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.
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| 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!
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| 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
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| 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 ....
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| Poor picture, but all I have and, as always, it doesn't do the depth justice! |
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 ...
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| Jennifer |
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| Gavin |
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| Alicia |
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| Robby (still pointing! LOVE IT!) |
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| Eric |
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| Robert (being pulled away ... or reaching out?) |
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| ... and me Thanks again to Cardin Photography for these pics! |
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 ...
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| Thanks Larry Walden for snapping this |
Melissa and Larry had decided to go play with the camera ....
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| photo by Melissa Rockefeller |
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| photo by Melissa Rockefeller |
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| 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!
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!
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| photo by Larry Walden |
OOPS! (initially) forgot to put the group photo here ...
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| 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!
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