McAlisterville Cave 3-9-08
The original plan was to take Dragon Breath Grotto to McAlisterville Cave. We had the date all set with permission to enter. But something happened that Sunday morning. As I'm getting out of my car at the Dunkin Donuts we were to meet, John called and said that most had back out of the trip. Only Dan G. was waiting and ready to go.
As I get inside I see Dan on his phone and Amos siting patiently. Oh, did I say, it was the first day of Daylight Savings Time. I knew that, but my body clock was off, so I was a few minutes late that morning. Just a little bit later Steve Gadd showed up. I forgot to tell him there are two Dunkin Donuts and he had been patiently waiting on the other side of the parking lot.
Anyway, we decided to make it a Philly Grotto trip instead. So this made it Dan first Philly Grotto trip. Caving with the big dogs.
I do like McAlisterville Cave. There's a lot to see in there. Some big rooms, some small crawls. We entered OK and went back to the Sculpture Room. Dan tried his artistic talents and left behind his own donation. Then we went back and down the flowstone and into the popcorn room. It's a fun little warm up trip before we hit the strenuous stuff.
Coming back up the flowstone is a lot of fun. Really slick with mud. You just can't walk up. At least I've never been able to. Being his first time we sent Dan up first to see if he can figure it out and settled in to watch him try and slide back down a few times. Except that Dan is 6"2". He just kind of reached up and grabbed a handhold at the top and pulled himself up on the very first try with what seemed like no effort at all. Amos, Steve, and I just stared at each other in amazement. Your suppose to have trouble getting up the first time. Everybody has trouble getting up the first time. Not Dan. Steve and I did our little teamwork jig to get out and Amos climbed out at his usual stride.
Steve decided that Dan should start leading the trip. So he got to pick the next direction of travel. Dan and Amos went down a hole I had not been in before. It kept on going, too. We finally got to a point that Amos was hesitant to go any further. It just kind of dropped of into a pit. We rigged a webbing handline. Amos went in as far as he would dare. We all agreed that it would be best to come back with vertical gear, at least a cable ladder, to get to the next level. But the room that we were in was real wet with all the rain we had been getting. Actually, everything was a little more wet and muddy than usual.
We head back up and to the "Rabbit Hole" to the other side of the cave. The usual chimnying and climbing to "Voodoo Dome Room" was fun and a good workout. Before you reach the room we could hear water running a lot louder that usual. The water was moving in Voodoo Dome Room today. It was coming out of the ceiling like a rainstorm and flowing away just as fast. It was hard to find a dry spot to sit and take a break, so we stood for a moment and watched the water then decided to move on.
The next eventful spot is usually the "Mail Slot". A pair of holes about 7 feet in the air you climb up to then shimmy through on your side. Again, "too tall" Dan had no problem with this. There's a reoccurring theme going on during this trip.
We did make it all the way back to "The Window". Having always been the sweep on previous trips, I've always been last in line and never really had a chance to see the window much less what's beyond. But this was different. Amos was determined to find something that really challenged Dan. Again we ran an handline. Amos went first, the Dan. Steve and I waited at the top since it gets tight. Try as he might, Dan couldn't get through the passage past the window. He did try over and over. I went down to watch and encourage and give him a foot-hold. He just could get himself up high enough to squeeze through. Having watched Dan struggle and not get through, I've resigned myself to view what's beyond by the pictures that others bring back. I just can't see myself fitting through there.
The only thing left to do was to retrace out route and exit the cave. It's still slicker than snot and climbing was tiring. By the time we got out it was 5 hours underground with very little resting stops. A great workout, but tuff with the head cold I still had. Dan has a great story to take home and brag about what everyone else missed out on. Maybe they'll think twice about bagging a trip with us.
We will be back with the right gear to see what down that one passage. Maybe there's nothing, but it's the adventure of discovery.
Here's more pictures.
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Steve decided that Dan should start leading the trip. So he got to pick the next direction of travel. Dan and Amos went down a hole I had not been in before. It kept on going, too. We finally got to a point that Amos was hesitant to go any further. It just kind of dropped of into a pit. We rigged a webbing handline. Amos went in as far as he would dare. We all agreed that it would be best to come back with vertical gear, at least a cable ladder, to get to the next level. But the room that we were in was real wet with all the rain we had been getting. Actually, everything was a little more wet and muddy than usual.
We did make it all the way back to "The Window". Having always been the sweep on previous trips, I've always been last in line and never really had a chance to see the window much less what's beyond. But this was different. Amos was determined to find something that really challenged Dan. Again we ran an handline. Amos went first, the Dan. Steve and I waited at the top since it gets tight. Try as he might, Dan couldn't get through the passage past the window. He did try over and over. I went down to watch and encourage and give him a foot-hold. He just could get himself up high enough to squeeze through. Having watched Dan struggle and not get through, I've resigned myself to view what's beyond by the pictures that others bring back. I just can't see myself fitting through there.