Thank you James. Just a side note on the safety issue- I felt particularly safe and slept very well, nightmare free even, because I was secure in the belief that my ex-husband would not show up there to murder me, which was a very real fear during that time. The fact that no one knew where I was another layer of protection; indeed a safety feature.
________________________________ From: James Jasek <caver...@hot.rr.com> To: "vivb...@att.net" <vivb...@att.net> Cc: Cavetex <texascavers@texascavers.com> Sent: Sunday, September 15, 2013 11:13 AM Subject: Re: [Texascavers] Solo Thank you for your solo caving experience. You are only the third person to admit to actually doing a solo trip. Sounds like it was a memorable experience :) Most cavers seem to condemn solo caving, rightfully so, but I feel there is more solo caving going on than cavers admit to. I feel a solo trip has a lot to do with the cave and the desire to be underground than a disregard for safety Thank you Jim Sent from my iPhone On Sep 15, 2013, at 1:03 AM, vivb...@att.net wrote: My most memorable solo trip was probably the time I decided to go seek myself after my first painful nightmare enducing divorce. It must have been 1993 or so. Summertime in central California. I don't remember everything I had in my backpack. But I felt it was suitable for my planned overnight dry camp in a fairly small horizontal cave I knew, which was a 3 hr drive and a fairly steep 1/2 hr/1 hr hike from home. I do remember that I had a bit too much Jack Daniels in that pack. I probably also had my walkman and some tapes. > A Hershey's with Almonds was in there. That was what introduced me to the >wonderful mouse friend I made that night. He woke me up with his munching by >my head. When I shined my headlamp to see who could possibly be making that >much noise, he just looked at me and kept on munching. He let me pet him while >I let him selectively eat out the almonds. > I did a lot of staring deep into the dark that night. and listening to >the very rare drip in an alcove. I didn't even start hitting the Jack until >the next morning. Then I fell asleep in the sun at the entrance. > I think the Indigo Girls put it well- "I woke up with a headache like my >head against a board. Twice as cloudy as I'd been the night before, when I >went in seeking clarity". It was a hot hike out in the middle of the >afternoon. Whew. > I don't remember telling anyone where I went. It was fine. It was a >humbling, beautiful, learning experience. It was only disappointing in that I >found neither going passage, nor the meaning of life. For that I had to go to >Monte Python. > > >-Vivian Loftin > > > > > > >________________________________ > From: "bmorgan...@aol.com" <bmorgan...@aol.com> >To: texascavers@texascavers.com >Sent: Saturday, September 14, 2013 6:43 AM >Subject: [Texascavers] Solo > > > >"So, how is solo caving different from solo trail running, solo hiking, or solo driving on rural roads." > >It isn't. The truth is that one dark passage much resembles another and the additional impediment of ropes and such makes it more trouble than it is worth when the glorious outdoors beckons. There are dangers out there too, almost as many as in a cave. Just as many places to break your leg plus farmers with shotguns, none of which stops me from trespassing solo at every possible opportunity. There is absolutely no way anybody is going to find me if I'm out exploring previously unexplored jungle when I don't even know which way I going to go myself. I was reminded of that the time when I was alone in the trackless jungle of Belize some thirty miles from the nearest road when a travertine shelf broke causing me to fall into a pit. It was a scary moment but I climbed out with no difficulty. From this I concluded that I simply needed to be more careful. Ditto for the time on the same trip when I found myself eye to eye with a huge tommygoff. > >Some people are goal oriented, on a given day they go to a specific place, tell people where they are going and when they are expected to return. That's not my style, I just like to explore whether above or below ground, and exploring means going where you have never been before. There is inherent danger in that, but I also find it to be safer in that going solo sharpens one's perception and causes one to move more slowly and carefully. Despite any such danger there is nothing on or under the earth that I like better than sneaking around by myself! > >Sleazeweazel > >
