Vertical Caving, Exploration, and Expectations

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

Alden King, Professor of Changeovers

Our first vertical caving practice of the semester was extremely well attended. When I arrived, a little before it was supposed to start, there were already at least 10 people there. I had hoped to be early enough to practice a changeover without watchful eyes but I had no such luck. Mike threw the bag of harnesses at me and told me to start teaching while he finished setting up the ropes. I was under the influence of a trenta iced coffee from Starbucks and I was extremely jittery, struggling to get my caving harness on with shaking hands. I'm sure I looked very trustworthy. As I was pulling my harness on, I was explaining the various pieces of caving gear to a group of anxious novices. 

Once Mike had the ropes up, he took a small group of late arrivals over to explain gear while I shuffled the rest toward the rope and performed a changeover for them. Though I can explain them conceptually, I found it difficult to narrate while I was doing it myself. It took a while but I eventually got it and then started instructing the new people on the ropes. Some of them struggled, some of them figured it out instantaneously but overall, everyone got it eventually. It was fun to try my hand at teaching and I think it really engrained the information in my head. After three hours of practice, I felt pretty satisfied as I sat on the ground and coiled up the ropes for another day. 

Events occurred: September 11, 2013

Paddling In The Darkness

Mike and I met at the Gear Shed once again, just before 5:30. We threw two paddles and two pfds in the back of his Forester, then loaded a canoe on his surf racks. We arrived at a put in about two thirds of the way down the path Nelson had outlined on the website. There weren't any other cars there but we made sure they had overnight parking. We piled into the canoe with a tent, our sleeping bags and pads, food and water, and a machete. We kept running through possible scenarios of our interaction with the rest of the trip when we caught up: have me run through the woods in the dark screaming while Mike chases me with the machete, use our southern redneck accents and enact a dialogue in which I try to convince Cletus (Mike) to leave them nice kids alone this time since Bertha (me) wasn't gonna clean up the mess this time, etc... We paddled through the darkness until we came upon a decent campground area after 11 PM and decided we would try again in the morning. We also kept talking about various what-ifs, such as the canoe breaking, since no one knew where we were.

So, Mike and I settled on our campground and set up the tent. We pulled all of our gear out of the canoe and then he tied it off to a nearby tree. The mosquitos were vicious, so I ducked into the tent almost immediately. Rather than bringing my thick down sleeping bag, I opted for my fleece liner and this was an excellent choice. The next morning, Mike's alarm started going off and he just kept hitting the snooze button, over and over. Eventually, we decided to give in and wake up. We broke down the tent and everything, packing up with the intention of heading farther upstream. At this point, I was extremely sore. We had paddle some 7 or 8 miles upstream the night before. We headed upstream again, trying to hunt them down. We came upon a boat ramp about a mile or two up river and pulled over. I stayed in the boat to watch the shore while Mike checked out the campground. No luck, so we got back in the boat. We kept paddling upstream, stopping a few times and tying off to a tree on the shore, waiting for them to emerge. We, again, had no luck. So we decided to go back downstream toward the car. 

Our paddling efforts virtually died off and we let the current carry us for a lot of the way back. We spotted tons of turtles and birds, a baby alligator, a not-so-baby alligator, and Mike saw a river otter (I missed it). Mike kept standing up to paddle rather than sitting. It looked really funny, especially since he was wearing his straw hat and his long sleeved shirt. As we approached Honey Isle campground, we heard tons of voices and got hopeful. Alas, it was just a bunch of local Floridians (five or more powerboats) jumping off of the rope swings and blasting country music. Suffice to say we paddled away as quickly as possible. Several powerboats drove past us, some slowing and others choosing not to do so.

We made it back to the car and loaded everything up, unsuccessful in our endeavor. We then decided to do some off roading in the Forester with the canoe on top. It was so much fun, especially because we were on roads with giant bumps and puddles. We did that for over an hour and then headed back to Gainesville. We had gone to the take out at Cypress, where we thought Nelson was headed but there were no signs of the trailer or any cars. We assumed they had beat us out but when we returned to the gear shed, the canoes still weren't back. It was strange indeed.

Events occurred: September 7-8, 2013

Oversleeping and Lake Wauburg

The following weekend I was signed up for yet another paddling trip, leaving Saturday at 8 AM and returning Sunday evening. Since I had no class on Friday, I spent the day in Jacksonville with my family. As I was driving back, Mike texted me to hang out and we ended up staying out until past 3 AM. Suffice to say, neither one of us made it for the 8 AM departure time. We decided to meet up at the Gear Shed at 11, grab a canoe, and catch up with the crowd. When we arrived at the Gear Shed however, we were both too exhausted to even fathom paddling. So, we each returned to our respective homes and wasted the day away.

I decided to go to Lake Wauburg to meet up with my friend Angela, who I hadn't seen since the previous April. We sat on the shore, talking and soaking up the sun for a few hours. Then, I went swimming at Lake Wauburg for the first time ever. Well, the first time ever intentionally, since I have fallen off of countless sailboats. The water was warm and murky but I didn't care. I was grateful that my day hadn't gone entirely to waste. Around 4:30 or so, I received a text from Mike about the paddling trip. He knew some coordinates for a put in on the Ocklawaha River, so we could try going upstream and intercepting them. I promptly left Wauburg and headed home to pack, with no idea what I was getting in to.

Events occurred: September 7, 2013

Day Paddle On The Suwannee

After the off roading adventure, I decided to take a break and spend some time in Jacksonville with my family. The following day, however, was Labor Day and thus it was school-free. So, the same band of merry idiots from the off roading trip decided to go out for a day paddle on the Suwannee River, anticipating horrible weather and general misery. 







Never before have I experienced such great weather for a paddling trip. We explored an old bridge covered in graffiti for a bit, then hopped in one canoe. Yes, all five of us were in one canoe. It was a tight squeeze and the boat barely cleared the water but we made it. We paddle upstream for a while, stopping off at some sand bluffs to swim. Then, we found a beach and stopped off for lunch. I had brought my inflatable shark and an inner tube. I blew them up, which took forever, and then we swam around with them. Mike, Logel, and Chelsea tried to escape with the boat and the shark but I grabbed the inner tube and dove in after them. Kelsey was right behind me. I caught up to the boat and flung myself over the side of the boat. We tied the inflatable shark off the back of the canoe with some paracord and Kelsey rode the shark most of the way back. We all relaxed, letting the current pull us. Then, we spotted the dark thunderclouds that we had anticipated and started to paddle toward shore, packing up the canoe and gear right as the rain started up. We made it out of there just in time.


That night, after a shower and sunburn assessment (I was disappointingly still pale), I headed over to Mike's apartment sans Kelsey. She supposedly had homework to do. Excuses, excuses. Mike and I played Halo on the XBox for about an hour when Logel showed up and took over for me. It was fun but I was pretty terrible at it. Chelsea soon joined and the two of us playing Halo was a disaster. We died every 10 seconds or so, getting lost and confused along the way. It was still a lot of fun but not my forte. 

Events occurred: September 2, 2013

Off Roading Becomes Boating

Rather than going on the trip to North Carolina that weekend, Mike, Kelsey, Chelsea, Logel and I decided to stay in town and embark on Florida-inspired adventures. We started off the weekend with a few rounds of foosball and XBox at Mike's apartment. I have since learned that I am terrible at both of these games. I can only play defense in foosball and even that is rather weak. I got really into the XBox zombie game we were playing but I also got injured and died a lot. It was still a blast (though kind of graphic).

The next morning, we met up at Logel's to go off roading in the Ocala National Forest. Apparently there are a bunch of jeep trails and Logel has a jeep. We drove around in the forest for a while before trying to cross a big puddle and getting stuck. Logel kept trying to get his jeep out but his tires were spinning, digging a deeper and deeper hole. Mike and I were both on the right side, where the wheels were digging in, and e both started to notice water coming through the door. Soon, we were up to our ankles in muddy swamp water. I tried to grab my belongings (a purse and backpack) but only managed to grab the purse. I also could only find one of my shoes, so I left them for dead and we all climbed out of Mike's window. I was barefoot, wet, dirty, and carrying an expensive leather purse. I was a walking contradiction. We all ate some lunch and then ventured toward cell service and civilization, my bare feet artfully stepping through pine needles and grass.

We happened upon a nearby farm and tried to get help. An older woman answered and let us into her home, offering water and a phone. We had already called AAA but the problem was that we were off the road. The woman called the owners of he farm in hopes that we could access our car more easily but no such luck. We finally started walking up the road, debating whether or not to hitchhike to Gainesville and hoping AAA would be able to help us.

Soon thereafter, a redneck in a huge SUV pulled up with his girlfriend, asking if we were waiting on AAA and stating he was there to save us. We hopped in the backseat and it didn't occur to me until later that he had actually been sent by AAA. We led him about two miles into the forest and he set up chains on Logel's jeep. Luckily for us, the jeep started up despite being submerged in water. We were able to get it out and headed toward Gainesville, bailing out all of the water and sitting in it for the ride home. 

Events Occurred: August 30-31, 2013

Shotgun Hole? Who Said That?

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.