Spur-of-the-moment caving trip
Friday afternoon, just before I left work for the day, a friend at work stopped by my cubicle asking if she could borrow my hard hat. Turns out she and her husband were going caving with another couple on Saturday. Two couples who had also been planning to go had backed out of the trip at the last minute, so there was actually room on the trip for a couple more, and did rfunk and I want to go?
I have been caving a couple of times before, once in college and once in graduate school (in a cave in the Bahamas, through water that was nice and warm) and I was excited to try it again. rfunk was slightly hesitant, but was game as well.
We met my friend and her husband at their house early Saturday morning, and rode with them 3 hours down to Carter Cave State Park in Kentucky. The cave trip we were scheduled to go on is part of Crawlathon, a big caving weekend held annually at the park. Dozens of caving trips are held over the course of the weekend. We were signed up for a tour called "Geomorphology Gone Wild".
Before descending into the earth with our guide, we lunched at the park's cafeteria. As the dishes were basically either meat or carbs (even the vegetable soup contained bacon), I filled up on major carbs. I had a small salad, mac and cheese, and tater tots. I don't think I've had that meal since I was 12!
Then it was back to the car to suit up: hard hat with a head lamp (purchased for $10 at Target), flash light, long johns and extra layers of clothing (well, I was already wearing those), nylon jacket, knee pads, and old work boots.
Our guide was a combination geologist and stand-up comic wanna-be. He did stress safety, which was good because of the number of boy scouts present on the tour. As we went through the cave complex, he stopped at various points to give lectures on the formation of caves. It was a nice review for me, as I haven't thought about caves since college, and I was glad that rfunk got a nice little geology lecture as well.
But unfortunately, all the lecturing left less time for actual cave walking/crawling. We did go through some tight spaces, and waded through some seriously cold waist-deep water, but the entire trip seemed fairly short.
That didn't mean we weren't happy to get hot showers at the hotel afterward. We finished off the evening with pizza and several games of Cranium with the two other couples in our group.
Sunday morning we drove back to Ohio.
I swear, spur-of-the-moment adventures are the best kind. It was a really fun weekend. If my friend goes next year I will definitely ask to tag along.
rfunk's take on the weekend is here.
I have been caving a couple of times before, once in college and once in graduate school (in a cave in the Bahamas, through water that was nice and warm) and I was excited to try it again. rfunk was slightly hesitant, but was game as well.
We met my friend and her husband at their house early Saturday morning, and rode with them 3 hours down to Carter Cave State Park in Kentucky. The cave trip we were scheduled to go on is part of Crawlathon, a big caving weekend held annually at the park. Dozens of caving trips are held over the course of the weekend. We were signed up for a tour called "Geomorphology Gone Wild".
Before descending into the earth with our guide, we lunched at the park's cafeteria. As the dishes were basically either meat or carbs (even the vegetable soup contained bacon), I filled up on major carbs. I had a small salad, mac and cheese, and tater tots. I don't think I've had that meal since I was 12!
Then it was back to the car to suit up: hard hat with a head lamp (purchased for $10 at Target), flash light, long johns and extra layers of clothing (well, I was already wearing those), nylon jacket, knee pads, and old work boots.
Our guide was a combination geologist and stand-up comic wanna-be. He did stress safety, which was good because of the number of boy scouts present on the tour. As we went through the cave complex, he stopped at various points to give lectures on the formation of caves. It was a nice review for me, as I haven't thought about caves since college, and I was glad that rfunk got a nice little geology lecture as well.
But unfortunately, all the lecturing left less time for actual cave walking/crawling. We did go through some tight spaces, and waded through some seriously cold waist-deep water, but the entire trip seemed fairly short.
That didn't mean we weren't happy to get hot showers at the hotel afterward. We finished off the evening with pizza and several games of Cranium with the two other couples in our group.
Sunday morning we drove back to Ohio.
I swear, spur-of-the-moment adventures are the best kind. It was a really fun weekend. If my friend goes next year I will definitely ask to tag along.
rfunk's take on the weekend is here.