
swish it
>> >> >around, drink >> > it. Do this on an empty stomach and two or
three hours
>> >> >before your >> > next meal. Repeat daily until symptoms
disappear. One >> >dose does it for >> > me.
>> > >> > Think of the pioneers, traveling a few miles
each day,
>> >> >stopping to >> > camp when possible by a spring or a stream,
>> replenishing >> >their >> > supplies. 'Course we don't know how
many died
>> along the >> >way.
>> >
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