One of the things I was looking forward to on my summer vacation was getting some rest and sleep. However, I had forgotten how exhausting a convention is. There was so much caving going on at this convention that getting rest didn't seem to be on anybody's agenda.
For example, the cavers camped next to me had invited me to go to "River Cave" and "Clifty Cave," which are reported to be 2 of Indiana's funnest caves. However, I had to turn them down because I had already planned on doing other things. However, I had planned on caving with them all day on Thursday. They were going to a well known place called "Caves of the River Valley," which was about an hour north of the convention. Caves of the River Valley is a "very special place." It is apparently owned by one man. I don't know if he likes caves, but he allows caving on the property year round for a $ 5 daily entrance fee to his property. I can't list all the caves there but we did 3 of the easy caves on the property in one afternoon - Flowstone Cave, Frozen Waterfall Cave & Lamplighter's. The 1st cave was Flowstone Cave. It was mainly one stream passage that had some walking passage and some crawling. The water was ankle deep in a most places, and occasionally was almost knee deep. Again, my large Swago caving pack was too much too carry into this cave. And to make matters worse, I didn't rap the closure enough and the entire pack filled with water, which soaked all my gear causing the pack to weigh a whole lot. Then it was like dragging a sack of bricks the rest of the trip. The next cave Frozen Waterfall Cave was just a short walk away. I would say that this was a beginner cave as long as the person had the proper clothing and was with an experienced caver. The entrance can be climbed without a handline, however, if you did and were to slip and fall you could break several bones. This cave was not for fat people as in some places you are walking thru a 12 inch wide passage. Near the back, the passage seemed to be getting narrower and smaller, so I turned around at least a hundred feet before the rest of my group did. This cave had one or 2 nice big formations and some crawling. The 3rd and final cave of my Indiana caving was Lamplighter's. Lamplighter's Cave is a thru trip. I am guessing it was a mile of stream passage. Most of the cave, I would say is ok for a beginer to go into. There is a crawl that I would call the death crawl - a good place to initiate someone into Indiana Caving. It is not a long crawl. It is not a tight crawl, but does require getting down on your stomach. But it is a cold wet crawl over sharp rocks the whole way ( I didn't have knee pads, just the extra layer sewn into my nylon overalls ). I would say proper gear in this crawlway is a must. I had gloves that were part neoprene part nylon and that did not seem to be enough. My booties were a similar material. I highly recommend lace-up rubber boots for these trips, especially in Lamplighter's. ( and we were there in low water ). The thing that intimidated me the most was the entrance to Lamplighters. It was a squeeze for me that involved bending my body awkwardly. Had it been in the cave, I would have had to turn around. I probably would have not done it, but the trip leader appeared to be fatter than me, although I weighed 30 pounds more than him. And since it was a thru trip, I was hoping I wouldn't have to go back up it which appeared to be even worse than going down it. Upon exiting, we landed in some guys front yard. He was nice and had allowed us to park an extra car in his driveway. We were all wet and had to climb under his electric fence. As we were driving away, he greeted us and told us he had a new cave on the other side of the house that had just opened up. He said only one group had been in it. They told him they mapped it and that it tied back into Lamplighter's. He told us to come back soon. I would not do Lamplighter's again, but I would recommend it because thru trips are uniquely fun. Well, that was all the wild caving I did in Indiana, 6 caves in all during the convention. The only ones I want to go back to are Middle Cave and Waterfall Cave, and that is only because we turned around in walking size passage, and I would like to see the rest of the cave. I spent the rest of the afternoon driving the back roads around southern Washington County. I found an interesting old house in the middle of nowhere. I stopped suddenly to take a look at it, not realizing there was a redneck in a big truck right on my bumper. Fortunately, he was able to stop before he hit me. As I was driving south towards camp, I could see a dark storm with lightning in the general area of the convention campground. I realized my stuff must be soaked as I did not have my rainfly on my tent. I went to the NSS Salon, and learned there like everybody else did that the campground was a huge mess. I enjoyed the photo salon. The caver that took me to "Eric's River Cave," - Mr. Chris Schlotter, had a few photos there and he won a merit award. Mr. Dave Black had a few photos. He is the guy on the convention DVD that talks with a thick Indiana accent. Keith and Lisa of the Terminal siphons had some special acoustic music arranged for the Photo Salon. I believe Texas Caver musician - Dale Barnard, was listed on the credits. I spent Thursday night very late trying to put my camp back together. One of my aluminum Kelty Tarp poles snapped. ( That was $ 33.00 ) Everything was soaked. But I did sleep in my tent that night, although it wasn't much fun. I heard that about 20 cavers accepted the hospitality of the Red Cross which set up cots in the gymnasium across the street. Friday, the last day of the convention, was the only day at the convention that I did not have fun. I didn't do a single productive thing. It seemed to be a depressing day. I don't recall being able to dry my gear as the weather was cloudy and I think it rained some more. A few people appeared to be packing up early and heading home. Everybody was trying to put their camps back together. But a lot of people left to go caving, including my neighbor's who caved every day at the convention. In the afternoon, I went to the banquet, but didn't stay long. The food this year was German. Personally, I did not like it. I think there were some sound problems at the banquet. There was some sort of echo problem due to the large number of people in the mines. [ The mine was a large limestone mine. The mine is very extensive and is big enough to drive very large industrial trucks thru it. I don't know if they are still mining, as the facility has been turned into a warehouse to store emergency food supplies and other stuff. It was cold, almost like being in a refrigerator. And there was some kind of mildew odor. How could such an extensive mine not hit a cave? I believe everybody thought the mine tunnels were interesting. I am guessing they were 30 feet high and 50 feet wide. They banquet and photo salon were held in a tunnel that was 100 yards long and 100 feet wide. ] After leaving the banquet, I went to Marengo's only tavern to taste the local culture. Although that was boring, their business would have done well, if they were operating it near where I live. Friday night, I socialized with as many cavers as I could and then hit the sack. Groad Hollow was one of the more active camp-fires that night. Terry Tracey was there. When I woke up Saturday morning there were few cavers around. I believe I saw Mark Minton and Yvonne Droms wave good-bye as they drove off. Packing up all the wet muddy gear was not any fun at all. I had about 180 pounds worth of gear. I still have 36 hours left to try to see southern Indiana and some commercial caves. And the weather Saturday was spectacular. 2B continued ... David Locklear --------------------------------------------------------------------- Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com
