Until 2001 Lincoln Cavern was the furthest known extent of Fort Stanton Cave, now the second longest cave in New Mexico, longer than – yep – Carlsbad Caverns, thanks to the discovery of Snowy River Passage by a small team from BLM’s non-profit partner group, Fort Stanton Cave Study Project. Prior to the Snowy discovery, Fort Stanton Cave was 7 miles long; now it is 42.5 miles, which also makes it the 12th longest cave in the U.S.
The radio beacon was done while cavers were re-surveying Lincoln Caverns to correct any survey errors past or current. K23 is a 1991 survey station directly below us in Lincoln Cavern.