UM IM CAVE 05

Herbert Daniel Gebauer - 06/01/2018

One more of the shaft caves formed around and beneath the -Lost World Doline- is also situated at an unknown location somewhere in the vicinity of Khaidong village on the eastern flank of the Shnongrim Ridge. The pothole drops into interlinked cave passages (Um Im 2 Cave through to Um Im 5 Cave) of which few has become known apart from yielding accumulated survey tape lengths (BROOKS, S J 2004: 30) or more (Sheen, R F 2005.08.20 Mss). Some expedition cavers achieved to claim a connection with Krem Liat Prah. This is not the case. But Thomas Arbenz pledged for subscribing to a point of view according to which it is legitimate to have an opinion (note 1). ETYMOLOGY: No autochthonous, indigenous or locally known name has been identified. For a handfull of outsiders and expedition cavers, however, Krem Um Im 5 is also known as Krem Um Im 2-5, under which name it can be found in different sources and publications. This name developed during initial prospecting when a collection of pitches as found in the area east of Khaidong, which were known generally as ‘Um Im’, and with a lack of other names, the cavities were so numbered (Anonymous [Arbenz, Thomas] 2015.05.22 Mss Um Im 5.doc). SITUATION: In an unidentified spatial relation to each and every other Um Im Cave in the same vicinity. POSITION 2005.02.15: WGS84 (±5.7 m) 25°21'37”N: 92°31'24.2”N / 25.36027778°N: 92.52338889°N: 1020 m asl (Brooks S J after Boycott A 2005.02.14 GPS Garmin 12XL): The GPS [receiver was read] on NNE side of doline at point where path descends into doline to Um Im 4, 5, & 6 (Brooks, S J 2005.02.15 Mss: Um Im 5 (Shnongrim) 15-2-2005). POSITION 2008.01.20: WGS84 (unidentified precision error) 25°21'35.6”N: 92°31'23.7”E / 25.35988889°N: 92.52325°E: 1039 m asl (anonymous recorder, undated, in: Arbenz, T 2008.01.20 Mss). POSITION 2015.05.15: WGS84 (unidentified precision error purportedly ±8 m) 25°21'35.6”N: 92°31'23.7”E: 1025 m (anonymous recorder, undated, in: Arbenz, T 2015.05.15 UmI_5_plan_1000.pdf). APPROACH 2005.02.15: Beyond side road to Shnongrim village (travelling along Shnongrim road in direction of Liten Valley) by Medical Centre (2005 at point N25°21'40.5“ E 092°31'09.6” EPE 6) take an obvious track to SE. From road proceed downhill through small settlement to reach a wooded area after 200 m. Some 200 m further downhill woodland finishes and open countryside is reached. From this point the large, steep sided & wooded doline of -Lost World- can clearly be seen to the south east [note 2]. Continuing downhill on well defined path for a further 500 m an obvious sandstone rock step is reached (N25°21'37.3” E092°31'23.8” EPE 5.6). To left (East) a path continues downhill for another 25 m to reach NNE side of Lost World Doline at point (N25°21'37” E 092°31'24.2” EPE 5.7) where a path through bamboo leads down into the doline. This path gets steeper towards base of doline and at mid point path passes between rock wall and limestone pillar.At base ofdoline … right [without orientation] leads to entrance of Um Im 5 that is below obvious window exit of Um Im 4 some 8 m above doline floor (Brooks, S J 2005.02.15 Mss: Um Im 5 (Shnongrim) 15-2-2005). CAVE DESCRIPTION 2005.02.10: Anthony 'Tony' R Jarratt , Antony 'Tony' Boycott and Jayne Stead returned to the horrors of the crawls and boulder chokes in Um Im 5. The long duck at the end of the Shnongrim Sewer had gone down over a metre so was no problem. We easily found [what we believed to represent] the terminal survey point and pressed on into Ratbat River, where we surveyed downstream to a long canal. Tony swam in for 20 m or so to a low section which, due to the lack of airflow, may soon sump up. All this area is very muddy with patches of -quicksand- and must be totally inundated during the monsoon. Upstream a fine phreatic [note 3] galery [sic!] was followed to a muddy boulder choke which we found our way beneath to emerge into an 8 m diameter bore passage (Jarratt, A R 205.03.06 Mss: Cave Log, vol. XII, 10/2/05). CAVE DESCRIPTION 2: Having failed to find an easy way into the extremely promising Ratbat River in the Krem Um Im 5 section of the Liat Prah system we bit the bullet and returned to the horrors of the crawls, boulder chokes and crab-infested streamway (Shnongrim Sewer) of this cave. The long duck at the end of the Sewer had luckily dropped by a metre and Tony, Jayne and I were soon in the unexplored Ratbat River itself. Downstream was surveyed for 40 m to a deep canal, later surveyed for another 137 m of swimming to a probable sump. […] Upstream Ratbat River produced some fine phreatic tunnels [read: vadose passages of phreatic origin] but after 300 m and an awkward dig through boulders we were stopped by a classic Shnongrim Ridge boulder choke --huge and impassable. What we assume is the Krem Urle stream emerges from beneath but for us -cave finish- (JARRATT, A R 2005). SPELEOMETRY: Krem Um Im 5 (incl Um Im 2) contributed by March 2007 a suvey length of 3208.85 m to the Labit Cave System (Arbenz, T 2008.01.20 Mss). CULTURAL HISTORY - cave legend, human use: This year there … absent were the -Lilliputian monkey-coloured people- who Carlyn [Carlyn Phyrngap] assured us frequent the cave entrances in the Um Im area -- or has there been a secret Wessex expedition? (JARRATT, A R 2005). CAVE LIFE: Anthony 'Tony' R Jarratt (2005.03.06 Mss: Cave Log, vol. XII, 10/2/05) observed there were few bats [Chiroptera] in the cave this year and surmised they may be in the upper levels. JARRATT (2005) can be interpreted to indicate the presence of Crustacea when mentioning a certain crab-infested streamway (Shnongrim Sewer) of this cave and reconfirms that this year [February 2005] there was an almost complete absence of bats as opposed to the hundreds seen in 2004.KOTTELAT, HARRIES & PROUDLOVE (2007: 43 table 2) list Um Im 5 Cave among the caves in the Sutnga area (sic!) in which D. Harries saw in February 2005 the cave dwelling, nemcheilid loach Schistura prob. papulifera (Pisces: Teleostei: Balituridae) to be present.vey length of 3208.85 m to the Labit Cave System (Arbenz, T 2008.01.20 Mss). CULTURAL HISTORY - cave legend, human use: This year there … absent were the -Lilliputian monkey-coloured people- who Carlyn [Carlyn Phyrngap] assured us frequent the cave entrances in the Um Im area -- or has there been a secret Wessex expedition? (JARRATT, A R 2005). CAVE LIFE: Anthony 'Tony' R Jarratt (2005.03.06 Mss: Cave Log, vol. XII, 10/2/05) observed there were few bats [Chiroptera] in the cave this year and surmised they may be in the upper levels. JARRATT (2005) can be interpreted to indicate the presence of Crustacea when mentioning a certain crab-infested streamway (Shnongrim Sewer) of this cave and reconfirms that this year [February 2005] there was an almost complete absence of bats as opposed to the hundreds seen in 2004.KOTTELAT, HARRIES & PROUDLOVE (2007: 43 table 2) list Um Im 5 Cave among the caves in the Sutnga area (sic!) in which D. Harries saw in February 2005 the cave dwelling, nemcheilid loach Schistura prob. papulifera (Pisces: Teleostei: Balituridae) to be present.