The Friday following vertical practice, Mike decided to lead an actual vertical caving trip. Rather than hitting up the same old caves, we decided to try something new. Armed with GPS coordinates, we headed toward the TAG caving area. We were unable to find our first cave that Friday night, so we camped in a random field and decided to try in the morning. After driving around for several hours, we parked off the side of the road and attempted hiking in. This was unsuccessful. We were met with a wall of thorns and had to tear through the jungle. We eventually found what appeared to be a trail, but no cave. We hunted all day and even discovered a new cave that had never been explored. Logel, Mike, and I dug out the entrance and Mike rappelled the 15 or so feet down. It was cool to have found a cave but it was very small.
To keep up the morale, we left the area and decided to go to Cemetery Pit, an old favorite. I had been there with Mike and Steph about nine months prior. Mike and I rigged the ropes and I was the first one down, stopping every so often to untangle the rope and toss it over ledges. We were only able to explore Cemetery for a few hours because we had gotten such a late start but it was worth it. We traversed a sketchy ledge about 50 or so feet from the ground and played around in some mud, which surprisingly dried quickly. We emerged around 11 PM or so, a repeat of my time with Mike and Steph sans snow, and headed to Huddle House, the only open restaurant for miles.
The next morning, we woke up to some cavers headed for Cemetery. We talked to them and discovered that they had been at Moses' Tomb the day before, the cave we had been searching for. We got directions and headed back to Alabama. We found it and after a short hike, we started rigging up ropes and gear. Since this particular pit was about 230 feet and had limited horizontal caving, we decided to stagger so that one person wasn't waiting at the bottom in the cold for four people to ascend. Mike went down first with his camera, followed by Logel and James. Then, Logel and James ascended up in tandem, meaning that they were both on the rope at the same time. They only simul-climbed for about 40 feet or so out of the 230. Then, Nina rappelled down and I followed shortly thereafter. As soon as I reached the bottom, Mike ascended out. Nina ascended out with him in tandem and I waited for him to get off before I hopped on. Despite it's length, the ascent seemed easier than the ascent for Cemetery, which is less than 200 feet. I was out fairly quickly with minimal problem. The only moment of panic I had was when the carabiner holding my chest harness snapped, but luckily it wasn't a big deal. I had an extra carabiner on my gear loop, so after a few seconds of fiddling around with the gear, I had resolved the problem and could continue ascending. Overall, an excellent day.
Events occurred: September 13-15, 2013
The first official meeting of the semester was held during the second week of classes for some reason, with a planned after meeting paddle. Our new president has been militant about recruiting and advertising, though usually OAR just lets people find it on their own. Thus, the first meeting was packed and the after meeting paddle was beyond full. Mike and I, as well as a few others, decided instead to lead a trip to Shotgun Hole, an OAR favorite. Our group was about 10 people and we had the rope ladder with us, since Mike had commandeered all of the vertical gear the previous weekend with the intention of leading vertical practice.
I was really hesitant about Shotgun Hole. I had been so careful with my shoulder injury and had been feeling better but I wasn't sure if this trip would tip the scales and send me flying back to the doctor. I brought a set of vertical gear and rope just in case I couldn't climb the rope ladder. Luckily, it was unnecessary and after about an hour or so of swimming and paying around in Shotgun Hole, I sprinted up the rope ladder with ease, a successful test of my shoulder.
When we got back Jacksonville, Mike invited everyone to go caving with him and his sister, Steph, after Christmas. Apparently, I was the only one stupid enough to think this was a good idea. So, a few days after Christmas, I found myself waking up and meeting them at their house at 7 AM. We drove straight to Neversink and hiked up to it, setting up gear for the rappel. This, in retrospect, was very poorly planned. We had very little daylight to work with when we started and by the time we ascended out, it was dark. I also hadn't prepared clothing-wise. I had thrown on a pair of sweatpants over my shorts and was wearing Sperries instead of real caving shoes. Neversink was wetter than I had ever seen it before and I sank straight into the mud. I also dropped my camera lens cap when I was ascending, but luckily Steph and Mike found it. It started raining on us so we had to ascend and gather gear in dark rainy weather. It was also very cold and my sweatpants absorbed water like a sponge.
Camping on this trip was an interesting experience overall. We went to Scottsboro Mountain, where we usually camp, but rather than setting up tents, we stumbled upon a small shack that was created for cavers to crash in. There was a couch and a bunch of foam pads. The place was disgusting but it was that or the pouring rain, so we braved the shack. Mike called dibs on the couch, which was perfectly fine with me and Steph, since it seemed worse than the floor. We laid out the foam pads to sleep on. In the middle of the night, I noticed a leak that was splashing water in my face. I tightened my sleeping bag and ignored it, but when I woke up, a small pool of water slid on to my face. We got our stuff together and headed for the car, only to see hail and snow on the ground and in the air. Mike coaxed my car down the mountain and didn't hit anything on this treacherous "road" until the very end, an impressive feat.
When we pulled up to Fox Mountain and Mike informed me that the cave we were going to was called Cemetery, I had a mild internal panic attack. We hiked for a bit, including going through a long tunnel that runs under the highway. Of course, Mike decided to creep up behind me and whisper "always watching." I instinctively smacked him in the arm and picked up my speed. When we finally got to Cemetery, there was already a group on rope, headed down. We talked to them and they were from upstate New York and Canada. We were going to set up our own ropes but they offered theirs and we decided that would be easier. So we followed behind them and began exploring on our own. We ran into them again at a second drop point of about 20 feet. They told us to come on down, so we used their rope again and descended further into the cave. We stumbled upon a registry and wrote our names. We explored a fair amount of the cave and Mike found a rope that had been left in the cave as a permanent line. He remembered from the last time he had been there a few years before that this line led to the exit, so when we left we decided to take that line to go up rather than ascending out on the other group's second rope.
Unfortunately, none of us bother paying attention to the small out arrows pointing to the right and we went to the left instead. We eventually found out arrows that ended up just turning us in a circle. After at least two hours, we found ourselves coming upon another registry. I had the worst feeling in my stomach. When we opened the registry, we realized that it was indeed the same as the first and we had ended up in a giant circle. We rested briefly and discussed contingency plans in case we couldn't get out. Then, we carefully went up the permanent line again, this time searching for arrows immediately. The path to the exit didn't take much longer but when we arrived, we realized the rope was gone. Mike yelled up and luckily the other group was still there. They threw the rope back down and he quickly ascended up to set up our rope so they could leave. Steph and I, both cold and tired, waited at the bottom only to realize that our rope wasn't long enough. We had the 300 foot rope in the car, which Mike could have hiked back to and then set up for us but Steph figured that she could free climb the 20 to 30 feet at the bottom. Mike rappelled back down to a ledge with some webbing and tied a line for us. I climbed up after Steph but I was much more nervous about getting to the ledge where they were. I was almost certain that I couldn't do it, despite their coaching. I ended up clipping myself into the safety line of webbing and swinging over to them. It worked and we all ascended out as quickly as possible. It was freezing at the top and there was snow on the ground. We practically sprinted to the car and I turned the heat on before I could even think to do anything else.
We had emerged around 11 PM, desiring hot food. Our options were already limited based on location but time of day destroyed the chance for option at all. We ended up at Huddle House and the warmth was fantastic. We also all refilled our water bottles and washed our hands and faces in the bathroom. I also bought myself a hot chocolate, which was an excellent source of warmth that dipped down into my toes. After a very late dinner/very early breakfast, we returned to Fox Mountain and set up camp by the car. By set up camp, I mean that Steph set up a tent and slept outside while Mike and I decided that the car would be much warmer and much more comfortable. He slept in the front seat with the back reclined as far back as possible, nearly flat, while I stretched across the backseat, thankful for my height.
The next morning, we hiked in the opposite direction from Cemetery, toward Rusty's Cave. I don't think any of us had ever been to Rusty's before, but members of the NSS (National Speleological Society) claimed it was about 20 feet of drop. This was false. It was much closer to 40 feet. We had more than enough rope, so we set up several back up systems and descended with some ease. There was a lot of thick, peanut butter-like mud that we referred to as "jungle mud." The cave itself was beautiful. There is a fast-paced stream running through the entire cave that we followed. At first, I stayed high like Mike and Steph, scrambling over rocks and past formations several feet above the stream. Once we reached a decent stopping point, we rested and tried further routes. I crawled through a squeeze for at least 10 minutes that ended up going absolutely nowhere and unless we wanted to go swimming, we had to turn back around. We ran into another group of three from Georgia Tech but they didn't know if the cave kept going. We turned around and I decided to stay low, either jumping from rock to rock in the stream or straddling the small canyon a few inches above. I liked this a lot better and I was a lot faster on the way back than I had been going in. We reached the end and let the Georgia Tech group go ahead of us. Then we ascended up and I was splattered in jungle mud. We were out of the cave fairly early and on the road at a reasonable hour, returning home for New Year's Eve.
Events occurred: December 28-30, 2012
Remember several posts ago when I mentioned how much I hated caving the first time? Well, that all changed completely after this vertical caving trip. I have since become addicted to caving, vertical in particular. I can't quite explain it and that's how I know that it's true love. I just have this instinctual feeling, like love at first rappel. My stomach fills with butterflies, I get a giddy look on my face, and I hear my heart racing. It's either love or adrenaline from fear, but I would like to think that it's love. I had already become a fan of vertical caving after doing it the first time and after the caving practices but once I discovered gear that actually fit my height perfectly, I became infatuated.
The first cave we went to wasn't exactly a cave. This beginner's vertical trip, composed of me, Terry, Nina, and Brian led by Mike (of course), started with Neversink, a large pit near Tumbling Rock. I had actually been there before, when I went on my first caving trip, but it had never even occurred to me that I could (and would) rappel into it. I'm not sure why exactly but it it took us a long time to set everything up. We realized that both our 150 and 180 foot ropes were too short so we had to go back to the car for the 300. I don't know how deep Neversink is and I've heard different things from various online sources, but I tell people that it's 220 feet, a completely made up figure that seems logical enough since it's between 180 and 300. I'm a horrible judge of distance however, so don't take my word for it. Neversink is really wide and open, a column with no horizontal caving below. Mike rappelled in first and took amazing pictures of all of us. There's a waterfall that runs into the cave but the water flow was light, more like drips than your typical falls. We took a few group shots at the bottom, walked around, and then ascended back up.
This ascent, for me in particular, was abysmal. I actually really hated it and by the time I had made it to the top, I was exhausted and my muscles were shaking. I was honestly close to tears and I could even hear it in my voice. I didn't know why it had been so painful. Then, the next day, I realized my issue: my foot loop was several inches too short and I couldn't get full extension. Thus, it took me twice as long to move and my legs wore out much more quickly.
After Neversink, we headed to Stephen's Gap. This cave was really cool, especially since it had both vertical and horizontal entrances. In other words, we could rappel in and then walk out rather than ascending out. After my Neversink experience, I was thrilled to avoid ascending. After Stephen's Gap, we stumbled upon a small cave along the trail, called Pipeside. I chose not to go, mostly because I feared the ascent, and so I stayed at the top and took a short nap. Terry used the gear that I had been using and he had a very difficult time with the short foot loop too. I was relieved that it hadn't been just me. That night, we went to a Pizza Hut and gorged ourselves on hot food, an excellent reward for a cold day of caving.
The next day, after a night of camping on Scottsboro Mountain, we headed toward Chattanooga and Signal Light, my favorite cave. Signal Light was it's usual glorious self. We diverged from the usual path at the beginning, heading right instead of left and finding ourselves at the base of Sketch Mountain, coming at it from the right instead of straight forward. We then realized our mistake and headed toward the formation room and the signature room. I was pleased to discover that my memory of the cave was in tact for the most part and I recognized a lot of different formations and landmarks, which have since become permanently engrained in my mind. For the ascent out, I used a longer, adjustable foot loop and ascended out with ease. It was reassuring to note that the foot loop had been the issue instead of me. I raced Brian and successfully beat him out the cave. On the way home, we stopped at Sugar's Ribs, a famous barbecue restaurant in Chattanooga. A disgusting amount of pulled pork was the perfect end to a tiring weekend of caving.
Events occurred: October 26-28, 2012
Until this trip, I actually had not repeated any OAR trips at all. Even then, this trip was much different from the first time I went to Whorley's Cave and Roan Mountain. For one, I did not think that I was going to freeze to death at any points. I went in an early car with Mike, Carolanne, and Mike's mom. We drove to Jacksonville, where Mike is also from, and picked up his mother. We also helped her pack, which was one of the funniest parts of the entire trip. She was horrified by the fact that we don't typically shower on OAR trips and insisted on packing shampoo regardless. Mike seemed irritated but I was entirely sympathetic and told her that I alway carry copious amounts of wet wipes, hand sanitizer, and deodorant. Once she was packed, we took off for North Carolina.
I must note the fantastic restaurant that we stopped at for dinner on the way up. Located in Columbia, South Carolina, it is called Spice Junction and it's an all-you-can-eat Indian buffet just off the interstate. The owners are extremely friendly, though they do frown upon wasting food and they will charge you for an extra plate if you waste too much. They bring fresh bread, called naan, to the table and the buffet itself is delicious. They also have this creamy mango sauce for you to pour over your dessert that is literally to die for. It is INCREDIBLE. Mike and I returned to Spice Junction over winter break and we were both so sad and disappointed that they were out of mango sauce that we discussed it at length during and after dinner. Spice Junction, don't forget it. The reviews on Urban Spoon speak for themselves. They also have a Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Spice-Junction/186180021450925. Google Spice Junction Columbia, SC right now and start planning your own trip there. It's worth it.
We were the first to arrive at Whorley's and I remembered exactly where it was after having been so lost the first time we went. We slept in the cave, which was very disorienting. Caves are just so dark and so quiet that it's hard to tell how much time has passed. People typically have crazy, vivid dreams and I was no exception. When everyone was waking up the next morning, I thought they were just getting there and I was annoyed that everyone was being so loud. Then, I poked my head out of my sleeping bag and realized that I was the only one still sleeping. I quickly packed and headed back to the car. Then we started caving. We didn't spend a lot of time in Whorley's because we got turned around and ended up skipping over half the scale. Regardless, it was an enjoyable experience once again and it was nice to arrive at Roan Mountain with a decent amount of daylight.
Part of the reason that I went in the early car was because we were doing a much shorter version of the hike, heading to the campsite and then turning around and coming back the same five or six miles the next morning. I was actually really excited because last time we had gone to Roan, it had been to dark to see the views atop the balds and to enjoy the first leg of scenery. We hiked as the sun was setting and didn't need our lights until after we had passed the first campsite. When we arrived, everyone was cooking on the fire and there were a ton of non-OAR people there. The shelter is an old barn with a second floor, where I slept. It offered decent protection from the wind though I was still somewhat cold during the night. It was Tara's birthday, so her mom was also on the trip and we all sat around the campfire singing happy birthday, loudly and off-key.
The next morning, we split from the main group and headed back to the car. The hike back was more difficult, with more uphill sections. We stayed mostly together although Mike was much faster. I enjoyed talking to Carolanne and Mike's mother along the way and it was interesting to gain her perspective of the trip. She definitely liked the hiking and I think she also appreciated the opportunity to bond with her son, who, like me, is constantly out of town on similar trips. The trail was also beautiful, with gorgeous views of the surrounding mountains. All the leaves were changing across the mountains, vivid colors of orange, red, yellow, and brown exploding all around me. When we got back to the car, however, I realized that I had two giant, quarter-sized (or bigger) blisters, one on each heel. My hiking boots weren't fully broken in and such a lengthy hike tore my feet apart. Luckily, I didn't notice the pain until I took my shoes off and I had extra shoes waiting for me in the car. I have since learned to wrap my ankles and heels in ace bandages before longer hikes, though I think the boots are pretty well-worn at this point.
Events occurred: October 19-21, 2012
After having spent over a month away from Florida between DC, Greece, and Boston, I decided I was in desperate need of another OAR trip. Who really wants to stay in Florida anyway, especially when there are caves and waterfalls elsewhere? Mike and I were both in Jacksonville, so we carpooled and met up with everyone at a Walmart in Lake City. The plan was to leave my car there and hop into the other cars. However, Nina's engine caught fire or something (I know less than nothing about cars), so we had to take mine. I was ok with this until we reached the campsite. It was down an old wagon road not intended for normal cars. It bottomed out at least six times, even when I let Nina drive. Still, the cave was really cool. I still prefer vertical but horizontal has its merits as well. In this cave, there was a room with a bunch of little lakes and puddles, divided by formations. It was here that either 1) Mike was clumsy and fell in of his own accord or 2) Nina pushed him into the water. No one will ever know the truth since they were the only two witnesses and they vehemently defend their own view of the situation. I tend to encourage the rumor that Nina pushed Mike because it is funny to watch him get so indignant about it. After going to that cave, we all changed and hung our dirty clothes in trees. We went to another cave with a waterfall. I made the mistake of trusting Jeff and wore flip flops. It was manageable but I moved very slowly. That night, we decided to go for a swim in a nearby natural spring. We spent at least an hour roaming through someone's pastures, fields, and forests in search of the spring until a random dog led us there. A bunch of people jumped in, claiming it was way too cold as soon as they surfaced. I'm not one to admit defeat, so I acted like it was no big deal and jumped in. As soon as I hit the water, I was certain that my body was revolting and I thought I might have collapsed a lung or stopped my heart. Yet when I emerged, I sputtered out that it wasn't so bad and swam to shore as quickly as possible. Pride is something I clutch on to very tightly, even when I'm being an idiot.
The next day, we set off for De Soto Falls. This was another instance where I regretted having my car. Even though I swear I wasn't even speeding by more than five miles per hour or so, I got my first ever speeding ticket. It claimed I was going 73 in a 55, which definitely isn't true. Either way, that $154 combined with the $350 bill from my mechanic post trip made me really regret taking my car. At least De Soto was worth it (sort of). We set up a rappel over the water that stopped in midair about 20 feet up. The thought of rappelling of the end of my rope terrified me. Everything I had learned up to that point about rappelling and safety highlighted staying ON the rope ALWAYS. Once again, I let some idiots talk me into risking my life. After they had all done it, of course. It was AWESOME. The only part I didn't like was swimming with my harness and gear still on but it was worth it. The climb back up to the top was also a lot of fun, climbing rocks and scrambling almost the whole way.
Events occurred: July 20-22, 2012
Unfortunately, when Jeff left for Africa in March, so did most of the OAR trips. We threw several parties and potlucks in March as he and Frank were both leaving. Frank defended his dissertation, earned his PhD, and moved to Indiana to be with his fiancee, Kerry. I amped up my participation with GASA, the Greek American Student Association, and their dance troupe. At the end of the semester, I returned to Boston for a week as a surprise for Kathryn, who was finished with finals by May 8th but stuck up in Massachusetts until the 26th for crew. I was itching for an OAR trip. That's when I got an email from Mike about vertical caving practice before an OAR meeting.
Mike, who is actually Chris's brother, was an active member of OAR long before I joined. However, the entire time I had been active up until this point, he had been in Patagonia, Chile. So, I had never known him in the context of UF or OAR, but rather in the context of being Christopher's older brother. Even though it was summer and I was in Jacksonville instead of Gainesville, I decided that I would go. I felt the need for a crazy OAR activity and I had missed going to meetings. I drove down and Mike taught a small group of us how to use vertical gear. I had actually been to vertical practice in early November of 2011. However, vertical trips were rare and I barely remembered what all the gear was called, much less how it worked. I picked it up somewhat easily and performed several changeovers in the course of an hour. At the meeting, Mike announced that he was going to lead a vertical caving trip that weekend. I thought at the time that while it sounded cool, I probably wouldn't go because I had just learned what I was doing and wasn't ready yet. However, as I was driving back to Jacksonville, I thought about how few vertical trips there had been since I joined the club (none) and decided that now was better than never. I emailed Mike that I wanted to go and next thing I knew, I had signed up for my first vertical caving trip.
Since I was leaving from Jacksonville and Chris decided that he wanted to go as well, we carpooled down to Gainesville to pick up Mike. It ended up being just the three of us driving up from Gainesville. We met up with a past OAR member, Cat, who lived in Atlanta. She let us stay at her place Friday night so we didn't have to pay for camping. Then, she and her boyfriend, Alex, drove us to a random gas station and fireworks store outside of Chattanooga. I didn't know what to think. The only caves I had been to at this point were in people's backyards. This one was on the other side of some railroad tracks from Big Daddy's Fireworks. A fireworks store that sells beer and gas seemed like a bad combination to me, but I guess I was the only one with reservations. We hiked up a little ways to a pit in the ground, called Signal Light. It looked like nothing to me. Mike started rigging up gear and my nerves took a turn for the worse. I was pleased that he sent Chris down first, since Chris had more experience than me.
As I stood over the edge, I felt my grip on the rope tighten. Mike asked me if I was afraid of heights, to which I honestly replied "yes." I think he could tell that I was shaking and nervous, even though this was just another rappel. Once I got over the edge and felt my weight on the rope, I became much more comfortable. I slid down with ease, but I burned my hand on the rope. The rappel device used for vertical caving allowed me to go as quickly or slowly as I wanted but all the friction on the rope caused it to heat up a lot. When I reached the bottom, I looked up and yelled "off rope!", gazing in awe at the Texas-shaped hole I had just rappelled through. Once Mike got down, we started exploring.
To this day, Signal Light is still my favorite cave. There is a large formation room with a lot of giant stalactites and stalagmites as well as cool folds in the wall. Also, there is a room covered in names and dates, stretching back to the 1860's when Civil War deserters would hide out in caves. We also came upon a large mountain of mud, which we named "Sketch Mountain." In retrospect, especially since returning to Signal Light, I cannot believe I let those two talk me into climbing it. The mountain was coated in thick, slippery mud but this was not the scariest part. No, the most frightening aspect of Sketch Mountain was at the bottom: if you fall or want to get down, there is a small platform to land on with pits on either side. Seems safe, right? I was fine going up Sketch Mountain but going down was a different story. When we got to the top, we explored some and found another drop. Mike set up a rope and decided to explore but found nothing and came back up quickly. Headed down Sketch Mountain, Mike set up a piece of webbing for me to hold on to. I lowered myself with some ease but Chris had to coax me at the end. The two pits and the platform to land on were out of my sight and I didn't trust myself not to fall. I eventually made it all the way down but it took a lot of convincing from both brothers and my own brain.
Ascending out of Signal Light took Mike virtually no time. When it was my turn, however, it took upwards of 20 minutes. I later discovered that my foot loop had been too short so I couldn't get full height. Still, I felt guilty about taking so long and apologized as I finally reached the top of the 90 foot drop. Coated in mud, we waited in the parking lot for Cat. She and Alex had gone white water rafting but they planned on joining us for dinner, camping, and caving the next day. We went to South Pittsburgh, Tennessee the next morning for more caving. However, we had a limited amount of time and a limited amount of gear. I knew that I would hold everyone back, so I chose to stay at the top instead. I ended up taking a long nap in the sun and they were only in the cave for a few hours, rather than all day. I regret this now, especially after having seen pictures, but I'll return one day when I have more time. Something about vertical caving has made it my favorite OAR activity. I'm not sure if it's the rappelling aspect, the danger, or the small group size (which I always prefer), but it's most likely a combination of the three.
Events occurred: May 31-June 3, 2012
Despite initially hating caving, I found myself signed up for another caving trip the following weekend. UF had a three day weekend for Homecoming, so this trip was packed full of activities. The first day we spent caving at Whorley's Cave, the second day we backpacked Roan Mountain, and the third day we went on a day hike to Grayson Highlands. This trip has by far been one of the best OAR trips I have ever been on. There was a perfect number of people (10) and I am still really close to most of them.
Everyone on this trip was athletic and on about the same level, although Jeff has his own special category of "robot," which I learned the first night. The most difficult part of Whorley's Cave was finding it. We drove around searching until about 6:45 AM, when we pulled over into a church parking lot. Half of us camped under the car port and the rest of us (including me) slept in the cars. I woke up to a police officer knocking on my window and I was sure that I was at least going to get a ticket. Apparently our driving and turning around in resident's driveways had alarmed the locals but once I assured the officer that we weren't vagrants but were college students looking for a cave, he wished us luck and left us alone. Enter Robot Jeff. He woke me up around 8:30 and was ready to go. He had located the cave and wanted to get started immediately, running on less than two hours of sleep. I thought he was kidding but I was mistaken.
Whorley's isn't necessarily any better than most caves but I had such a great experience with that particular group that I decided caving deserved a second chance. Unlike Tumbling Rock, Jeff was not very familiar with Whorley's, so we moved around at a more reasonable pace and we all got to explore different passages and squeezes. My favorite part was sliding down the mud, which I was coated in by the time we left.
That afternoon, we drove to Pisgah National Forest, right on the border of Tennessee and North Carolina, to backpack Roan Mountain. As we drove, a cloud descended upon us and everything grew darker and colder. I put on all of my layers, including a blanket that had been in my car that I had sworn I wouldn't take hiking. Despite all the layers I was wearing, I did not warm up during the four/five mile hike to the campsite. It was dark and we were hiking through a cloud. Everything was cold and wet, the ground was muddy and slippery. Though I didn't notice any, apparently it was snowing at the top. When we got to the campsite, the shelter was full. We set up two tents and crammed five people into a three-person tent. Dinner that night was anything we could heat up, no matter what it tasted like. Carolanne and I ate a particularly nasty can of mac-and-cheese just to feel the warmth sliding down our throats. Luckily, I had my sleeping pad on this trip. I had a synthetic sleeping bag, so I took a spot on the end. I was shaking the entire night and my teeth were chattering. At one point, I turned my head to Carolanne and sputtered out "so-o-o-o c-c-c-o-l-d."
The next morning, there was frost on my sleeping bag and everywhere else. Yet, it was beautiful and clear outside: perfect hiking weather. Roan Mountain is one of the most beautiful hikes on the Appalachian Trail. The scenery varies from large, open grassy balds to thick woods with mossy rocks and streams. We stopped a lot along the way to climb large boulders and even did shirtless yoga on top of one of the peaks. The weather was a dream: cold enough that the heat generated from our packs didn't overwhelm us and warm enough that we could be comfortable in short sleeves. The clear blue skies gave us access to scenery that was so pretty it seemed fake, as if someone had photoshopped it. We ate lunch on the rocks with breathtaking 360 views of surrounding mountains.
The hike was long but not particularly strenuous, mostly downhill with gradual uphills. We got to the end in the daylight and, as one of the drivers, I got the privilege of hitchhiking back to my car with Michael, the other driver. We were extremely lucky and got picked up almost immediately. Hikers often hitchhike along these roads so people in the area are accustom to giving rides. We got in three different cars and made it back to the rest of the group before nightfall. We then all went to dinner at the first restaurant we saw, a local cafe. Almost everyone ordered chili, grateful for hot food. That night, we opted against camping again. Bevin, one of the girls on the trip and the current OAR VP (since Frank graduated from his PhD program last spring), contacted the Logels, a family in North Carolina that many OAR members have befriended over the years. The Logels are the most welcoming of families, and they let us stay in their basement in a nearby town in North Carolina. The second oldest, who we all just call Logel for the most part, was college roommates with another current OAR member back in San Diego and is as much a member of OAR as I am. We spent some time with the entire family, having a basement jam session with their ukuleles and guitars.
The next morning, we woke up early and drive to Grayson Highlands, Virginia. Grayson is known for it's wild ponies. In the list serve email concerning this trip, Jeff described these ponies as "curious," a moniker we embraced, referring to them as "curious ponies" every time we discussed them. In addition to their curiosity, these ponies were also delightfully fat. They let us pet them and hug them with ease. The day hike in Grayson is about ten miles but part of the trail was flooded so we got a little creative on the way back. Again, the scenery varied a lot. There were a lot of really cool boulders that we climbed and also some gorgeous wild flowers. By the time we were a little over half way through the hike, I noticed a spot of blood on my heel. I knew better than to take off my shoes until we got to the car. My heel didn't hurt, but once the shoe came off, there were no guarantees. This ended up being a very wise decision. My entire heel was blistered and bloody, a large flap of skin dangling. Another sock sacrificed for the sake of OAR. Yet, I enjoyed the hike so much that I am actually planning my own trip to Grayson this upcoming April. Hopefully the ponies are still fat and curious.
Events occurred: November 3-6, 2011
The first time I went caving, I hated it. Ironically, I love it now and it has become one of my most frequent trip defaults. Tumbling Rock was just a poor first caving experience for me, not because anything went wrong but mostly due to my own peculiarities. Caves are extremely disorienting, particularly if you don't know what to expect. Though I've learned to distinguish formations and paths, the first time I went caving I thought everything looked the same and I was certain that I was going to get lost. The biggest problem with this trip was size. Caving is best in groups of three or four and this was a trip of at least 15. It's hard to keep a large group together and realizing that you don't know what path the leader has taken is terrifying. Even though I decided at the time that I would probably never go caving again (ha!), I still thought the experience was well worth it.
Like the foam armory I had brought to Mount Yonah, I came supplied with dollar section goods: glow sticks. My plan? A "cave rave" in which everyone turns off their headlamps and we wave glow sticks around in the darkness. I still keep at least one pack of glow sticks in my caving backpack, always prepared for another spontaneous cave rave. In retrospect, Tumbling Rock is probably an ok cave. When I went though, I thought parts of it were sketchy at best, climbing, crawling, and sliding around thick deposits of mud and rock. I also did not take well to the darkness, constantly yearning for sunlight and more visibility than my dim headlamp could provide. When we emerged, I was coated in mud and grateful for rays of sunshine. Cave mud is one of the most appealing aspects of caving to me. I always loved rolling around in mud as a little girl, much to my mother's chagrin, and I still love to play in it now. I was also amused by the cave's owner's cat, who ran around our campsite and even climbed into my jacket pocket at one point.
One of the most entertaining parts of this trip was the Rock Animal Zoo, located in someone's yard nearby. We climbed around on these giant boulders painted to the likeness of several different animals, including a chicken, cows, and a giraffe. Afterwards, we hiked up to Neversink, a large pit that I have since returned to and rappelled down into. At that point, however, I barely ventured close to the edge. I was so afraid that I would fall in that I clung to trees and tried to peek from a distance. Now, whenever I go to Neversink, I flit around the edge almost to a point of danger. It was beautiful, with a steady flow of water cascading into the darkness.
The next day, my car decided against going caving again. This was perfectly fine with me but one of the girls in our car ended up switching out with someone else who didn't want to cave again. Instead, we went hiking around Cloudland Canyon. The timing was PERFECT. The leaves were beginning to change and so we had the most incredible views of thick patches of green, yellow, orange, and red.
Events occurred: October 28-30, 2011
The Friday following vertical practice, Mike decided to lead an actual vertical caving trip. Rather than hitting up the same old caves, we decided to try something new. Armed with GPS coordinates, we headed toward the TAG caving area. We were unable to find our first cave that Friday night, so we camped in a random field and decided to try in the morning. After driving around for several hours, we parked off the side of the road and attempted hiking in. This was unsuccessful. We were met with a wall of thorns and had to tear through the jungle. We eventually found what appeared to be a trail, but no cave. We hunted all day and even discovered a new cave that had never been explored. Logel, Mike, and I dug out the entrance and Mike rappelled the 15 or so feet down. It was cool to have found a cave but it was very small.
To keep up the morale, we left the area and decided to go to Cemetery Pit, an old favorite. I had been there with Mike and Steph about nine months prior. Mike and I rigged the ropes and I was the first one down, stopping every so often to untangle the rope and toss it over ledges. We were only able to explore Cemetery for a few hours because we had gotten such a late start but it was worth it. We traversed a sketchy ledge about 50 or so feet from the ground and played around in some mud, which surprisingly dried quickly. We emerged around 11 PM or so, a repeat of my time with Mike and Steph sans snow, and headed to Huddle House, the only open restaurant for miles.
The next morning, we woke up to some cavers headed for Cemetery. We talked to them and discovered that they had been at Moses' Tomb the day before, the cave we had been searching for. We got directions and headed back to Alabama. We found it and after a short hike, we started rigging up ropes and gear. Since this particular pit was about 230 feet and had limited horizontal caving, we decided to stagger so that one person wasn't waiting at the bottom in the cold for four people to ascend. Mike went down first with his camera, followed by Logel and James. Then, Logel and James ascended up in tandem, meaning that they were both on the rope at the same time. They only simul-climbed for about 40 feet or so out of the 230. Then, Nina rappelled down and I followed shortly thereafter. As soon as I reached the bottom, Mike ascended out. Nina ascended out with him in tandem and I waited for him to get off before I hopped on. Despite it's length, the ascent seemed easier than the ascent for Cemetery, which is less than 200 feet. I was out fairly quickly with minimal problem. The only moment of panic I had was when the carabiner holding my chest harness snapped, but luckily it wasn't a big deal. I had an extra carabiner on my gear loop, so after a few seconds of fiddling around with the gear, I had resolved the problem and could continue ascending. Overall, an excellent day.
