Caving with Crew 94 11-16-08
OK, so we finally got Crew 94 underground. This trip was postponed due to SATs. What an excuse. What could be more important than getting underground?
We went out on Sunday morning. This was a “by the skin of my teeth” type trip. There was a trip to Carnegie the day before that Amos went on, so he’s driving back and forth to the same area the very next day. I had been in bed all week with the flu and still not back 100%. But I didn’t want to miss this or let them down on a trip.
Six youth and two adult members of Crew 94 were there and ready to go. It was cold and windy, but that didn’t seem to dwindle their enthusiasm. We got to the cave, suited up, distributed all the helmets and headlamps, and were inside the cave about noon. The temperature inside was definitely warmer than outside.
We got them all up to the first big breakdown and sat and talked while everyone’s eyes adjusted to the dark. They split themselves into two groups. Amos led one and Steve led the other. I tagged along with Steve to take pictures, as I was still not up to leading. However Steve insisted I do this one crawl that I usually bypass to take pictures of them coming out. It really wasn’t that bad. Got everyone in and through and they all did very well. They were ready to do the rest of the cave.
We did try to stay a little away from Amos’s group. They were in earshot a few times, but we never really crossed paths. We went straight back and a few tried the “tunnel crawl”. Then we went over to the back section. There is one tight squeeze, then it opens up to a little climbing and canyon passage.
We then went over to the “hanging rock passage” and poked around there for a while. Then went to the upper room and back down.
Somewhere along the way about three hours had passed. We decided to take a little break and head out to the entrance. Part of the Crew did have to leave early, and they reshuffled the groups so that those who were staying could go back inside.
Back inside we went back to the “catacombs” and sat in the dark and did the Winter Green Lifesaver thing. After we crawled back out of there they were headed over to the “back wall”, but I had enough and was loosing energy fast at that point and decided to head out. By the time I arrived at the break down room they were all climbing up from underneath. So the timing was good.
By the time we got out and changed and repacked the helmets it was time for dinner. Amos and Steve had found a different place to eat called “Pizza and Stuff” that they recommended we go back to. That was very worth while. We ordered three large pizzas with various toppings for the eight of us. The pizza was good and the service was quick. While pizza is hard to mess up, sometimes when you have a group it’s not always done well and slow getting food. But this was a lot better than other places we’ve been. Oh yeah, and it was cheap.
It was a great trip and hopefully we’ll be able to do something with Crew 94 again. Even if not the whole Crew I hope a few will look us up and join in when we have open spots in Dragon Breath Grotto trips.
Enjoy all the picture from the caving trip.
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