Over Hill and dale ... this Blows (another caving episode)

So a plan was made early in the week to go on another caving trip with the group I hooked up with two weeks ago. These folks are great fun to be around and it's as much about the company as it is the caving.

Anyway, I was to meet them at their house at 10 AM on Sunday morning. I left here on time and arrived there within 5 minutes of my destination. Considering *my* timing, that's right on time.

Misti and Vince had the car loaded so all we had to do was to head over to pick up Robby. Within 5 minutes of my arrival, we were off.

We were at Robby's place 10 minutes? later. As with last time we were at Robby's significantly longer. Ahhh, consistency! Again, company is good so timing becomes less relevant.

We get some GPS coordinates and head out. Sadly, the road we wanted to take to get us closer was closed off. This cave was in a state park and they had the road gated off. This means adding another mile to the hike to GET to the cave.

Okay, we talk about options and decide since we have never been to this one to take a chance. Being in a state park, it is a distinct possibility that the cave *could* be closed! Okay, what the hell? If nothing else we will have burned off some calories. ONWARD!

The hike was quite nice! It wound around the edge of Norris Lake and it was quite pretty. There were placards tagged  on different tree species offering some trivial info about trees that lined the path.

The trail was fairly easy to navigate. That is, until we came to where it was gated off and a "new" trail went downhill.

We knew the GPS coordinates of the cave and the elevation of it, so we weren't exactly inclined to descend this steep slope only to have to climb it again later on. The trail that was "blocked off" looked fairly tame, so we kept on course.

After a few hundred yards, the trail kind of ... went ... away. It became obvious as my dumbass soon found out WHY the new trail was blazed.

Heh! I have a pretty good balance and confidence about where I place my feet. We were walking along this trail that reminded me of Arlo Guthrie's "Pickle Song" (I don't want a pickle, I just want to ride my motorsickle). "On one side there was a mountain. On the other side there was nothin' -- there was a cliff in the air." (Ahh! I love Arlo).

So my confident dumbass is walking along and swooosh! there go my feet as the leafy, muddy substrate gave way. I fell pretty hard. I felt fine and got right back up (adrenaline?) and it never hurt the rest of the day.

Today? a little sore, not bad, but I know I fell. It was much more embarssing than painful.

Sooo, we soon realized we needed to go down the slope to the "new" trail we ignored earlier. We found a downed tree and Robby used it as a handrail. I however, straddled it as my confidence had been humbled with the fall.



Heh. Misti's way down a hill is to get on her ass and just scoot on down it. It's a safer way down and all, but it IS comical to watch. So she and Vince came down a little prior to the tree.

We eventually, were all gathered back up. Vince and Misti had expected Robby (who is billy goat like on these hills) to have brewed them up a pot of coffee by now. He sure had enough time once the rest of us got down.

That was the biggest obstacle of the hike TO the cave -- outside of the *time* it took to get there (just over 2 hours). When we were about 30 minutes from the entrance, one of the guys that had been invited while we were still at Robby's calls and says he is parked and on the trail. We soon hear them below us. They were actually CLOSER than we were. They found a back way to drive in (albeit on a rougher road ... more on that later).

By the time we finally got to the cave (it took a couple hours to hike the trail and is a little after 2 by now ... talk about consistency), it is (sigh) CLOSED! We KNEW this was a possibility, we just were optimistic it wouldn't be a reality -- especially after a 2 hour one-way hike (and 2 hours back?)! So much for hope!

So now we have wasted a LOT of time to get here to find we have to go back. Luckily, Chad and his girlfriend, Abby, had gotten to the cave in about 20 minutes from their car, so we could hike to their car with them and they would ride us to the car we arrived in -- saving WELL over an hour of time of hiking.

The route they took was all downhill for them, which meant it was all UPhill for us ... and it was .... STEEP! Misti was less than thrilled with *this* reality too!

We all toughed it out. Robby, the mountain goat and those two kids (Chad and Abby) scaled that hill like it was flatland. Vince, Misti, and myself struggled significantly more.

We finally joined the others and found that our ride was a VW bug. LUCKILY, it was a convertible, but ... REALLY?!? there's SIX of us! hooo boy!

So after scratching our heads some, we finally figure out a plan to get six idiots into a VW beetle. The road is a gravel road that is riddled with potholes, mudholes, rocks, and roots. That poor bug scraped quite a few times in various points due to the weight of the passengers and the condition of the road.

Photo courtesy of Misti Whitehead

As one of the folks with a higher viewpoint than the driver, I tried to offer navigation advice as to which direction may be best to avoid rocks and such. Chad, however, was a great driver without our help, but still encouraged our input. The problem with that is sometimes, I said go "left" when I *meant* to say "right" ... Vince seemed to have the same problem 180* out of phase where he would say go "right" when he *meant* to say "left".

Yeesh. DESPITE us, Chad did wonderfully navigating! We still bottomed out at quite a few points with high rocks or roots in the middle of the track. One being bad enough we had to stop and look.

The undercarriage of that VW was built for bear. Those Germans really KNOW what they're doing!

Heh! remember when I earlier mentioned how great the company is? I don't remember the last time I laughed that hard.

Everyone we passed gave us some interesting looks ... INCLUDING a  4WD Jeep that seemed equally equipped for rock climbing as it did for creek crossing (with it's snorkel for the carb).

We were bouncing along and cracking jokes. Good times! This ride to the car took  at LEAST ANOTHER 20 minutes.

By the time we got back to the car it was nearly 5 PM (remember I mentioned meeting at 10 AM) and we STILL hadn't been in a cave yet. It's St. Patrick's Day and it has been a ... DAY!

It was nearly unanimous that it was time for *a* beer! Hey, it IS St. Patrick's Day! Also, it was nearly unanimous that it was time to get something to eat.

There is a cave within a half hour from where we were that was on private property that Vince and Misti knew the owners rather well and have an open-door invite to frequent. Cool!

We find a fast-food joint to grab some grub. Right next to it is a convenience store even. So we eat, walk over to the store (those wanting a beer each grabbed a brew of choice), and then head over to the place where Blowing Spring Cave is.

We all were introduced to the owners of the property and they are just your typical good-ol'-boy and gal. Nice, simple country folk, so long as you don't f*ck with them.

He told of us how some folks didn't have the respect to ask his permission to enter and he caught them and chased them off his property with a gun and relating to us how funny it is to see grown men run in fear (Hell! if they didn't have enough -respect- to ask if they could "trespass" on his property I say "Rock on!" -- they deserved it!!).

The guy tells a good story. Quite entertaining! We chatted for about 20 minutes prior to entering the cave.

Misti mentioned she was going to drink her beer in the cave as she had never done this. I hadn't either and figured I would join her. That seemed a popular idea and we all sipped on one while in there. We didn't go in and get stupid, but it was cool to sit there and have a bull session while sippin' on suds!

Misti, Abby, and Chad

Up until now, it had been relatively easy navigation. Then it got tight. It was crawl and squiggle time! We got to one hole that Vince refers to as the turd hole. That is because you look like one as you squeeze through it, covered in mud. Unfortunately, it was too tight for Vince and Misti to fit through.


That left the four of us. That passage ended rather quickly, but it ended in a room with a clay wall. Clay, like what potters would use.

So Chad starts building a Buddha with it. Not to be short-changed Robby decides he is going to make a VW bug with six laughing idiots in it. Here ya go ... pics of the "art" ...

Buddha?

A VW with six idiot occupants

By now it was nearly 7 PM. We had wasted so much time getting to Hill Cave (the one that was on state park land and closed) that we had to begin working our way back out as Vince and Misti  had to pick up their kids. Additionally, I needed to get back home so that Dad wouldn't be too pissed off. Here's a couple more pics of what we saw while in there ...

After art class, we started our way back out of the cave as it was getting a bit late by now.

Tread carefully (photo taken by Misti Whitehad)

 

Vince and Misti

So we worked our way out

Time to go

photo taken by Misti Whiteheaad

and then told Joe (the property owner) we had made it okay, and there was no need to call in some rescue team to save our sorry asses. That conversation continued another 45 minutes. Did I mention that he is a good-ol'-boy character and it's rather easy to get involved in a conversation(s) with him?

By the time I got back to the truck it was nearly 9 PM. I got home at around 10:15 PM to find that an old friend from the Tazewell days (and her fiancee) were at the house. I felt like crap because for some reason I got my wires crossed that they weren't due in until Monday night (I really think alcohol was involved, but that only comes across as a copout) .

Anyway, I was quickly forgiven (did I mention they are good folks too?) and the rest of the night was spent joyfully in good company (once Dad got his tirade out of the way).  Heh. few days can be scripted this way!