Busy weekend filled with good times and good people

So last weekend was a busy one for me. Saturday night a friend of mine was throwing a birthday party for his fiancee and invited Melissa and I to join them. Sunday was an early birthday caving trip -- with the option to camp out overnight.

Arrangements were made. Thanks to Melissa for being here Sunday and for Isaac being here on Saturday, not only would *I* be able to go to both, but Melissa would be able to join me Saturday evening.

Her and I would get a rare "date". The problem with that is, I fully intended to go camping after the dinner, and that was in the opposite direction of the house. This meant taking two separate vehicles -- some date!

Anyhow, we left here at 5 PM with a 30 minute cushion to get to Tellico by 7 PM. Of course, that wasn't enough and we showed up about 20 minutes late. Luckily, it was a non-issue (they all know me and likely expected me to be late).

We ate dinner, enjoyed countless stories, and laughed until about 9:30 PM. Technically, I had figured on being on the road by 9 at the latest to make it to the campsite another 2 hours away.

This would be interesting, though. The place I was headed isn't a campground, it's someone's driveway. Additionally, the driveway is located off a side street. Not having GPS nor a cell phone, this would be like finding a needle in the haystack -- always a good time looking at EVERY DAMN street sign you pass while it's dark in hopes that the reflective lettering will excite your retinas!

I managed to miss the road I was looking for once (Coal Bank Rd.) and asked at a gas station. The little Indian dude behind the counter had no idea where it was but yanked out his cell phone and googled it. It's down the road another 20 miles or so. I quickly found out that that was wrong as US 70 became US 70-S. I was never supposed to get to US 70-S.

I stop at another gas station and ask there. There's another Indian behind the counter with no clue, but tells me the Burger King that adjoins his station is open and someone there may know. Okay, I ask and there is a guy in there that knows where it is.

He gives me directions and I managed to miss it again. I am getting frustrated by now, but turned back around hoping it would jump out at me or something. I thought I would eventually narrow it down enough to find it.

I am beyond frustrated now and throw up a Hail Mary prayer asking for help finding this damned road! I came up to a FedEx truck and followed him for a bit. He pulled into a closed gas station, so I pulled in behind. I was about to knock on his door and  ask if he had a GPS to clue me in, when ... BAM! I noticed the street sign and it was Coal Bank Rd. SWEET!

I managed to find the driveway with little problem. The directions I had mentioned something about a cow gate and then taking a right turn by the creek. I went on by a house and found a cow gate, went through the gate, and didn't see anything to the right. I continued on and found another house, then another cow gate. Again, proceeded through the gate and this time there was a road off to the right. I took it and got a bunch of cows' eyes reflecting my headlights.

 I figured this was wrong and went back through the cow gate. There was a little road off to the right I had missed. I took it, but it quickly ended, but it was near the creek. I could see across the way an LED light (looked like a camp light, not a barn light). I went back to the start of the driveway and just as I got there I noticed there was another little road off to the (now left) right.

I followed it and soon saw vehicles. YAY! I was sooo damned glad to get parked. It is now about 12:30. I was pretty tired of looking for this place. Even better, everyone was still awake too.

The time passed quickly and before long folks were headed to their tents. I stayed up a bit and then finally retired myself.

Morning came and we started moving. It hadn't rained at all over night and there was hardly no dew on my tent at all. I was going to break camp but a steady drizzle started falling before I had. Now I will have to set that tent up again later on.

We got the campfire re-stoked and Gavin began preparing to cook breakfast. I grabbed a Snickers bar for my breakfast while at the store the day before. I had NO idea what was in the works. He cooked up bacon, eggs, and biscuits over a campfire. These are no amateurs!

Around 11 AM the rest of the group that were not camping showed up. We then headed over to the cave (also on the property we were camping on) and was treated to one of the most beautiful caves I have ever set foot in.


It was a huge cave and I will let the pictures tell the rest of the story (thanks yet again to Cardin Photography and Larry Walden for sharing their pictures)........

Gavin and Jennifer, w/ a little help from Randy
(photo courtesy of Larry Walden)

Brooke
(photo courtesy of Larry Walden)

(photo courtesy of Cardin Photography)

(photo courtesy of Larry Walden)

(photo courtesy of Cardin Photography)

(photo courtesy of Larry Walden)

Flowstone
(photo courtesy of Cardin Photography)

Alicia (the drop below that gap is about 80')
(photo courtesy of Larry Walden)

(photo courtesy of Larry Walden)

Vince, Eric, and Robert
(photo courtesy of Larry Walden)

this is the last picture my camera took before it took a dunk in a pool

this is Randy
(photo courtesy of Cardin Photography)

(photo courtesy of Larry Walden)

(photo courtesy of Larry Walden)

as you can see a large group (14 total)
(photo courtesy of Larry Walden)

Hello Gavin

notice the cave cricket at the top
(photo courtesy of Cardin Photography)

more cave wildlife
(photo courtesy of Cardin Photography)

"We've got to talk"

In my mind, that is the most dreaded sequence of words in the English language. It's not "Let's chat" which implies time just hanging out and talking about ... nothing. I've watched Seinfeld, I can do "nothing"!

We GOT to talk! UGH! that sounds serious and sometimes is.

It is something the one bringing up the conversation has struggled with to find the time and had the opportunity to rehearse it prior to bringing it up. The one hearing it dreads it just as much because of its foreboding nature.

We GOT to talk! not I want to ... this is one of those deals I can ignore no longer. UGH!

This is even more horrific for me. I am not good off-the-cuff -- never had the wit (nor even temperment) to deal with these types of situations. I need time to digest information, process it, then come up with an answer. In the middle of these conversations one rarely gets that luxury.

I SUCK at these! I say stupid(-er than normal?) stuff!

Oddly I had gone into the bedroom to see what Melissa was doing. She was getting undressed ... ooh! good timing! then those words came out of her mouth. (I almost ran away .... KIDDING!)

I went in to see what she was doing and maybe engage in a game until I saw her undressing then other thoughts hit me. Well no game happened -- nor the other. We talked (because we HAD to). It didn't end on a good note -- not irreparable, by any means, but far from what the initial plan was. Much of that is likely on me, but it's another lost opportunity.

She and I will talk more later and smooth things over, but I still HATE to hear that sentence! I want to go back to the days where we just talk, not that we HAVE to! I want a reset button!

Gettin' dirty, but not Gettin' Wet!

This past Saturday, I got the opportunity to play in another cave. Melissa surprised me a couple nights prior to that by telling me she wanted to go.

Now, it's been YEARS since she was last in a cave and I knew she enjoyed herself, but age and health issues (in particular her ankles) have arose since that trip. I haven't asked because I figured the unstable footing conditions that tend to be prevalent would not be good for her ankles.

We left the house a couple minutes late, but I was pretty sure we could make up for that on the road as the rendezvous point was a bit over an hour away. That is until Melissa informed me she had to stop and get something to eat somewhere. Fast food or nothing, so we settled on Hardee's and ate en route.

We all have our "needs" though. Knowing there was a party after the caving, I stopped at the liquor store and grabbed some beer for later. With those stops we were only 10 minutes late -- for me, not bad! not bad at all!

Even better? I wasn't the last one there. Larry graced me by still being on his way. Granted, some of his being late was due to a bit of confusion on the actual meeting time and not being selfish, but at least everyone was NOT waiting on Melissa and I.

Once he arrived we set off for the rendezvous point with Allen, without whom we could not have gotten into this cave. Allen was waiting for us along with Buttermilk, the neighborhood dog.

photo courtesy of Cardin Photography

Buttermilk, whom could easily be proclaimed the cave mascot, has probably logged more square footage of this cave than anyone alive. She *led* us to the cave and Allen told us stories of how folks would be in the cave and Buttermilk would just all-of-a-sudden show up.

Allen is a neat old bird! He is 81 years old and has been caving longer than I have been alive. Not only were his stories interesting, but he proved to be a great guide too!

photo courtesy of Cardin Photography

I have no idea how many times he had been in this cave nor how long it had been since his last visit, but he did a great job narrating some of the local history and flavor of the cave including where church meetings were once held within the cave (largely because of the acoustics). He also would vividly describe what we could expect to see if we went this way or that when the passages were  more than what he was wishing to deal with.

At some point along the way, we came upon this guy/gal....

who obviously was a proficient hunter and has been feeding well. I don't recall seeing such a "healthy" bat in my encounters.





We came to a space that was a tight crawl. Allen said he did not wish to go through. Others, whether they wished to or not, couldn't! I BARELY squeezed through, but had to tilt my head to one side and was committed to that side for the whole crawl which, luckily wasn't more than 20' (probably closer to 10' or so, but when you are inching your way through it seems MUCH longer!).

It was a good crawl and yet another reminder how OUT of shape I am! However, after doing it, I felt my face grinnin' (between gasping breaths).

Here is a picture of how tight it was

photo courtesy of Cardin Photography

After the inchworm crawl, we went to the left, which, as Allen told us would result in a climb and a subsequent dead-end. The climb was part of the challenge and we all accepted it. I tried to get  a good pic of it, but this is the best I got ....

Poor picture, but all I have and, as always, it doesn't do the depth justice!

It was about a 20' climb? with a tight spot and very little footing. The guy *most* in focus hadn't hit that tight spot yet ... you had to squeeze through it sideways.

Since it was a dead-end we backtracked and passed the crawl and went to the right, and again, as Allen told us, it also came to an end. After that brief exploration we took our turns going back through the crawl. The next sequence of pics are done by Misti Cardin (of Cardin Photography) and I am putting that here so I don't have to put it in each and every one of the next  pictures ...

Jennifer

Gavin

Alicia

Robby (still pointing! LOVE IT!)

Eric

Robert (being pulled away ... or reaching out?)

...  and me

Thanks again to Cardin Photography for these pics!

After we were all together again, we worked our way back towards another passage off of the mouth. Allen told us there was a passage you could take that would lead you to the prettiest formations in the cave if you would swim to get there. Normally not so big a deal, but it was cold outside.

Well, Alicia loves playing in water ... that's all she needed to hear! Gavin and Jennifer went as well. To my surprise, Misti, who tends to stay back, decided to go too.

I stayed back, initially. The rest of us were setting there and waiting ... and waiting ... and eventually found other spots to explore or ways to occupy our time. This was from an earlier part of the cave.

I saw this and thought ... hmmm ... picture opp. Larry was nearby so I asked if he would snap a pic and he gratefully accepted. I called Melissa who was close by. This was met with great resistance by her once my motive was declared, but she finally bowed down to it and here y'are ...

Thanks Larry Walden for snapping this

After that some of us went different ways. At various points, Melissa and I hung out with Allen and ... occasionally ... Robert, Robby, Vince, Larry, and Eric. Again listening to the man talk was a privilege.


Melissa and Larry had decided to go play with the camera ....

photo by Melissa Rockefeller

photo by Melissa Rockefeller

photo by Larry Walden

Allen had described that it was usually about 10-15' of "swimming" involved dependent upon the amount of rain we have had. Recently, we have had more than our share of precipitation.

Did I mention it was about 40* outside (for a HIGH)? After sitting there for a while, Eric finally removed a shirt (so he would have something dry to wear upon coming back) and went for it. I, not wanting to be (further) punked, FINALLY got some gumption.

That lasted until I heard him go in ..swim along ....  and ... CURSE ... LOUDLY! That water HAD to be cold! All audible indications reinforced that premise!

The more I stared, the less I wanted to find out! I managed to talked myself out of it because I didn't act on the moment! If it weren't so cold OUTSIDE and my dry clothes being at the truck (a couple miles away (in a car, but still)), I would've gone.

The idea of going out in 40* weather ... wet! ... without a change of clothes (SOON!) made me a pussy! I'm holding on to "it was common sense" but wondering how much "water" that holds!

It was only exacerbated by the fact that three women went, and I .... didn't! Big props to Alicia, Misti, and Jenn (and the guys .. Gavin and Eric) that braved them cold waters! Y'all ROCK!

EXCUSES, EXCUSES! they got to do a mud slide and see some cool formations, I have excuses. Call it a learning lesson? I hope so!

Once they returned, Allen showed us one last part of the cave. It was part of the early saltpeter mining area ... complete with an explanation of what was involved in the mining process .... did I mention he is a great "tour guide"?

I went down, along with Robby, Alicia, Robert, and Larry. Robby already soaked headed to the right. He was more than waist-deep and that discouraged me from following, despite early inclinations (again, I whimped out).

Alicia went to the left. It was a crawl (swim?) through .... water! This woman LOVES to play in water! At the meetup earlier (a gas station) she was splashing in water puddles! She explained she loves the sound of splashing water. I did not get the depth (excuse the pun) of that until we were in the cave!

photo by Larry Walden

What you DON'T see (hear?) is the *thrush* of water being moved by her very active feet. This is what you call a "happy girl" (quotes, because that is HER description of her when in water).

OOPS! (initially) forgot to put the group photo here ...

photo by Larry Walden

The rest of the night passed quickly as good times tend to. Such a great day when you spend it with good folks!

my favorite beer?

.... the one that most recently danced on my taste buds. There is more to this than just a snappy comeback!

Seriously, there have been a couple times I have re-thunk? what my favorite beer for a particular style is, in tonight's case, we are talking IPA. Each time it has been with the one I just drank. I just had (for the first time) a Conniption Double IPA (from Atwater brewing -- have had offerings from them before and was hesitant to grab it, but did anyway, now am glad I did!)

A few weeks back Monkeynaut (the CAN has a picture of a monkey donning an astronaut helmet on it) was it. It's still a favorite. This week it's not my favorite. Who knows what next week brings?

On another note, today, Dec. 11th (2010), is the first time I brewed my own. This happened four years ago today. This will be the fourth consecutive 12/11 that I have brewed. Sometimes an action becomes a tradition -- I am thinking this has now become such.

Tonight I am brewing a smoked porter. It's odd though!

I went to my local homebrew store to get something to brew today. I found a smoked porter within an acceptable price range. I grabbed it up along with some other things I "need". Oddly, this is an extract beer. I haven't done an extract for over a year and a half now.

So I intend to brew this tonight. As soon as I grabbed up the kit, I pulled out the instructions (which had the ingredients list on it. I looked at it -- not good enough!) I immediately went over to where their grains were and began thinking what can I add to this to make it a Skipp'n Rocks brew?

The "odd" part is notsomuch that I added to it since there have been VERY few brews that I have followed to the letter -- including the first -- but more that this time I *knew* what would work as the early ones were lucky guesses. I always seem to try and put my own spin on it. I guess the fact that it normally works out, I have yet to be discouraged from this practice.   ; )

Anyhow, off to brew. I have finished dinner and have a couple areas cleaned and prepped. Now to finish up dinner dishes and get the ball rollin'. Being an extract brew I should be done in 2 hours (had it been an all-grain it would be about 6 hours).

Dope on a Rope?

Saturday was the birthday of Robby, one of the group that I have been caving with lately. Plans were made to go caving in the day and have a birthday party that night.

The downside was that my Vols were playing and it was senior day. The tickets were almost affordable, even. It was a night game!

And were that not enough, it was a must-win if they wanted to go to a bowl. Since I was actually out and already IN Knoxville anyway, maybe I could take in the game. It's been *years* since I last was able to go to one!

Going to the game would mean missing the party. I haven't seen these folks in a while and do enjoy their company. Still the chance of catching a game had real appeal. I figured I would decide what to do once I got out of the cave.

I always enjoy caving and tend to look forward to it, but this time there was even more anticipation. They were doing vertical training (rappelling). I have wanted to do this for a long time now, but never had the opportunity. Robby has all the gear and between him and a few others, there were enough rigs for about 8 people I think. We had about 15 total, but not everyone was there to rappel .

We got to the site and began hiking to the cave. Luckily, we have been to this before so finding it was not an issue. During the hike many of us got to know one another. By now, I had about decided that I had solved the dilemma of if I was going to the game or not.

The cave was found without issue. Robby and Randy began setting up their rigging in two different drop zones. This is a big cave and pics cannot capture it. There are a few ways in. One on foot and a few different places to drop a rope from.

The opening just above the mouth of the cave, drops about 50' to the floor. Robby set up here.

photo taken by Misti Cardin

There is another opening a little to the left of the center (when looking from the outside). This is where Randy set up.

Robby's was a straight drop without the security of your feet on something to "ease" into it. However, where Randy set up rope was almost three times longer a drop but there was a rock wall to be able to have your feet on something.

I chose to take the descent with the wall. It's my first time doing this, and I think I'd feel more comfortable if I am not just suspended in the air trusting that I will not do something stupid. You can imagine my confidence level here!  ; )

I watched Randy go first.

photo taken by Misti Cardin

photo taken by Misti Cardin

                                                                       Then Gavin.


I remember asking Shane, standing next to me (also watching intently), "Is your heart beating?" This was also to be his first time doing this. He didn't seem to be intimidated.

Then Shane went. Again, I am intently observing. Heh! shortly after he went over the edge, Vince asked if he was okay. Shane's reply was "My heart is beating!"  LOL

photo taken by Misti Cardin

 
After Shane was off the rope, it came to be my turn. OH BOY! All kinds of scenarios run through your head. As you're watching you think "yeah this looks cool!" then it's your turn to step over that edge and a sense of mortality hits.

Going over the edge was the biggest roadblock. I had watched Randy, Gavin, and Shane do it. I watched how they approached it. I observed their posture. I thought I was processing this information.

When it came game time I had lost all that "processed data". It took me a few minutes but I finally did tip a toe over that edge, and then progressively more and more of my anatomy -- and right about now the preservation instinct(s) kick in.

My heart rate is jacked! It felt like it was about to pound it's way through my rib cage.

I wasn't sure which part of the "flight-or-fight" receptors were working harder. I was hyper-focused and the adrenaline was flowing to keep my body as sharp as it needed to be.  ; )

I am mostly concerned with how and where to hold the rope. It wasn't a heights thing, I'm okay with that-- other than the fact that a slip-up from this height could end badly. I was worried if I let the rope slip through my hands too quickly how fast and sudden that fall could become.

So I am over the edge and looking at this 15' bluff and trying to figure out how to get feet planted as I made my descent (after 15' or so it wasn't a straight vertical bluff, there was a less-than-perpendicular angle there but that frst 15'?).

During that first part, my feet kept slipping. What I needed to do was have my legs perpendicular to the surface but that wasn't happening as easily as it should have. So, it was another thing I had to wrap my head around.

I got better at it as I descended, but I was scared I would do something stupid the whole time. At one point I slipped and lost footing. Of course, Misti was there with the camera ...

photo taken by Misti Cardin

It took me a bit to get back to the proper posture, but I did.

In a way that was really good. Oddly, it gave me confidence, since momentarily I was in mid-air and had to figure out what to do. When I got my feet back on that rock, I felt "more comfortable?". Once I hit solid ground, I was quaking all over. Some of it was likely adrenaline, but some of it was fear too!

I parked my bum on a rock to try and let my nerves and heart rate return to a more normal pattern and waited for the next to come down. I pulled out my camera and get a message saying "Card Locked". I haven't done anything to it since the last time I was caving and it was functional then! No matter what menu I accessed I could not get it straightened out. GRR!

Meh! Everyone that was coming down the rope had already done so -- at least once. For me, today, once was enough. I will again, but I know I (ab)used many muscles I typically do not, so sitting out was probably the best thing.

photo taken by Misti Cardin

Now that everyone is down, it's time to go crawl around some! There was a group of folks that passed on the rappel and had already explored a short section of it.



By the time we were done with our rappelling, they had returned. Damn near perfect timing, that!







There was another rope descent but that was "easy" in comparison to what I had just done. The descent was about 20' I would guess. So far most of the cave had been relatively dry. However, there were many decent flowstone formations suggesting that this was far from dry. Again, my SD card crapped out on me so use your imagination.

Those of us that made the descent (at least 10? of us) proceeded along for a bit longer. We came to a channel with water and there was a ledge up to the left. A couple of us took the ledge, and others the water.

That is, until we rounded a bend and the ledge ... disappeared. The only way now was go back to the water or try and straddle a gap about 20' above the water (with no idea how deep the water was if you lose footing) -- the gap got wider than the trust I had in the muscles of my legs after the rappel.

I watched someone (forget whom now) do the straddle thing and decided I was going to wuss out and go back and walk through the water. Heh! that water gets deep at spots -- and it's COLD! part of the reason I tried avoiding it to begin with.

After that we came to a crawl. It was funny those that avoided the water -- and there were few --  are now rueful of the fact they still have to get muddy and wet after all that work to avoid it to begin with. HAHA! not often I'm right so allow me to gloat here.

The reason? This was a crawl. A true inchworm type crawl. You could fit in, but you weren't on your elbows and knees unless you were really vertically challenged. It also had a 90* bend about 2/3 of the way through it. It couldn't have been longer than 15' but "inching" through it made it seem like more.

We soon came to a turn around point and worked our way back to the mouth. By the time we got there, those that didn't feel up to the rope descent were there and had already built a fire. It *was* about 40* outside!

We hung out for a bit took some pics and then headed back to Robby's to let the party start. Gavin an Jenny cooked up some awesome food and we all shared good food, goodwill, and good times to pass the night away. It was over way too quickly and I got back to the house without incident.

It was great to hang out with friends again and to meet new ones and I don't regret missing the game. My Facebook friends list grew on Sunday morning.  ; )

What a great day! I scared myself and lived to tell you about it.   ; )