Climbing out of a newly found cave [photo by B Stickney]
Earlier this year I made yet another trip to Alabama; this time to do some ridge-walking in search of some known caves and with hopes of possibly finding a new cave or two. It had been a rainy week so we brought wetsuits along with our vertical gear. Around early to mid-afternoon we found an entrance with a sizable waterfall dropping into it. Due to the amount of water falling in, we couldn’t see the bottom so we dropped several rocks into it and determined that it couldn't be more than 15 feet deep. We spent a ½ hour above the entrance diverting the stream so that it flowed on down the mountain. We couldn’t divert all of the water, but certainly enough so that I could rappel down without drowning. I rigged the 96 foot rope to a tree and descended into the body tight entrance. I touched bottom after about a 15 foot rappel. The room at the bottom was about 20ft x 6ft and the water surged down through a narrow shoot just below the rappel landing. My partner was unable to get through the tight entrance above so he dropped the 224’ rope down to me and I pushed ahead through the narrow water-filled passage and after a very short distance encountered a second drop. With no bolting equipment and no place to rig the rope (not to mention that my partner was unable to come down and join me) we aborted the trip and plan to return with equipment to enlarge the entrance and rig the 2nd drop. I hope it’s deep.
The climb out was sporting… the water entering the entrance seemed to have picked up. That was in part due to the entrance enhancements my partner was working on while I was below. As I ascended, I was unable to look up without getting huge quantities of water in my mouth. So I basically climbed blind… looking down, rather than up. As I neared the tight spot above it was difficult to bend my knees and my ascender was pressed against my chest. Added to this was the difficulty of turning my head and helmet just right so I could get through the widest part of the lip of the drop. I was actually glad my caving buddy was there to guide me… “to the right… to the right… that’s it… good.”
The climb out was sporting… the water entering the entrance seemed to have picked up. That was in part due to the entrance enhancements my partner was working on while I was below. As I ascended, I was unable to look up without getting huge quantities of water in my mouth. So I basically climbed blind… looking down, rather than up. As I neared the tight spot above it was difficult to bend my knees and my ascender was pressed against my chest. Added to this was the difficulty of turning my head and helmet just right so I could get through the widest part of the lip of the drop. I was actually glad my caving buddy was there to guide me… “to the right… to the right… that’s it… good.”