…”Lights on”.

It had been a good 10 minutes that our eyes had been out of commission. The light from the headlamps was bright but my focus came back quickly and it was time to continue.

The caves were getting smaller and more challenging. The paths were so narrow that you could only use your knees and elbows to move yourself out. This is the purpose of the pads. Without the pads, I wouldn’t be able to go on. The pain would be too much because my boney knees and elbows constantly made contact with jagged rock.

So, have pads ready, and get good pads!

I held on to my sanity pretty well, that is until we entered this tunnel were the ceiling was covered with cracks and all around the us were slabs of stone from a past cave in. I’m not sure when this cave in occurred but that made no difference to me. In my head I feared another occurring right then! If that did happen, I wouldn’t be crushed, because the ceiling was too low. Instead, the rock would pin me in and unless there was a rescue mission out for me, I would tortuously suffocate.

The brain has an instinctual response to free the body of danger and in this case, I had nowhere to go. My options were: freak out and let my irrational fears take control, or calm myself and crawl my way to the next room… quickly and with little disturbance of the supporting stones as possible…

The narrowest point in this cave system is called the birth canal, rightly so.

There is a trend among speleology you will notice once you get involved. That is that everything deserving of a label is named exactly what it represents in human perception.

Think about it: Cave Bacon, Powder Room, Travis County Room, Birth Canal, What you imagine is precisely what you will see.

I’m not sure why this is but here is my theory: caving takes you back. Way back, like back when you were playing out in the backyard, building forts and sifting through the mud for rocks. Back when you were adventuring into forbidden places. It’s a place of discovery and a place to be a kid again, so maybe the simplicity of the names among the caving community is a continuation of this child like experience.

Maybe? I mean, there is no reason to go disrupting child’s play with a bunch of nonsensical mumbo jumbo names for cool stuff, anyway.

Oh, by the way, I want to point out that body size does not determine your experience underground. If you are a big person or a tall person or whatever, don’t let that keep you from caving. Go for it, anyway! If you attend a grotto, you will notice people of all different sizes are avid cavers. As I recommend with most sports; don’t let size get in your way! However, obesity is a problem within its self and unfortunately is not suitable for caving.

But I digress…

The last room on the system came almost too soon. But, despite as much fun as I was having, I was tired and my body was tired. My body had been struggling over cragged rocks and tight spaces for an hour and a half and I was ready for a long rest. My breath started slowing after about 5 minutes then we all laid back, turned out our headlamps once again, and soaked up the blackness. This was the end of the route, but the beginning of a new adventure…

Caving is community. Cavers are awesome people and they are very inviting to new people getting interested in caving.

There is no certification to complete in caving yet, but it is required among the community that you get professional training and experience from local grottos. Most caves are located on private property and access is only through the grottos.

Also, caving isn’t a money pit like a lot of sports can be. I spent $47 for the gear I needed. That is bare minimum, but for training and your first few caves, it’s the smartest way to go. If you like it, then get the good stuff.

Here are the items you are required to have per the grotto:

• headlamp (LEDs are the best).
• knee pads, and elbow pads (athletic type pads and avoid knee pads with hard shell plastic on the front).
• long pants, a shirt, and closed toed shoes you don’t mind losing to the cave dirt (despite the outside weather, you will get hot down in the caves, so be warned).
• a snack (yum yum).

Recommended items are:

• bottled water
• extra flashlight
• a caver’s bag or you can get a small bag enough to carry your water and small items. About the size of a child’s backpack.
• disposable camera (dirt is bad for your fancy camera)
• gloves (Cloth work gloves or garden gloves)
• extra batteries

Here are some tips for you to remember:

• pee before you cave because you will be consuming a bunch of water.
• If you have a headache, consume water.
• consume plenty of water.
• eat an hour before you come out, you will need the energy.
• get your gear early and try it on.
• test out the pads; do they stay in place? Are they comfortable to crawl on?
• bring some water to rinse off your hands when you are done in the caves.
• Bring a change of cloths because you will be covered in dirt.
• As you are crawling around, don’t forget to look around! There are some really neat formations and areas that you will be sure to miss while focusing on how to get around.
• Be prepared to come out of the cave bruised, sore, and ready for a beer. You may even get a scratch or two!

This was my first caving experience. Sorry folks but I did not get a chance to take any photos. I am surprised to say that out of all the scary movies I have watched in my life, and now I was in the most prime spot for any lingering fears to jump out and get me, and not once did I feel that threat. Maybe that was because I was among people I felt safe with, I don’t know.

Here is the website. Caving is such a unique experience so I hope to see some of you out there!

There is a calendar of events, here, that you can plan around to get started with your first caves. The whirlpool cave is the 1st out of 3.

You will need to attend a grotto meeting in order to sign up. These meetings and the dives are free!

You can find the meetings on the calendar of events as well.

This is the second part of a two post series. You can read the 1st part here: Caving in Austin, Texas, part. 1. Check out my other posts about caving to learn more info and look forward to my posts of my next experiences. I have 2 more caves to go through before I am a “certified” caver. Cheers for now!

-t

-image by Ian Sewell