Caving
Sharps
vertcaver1: Wow What a trip! We decided to take the kids on a trip to Sharps. Maddie, my daughter age 6 and Jimmys daughter Sierra age 10. Danny R. was with us and Jimmy S. also Jimmys son JD 21. It was Madddies 2nd cave trip, Sierras 3rd and JD's 1st. We shuttled the kids into the entrance and continued into the first room. We checked out the leopard print ceiling and went on to Halloween Hall. We took a short break here and ran into several other cavers. One fellow Alan was with a cave rescue team in the area doing a recreational trip with his relatives. Kool dude.. very friendly. We left Halloween Hall and continued to Mud City, Hollywood, mud henge, whatever ya wanna call it! Here we took several pics. anfd the kids played we ate and drank and headed to blackfish jct. Well on the way there we got Shall I say a little lost. JD was in the lead....(remember this is his first time in a cave)I and the other guys were tending to the kids, so we weren't paying much attention to where we were at. Near J18 and the formation room on the left is where I had had enough. The terrain was getting sketchy for the kids and I wasnt sure of where we were at....lack of paying attention on my part.(I've been in Sharps 15 times leading half)it was one of those times that shit just didn't feel right. I tried not to be an ass...and said" Whoever has the map needs to be in the lead the kids need to be in the middle." After a moment of silence we returned to mud city. On the way there we realized that at one point we were on the right track. Staying low and right by the formation room. We reached mud city and went to the waterfall from there. What a massive amount of water. Took some pics and headed out. What I've learned from this trip. Organization!!! It's ok to cave by the seat of your pants and and explore hardcore when you're with a group of experienced cavers. (this is how we usually roll!) But when there is kids and new cavers involved. Our time outside the cave explaining conservation and the "rules of Caving" We should pick a leader and decide on a line up goin through the cave and make sure everybody understands and accepts this. It was a lesson learned and a fairly good trip. Looking forward to an Explore Hardcore trip to Windy Run next weekend. Whitetrash Cavers unite!!!!!!!!
pinkys pit excursion
vertcaver1: We planned to go to Bowden this trip, but changed plans in the parking area @ Bowden. We wanted to do something Vertical. Keith got a new GPS so we decided to try it out go find Pinkys pit. After hours of hiking and treacherous stream crossings we found a pit. a small 20' er. This was not pinkys. JP rapped in and frogged out while Keith and I waited outside. Dead bottom pit. There were three more caves within 30' of eachother on this hillside, we checked them all. one worth mention, not sure of the name. A 50' pit with a pool @ the bottom dead bottom. I rapped in first, saw the pool @ the bottom and waited on a ledge accross from a narrow canyon passage. JP came down next, and went on down just above the pool changed over on rope and ascended back up and out. I exited and we headed back out, never to find Pinkys. @ the car we looked @ the topo and realized we were only a few meters from Pinkys. I think next time we will have a little more knowledge on the GPS and bring the topo and a compasss just in case!
Tumbling Rock