Tumbling Rock Cave with the Boy Scouts

I must admit, that when this trip is discussed, I immediately verify that my life insurance policy is paid up, and start contemplating readiness for the next life.  But I must also admit that once I step into that cave, this experience is one of the most amazing adventures I have ever done.  This was Sam's 4th time in the cave, my 3rd, and Davis 2nd. We planned this trip and limited the attendance to only first class scouts and above, which was a very unique experience.  Those boys unloaded the trailer when we arrived on site and matched the adults putting up the dining fly and getting ready for the cave.  Fun to watch them work together as a patrol.  Sam was acting as the Senior Patrol Leader, and Noah Dimon as the Patrol Leader.  

After setting up our dining fly just in time to save ourselves from the rain, we put on the cave gear and entered the cave at 10AM.  Me and one of the other dads had prepared to go as deep as we have been before, which is the topless dome, and stop there.  Well, with a group of more experienced boys, and Dirk and his Byerboys leading the way, we were at the Topless Dome by 11:15AM.  And none of the boys wanted to stay, all wanted the back of the cave...so Adam and I decided to keep going...and we did, past Christmas Tree, then Tumbling Rock, through a 60 foot sand crawl (yes, room enough to just crawl on your belly in sand for 60 feet), then thru the suicide passage (refered to by our troop as the Devil's Anus, a term penned by a previous scouter dad that was also a preacher), thru a massive large room called Allen's alley, and finally to Mount Olympus.  

We did run into another group of young kids with some adults at the suicide passage.  They let us pass by then as we ate lunch in Allen's Alley, they passed by us again heading up Mount Olympus.  Dirk spoke to their leader and warned them to stay left going up Mount Olympus, which is a 260 foot climb at the back of the cave.  After lunch we caught back up with that group as they were coming down Olympus and some of them starting singing "Jesus Loves Me", and a few of our group joined in as well.  Sam joined a large group going up Mount Olympus, but Dave and I stayed down below.  I tried to go up a bit, but that was not something for me with height issues.  I had already passed by too many drops where I could not see the bottom.  

But Sam made it to the top, and said the formations were amazing from up there.  I guess it gives me and Davis something to look forward to at a later journey.  After everyone was back down the "Mountain", we started heading back, one way in, one way out...kind of...just follow Dirk.  We finally made it back to the entrance and left the cave at 5PM, we had travelled over 3 miles deep into the cave, and the same 3 miles back.  Sore but feeling a sense of achievement, we all sat around the campfire, had some awesome tacos and street corn that Adam made.  I think the boys also cooked tacos.  A few other fun things was watching multiple boys and Dirk step into a large puddle in the middle of our camping area and Davis forgetting to bring any pants or a jacket to wear out of the cave.  

And finally, one of the coolest parts of this trip happened one week later when I posted on facebook the pictures below and told of our adventure in the cave.  One of my best friends from Dothan, who I haven't seen in 13 years sent me a facebook message and said "Hey man, remember those guys you passed in the cave, the ones that sang Jesus loves me....That was me and my boys, and they were the ones that started that song".  Haha...I was in that cave sitting and eating lunch not 8 feet from one of my best friends from Dothan, and listened to Dirk give him what he said was "amazing advice" to stay left on Mount Olympus.  And I watched my good buddy Tom Jones turn and lead those boys away from our group, never recognizing him at all.  I will admit it is somewhat dark in a cave though.  :)  After looking at recent pictures of his kids, I recognized immediately his second son was the young boy that followed me thru suicide passage (Yes, I always end up in the back of our group).  Small world.

I am also including the Dirk Byerman story I wrote and sent to the Troop in preparation for this event.  Sam told me that this email made its way around the high school and was read aloud at his lunch table  cracking everyone up, as most of them knew "Mr. Dirk" from church.  And I have found that it is a rare occurence anymore for me to cause the laughter of Sam's age of human beings...so I will place this into this blog as evidence that at one time I was funny.  

Dirk Byerman (August 17, 1966 –  ) is an American Boy Scout folk hero, frontiersman, soldier, and politician. He is commonly referred to in popular culture by the epithet "The Spelunking Tiger ". He represented Ohio in the much debated Big 10 spelunking finals of 1987 and served in the “Buckeye Barbers” acapella vocal quartet touring caves around the country. 

Dirk grew up in East Ohio, where he gained a reputation for hunting and storytelling. Never afraid of a limbo line, he learned at an early age to use his diminished height to his advantage finding every corner of this Ohio farm hide and seek contests, setting the bar for his future spelunking journeys.  In 1991, he was elected to the U.S. Splelunking Congressional Caucus where he vehemently opposed many of the policies of President George HW Bush, especially the Caves Only for Bears Act. Byerman’s opposition to Bush's policies led to his defeat in the 1992 elections. He was re-elected to the caucus in 1993, then narrowly lost in 1995, prompting his angry departure to Alabama (then only known to him as a redneck farmland) shortly thereafter. In early 2006, he took part in the Pack 353 Water Rocket Derby and later made his way back into the caves after asked to lead numerous times by the Boy Scouts. 

Dirk Byerman became famous during his scouting lifetime for larger-than-life caving exploits popularized by stage plays, and documentaries (e.g. “Into the Dark”, “No Hole to Small”, and “Don’t forget your Gatorade Bottle”) . After his departure from the troop, he continues to be credited with acts of mythical proportion, and today he is known as one of the best-known American spelunking heroes