John Cooper was an accomplished writer and long-time editor of the Baltimore
Grotto NEWS in the late 50’s and 60’s. His trip reports were always
entertaining and his spoofs of other grotto newsletters were memorable. John
and I shared a number of interesting caving experiences when he visited the
West.
In the summer of 1963 I found myself working as a Ranger-Naturalist in Yosemite
National Park and John was taking some summer courses in San Francisco. We
wanted to see some of the better California caves, but the recent publication
of Bill Halliday’s CAVES OF CALIFORNIA caused local caves to be very leary of
“foreign” (Eastern) cavers. We could not find anyone willing to disclose
locations to us, no matter our caving credentials.
John’s effusive bullshit snowed a young California caver named Dan Smith, who
agreed to take us to The Cave of the Winding Stair out in the Mojave Desert.
Dan showed up with two neophyte cavers, Mike MacEachern and Ron Ralph, who had
never done any vertical caving.
And so began a classic caving trip written up in grand Cooperian Style in the
Baltamore Grotto NEWS. Next time you are with Ron, you might ask him to tell
his version of the trip.
DirtDoc
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