Flip flops & Ferry boats: Caving--not spelunking.

I was recently watching the Daily Show and John Stewart interviewed this guy who had recently written a book about caving. I don't remember the guys name, but I do remember the part where he said that spelunking was not a respectable term in the caving community. Caving--not spelunking is the correct term. I mentally catalogued that piece of info into my brain because I was getting ready to head out for my first caving experience that weekend.

I was pretty stoked about the Wild Cave Tour at Mammoth Cave--six hours of crawling, climbing and exploring off the main trails. Mammoth Cave is the longest known cave system in the world. It's a maze of tunnels and trails. And I was going to explore it. I love adventures and am usually up for most things. But, I do suffer a tiny bit from claustrophobia. I still have memories from my childhood when a friend wanted to zip me up in a suitcase and carry me around. Weird I know, but it seemed like a fun idea at the time. I got in and she started to zip me up and I started to freak out when the zipper was nearing the last corner. All I could think about was her brother (who wasn't a fan of mine) finding me defenseless in this suitcase and throwing me down their long flight of stairs. Not likely, but it could have happened.

So when I read these reviews online, I started to git a bit anxious about the trip. Pictures like this...didn't help. To prepare the night before, Justin and I tried to crawl through some tight spots around the house. I got stuck trying to crawl beneath a wooden chair. My hips just wouldn't let me through. Slight panic. What would I do if I was in the cave? Stay calm and take a deep breath. Now cry.

Justin, Tyler and I met at the visitor center around 9:30 am. ETD--10:00 am. They suggested wearing shorts and a t-shirt because they would give you coveralls, kneepads, gloves, a bandana, a helmet with a light and a fanny pack (if needed) to carry things. I felt completely dorky walking around in running shorts and hiking boots. People on the normal tours looked at me strangely. Yes, I know I look completely ridiculous. Thanks.

I used the bathroom twice before we left because I have the smallest bladder on earth. Later, I found out the guides carry convenience bags in their first aid kits in case of bathroom emergencies. Apparently, they aren't very convenient though. Thankfully, I didn't have to test them out. There was also a bathroom at the Snowball Cafe where we ate lunch in the cave. But, I digress.

Bare Hole

We jumped right in to "test" out our caving skills and to weed out any people that might not be able to handle the hard stuff. We wiggled our way through to short but tight spots--bare hole and some other spot I can't remember the name. These were actually two of the tightest spots on the tour and I felt a bit nervous about them, but they were short so it didn't bother me too much.

We climbed, canyon walked, stoop walked, jumped around and explored the caves but didn't do too much belly crawling after the bare hole and the ??? spot. We skipped over some sea something that the guide said was a lot of crawling and wading through water. It sounded kind of cool, but we weren't even half way through with the tour so I didn't want to overdo it. Crawling around on stone floors with low ceilings utilizes very different types of muscles than I normally condition and really stresses your knees.

After lunch, we headed to another tight spot. This is the part where I had a slight internal freak out. We actually had to turn our heads to one side because the ceiling was so low that with our helmets on it wouldn't fit through otherwise. This part was much longer than the other tight spots and it just kept getting smaller and smaller and smaller. I could hear the guide giving instructions to the people in front of me and I just kept flashing back to getting stuck under the wooden chair at home. Then, I started thinking about how embarrassing it would be to get stuck in cave. All the people behind me would have to back up and Justin would have to somehow grab onto my ankles and try to drag me out. These thoughts obviously did not help calm my nerves. And this is around the time when I had a mini internal freakout. BUT I held myself together. Took a deep breath and pushed on through. And.....I made it out.

Overall, the tour was really fun. It was challenging, but not too challenging that it caused you to hate caving. It gave you a taste of things and made you want more. It was a bit "guided" but I would still recommend it to other people. You do need to be in decent shape. They say if you go back during the off season when groups are smaller it can be much more fun and you can cover more ground. So, hopefully this won't be my last caving adventure.