It was a wet wet weekend with the Scouts. We kept watching the weather, and in December camping, I was just scared for cold weather. At 10 days out, the low was in the 20s, but the cold front held off, an 1 day out, it would only be in the 50s at night, but it looked like rain. But I kept telling everyone, the app says it will stop raining Saturday morning. We arrived at the campsite late Friday, and got set up at camp jackson with no big issues.
Then the next morning, the rain began. We all changed into our caving gear and stayed under the dining flys as much as possible. Then some mildly damp boys all jumped into the vehicles to drive over to tumbling rock cave, where it was still raining. Sam had driven all the way over from Tuscaloosa and met us at the cave, where he patiently waited for the first group to get all their gear on and head into the cave. I think he did what I did...safety talk in the first cavern area. Usually we talk safety outside, but we were getting wet already. And it is cold in there.
My group also headed in about 15 minutes later and did our safety talk in the first cavern. This cave never stops being a grand adventure to me. And for most boys, they always want to return, but I found quickly that my group had 1 that would be difficult. It is quickly seen because of a small step near the entrance that has a significant drop. Easy to step over, but shorter legs, and seeing that right at the front helps you see really quickly that this is not Desoto Cave.
The groups fortunately had no issues, and everything went as it usually does, with Sams group making it all the way to Olympus and back, while the younger ones with me make it to Christmas Tree and back to the topless dome at about the same time. I was happy that Mr. George made it back to Olympus with the back group. He was not planning to go back, but I told him this would probably be his last opportunity, and Michelle would never know unless he didn't make it out. He told me that all was fine, but getting thru the one major squeeze area in the back, he got stuck for a slight moment that made him panic just slightly, but then he was thru. I have only gone that far once, and there are definately some hard spots...so much so that by now, I have erased them from memory, and slightly want to try again.
We all ate lunch at the dome, where the water was running harder than I have ever seen it. Usually, getting to the dome is the highlight, but on this trip, it was somewhat miserable climbing up into the hole because you would get completely drenched. Sam was a natural leader staying at the hole to help everyone that wanted to go up. I think he climbed into the hole 3 times on that day with different boys that wanted to go. I grabbed the first picture below in the dome as it was the only time all three of us were together on this weekend. Sam led the older boys back to the entrance at a much faster pace, and had to get in the car to go back to Tuscaloosa, so I never got to see him except for these few moments in the cave. Mr. George said he did great leading them all back tho.
In my crew, Garrett was the slowest, and after a short slide, he became convinced he had almost fallen to his death. I think he was overexaggerating a bit, but I can understand that it is pretty scary in there sometimes. He locked up in one area, and I had to physically help him move his leg to the next step for about 3 steps before he was able to move again. And I will admit that I missed my turn one time on the way back, then missed it again, before finding the hole I was supposed to go thru in the middle. Ugh, that one section gets me all the time.
And then we were out. And those mildly damp kids were now completely soaked as the rain had not stopped the whole time we were inside the cave. Sam had left, and we all got in the cars to get back to camp. The Alabama Georgia SEC championship had just started, so everyone was listening closely to the radio. As we pulled into the campsite, we noticed that the road back to camp was very muddy, and you had to gun it a bit to get thru. But that was OK, because it was 4PM, and the rain was about to stop.
The best thing about this campsite was the showers, as typically after tumbling rock, we don't have any showers, so you just change clothes and sleep in a little cave dirt. The boys all ran up and stood taking turns at the showers. And there was an adventure where Chase was stuck in one of the showers until Davis was able to get the door open with a pocket knife. I was planning to wait till the rain had stopped for my shower, but it never stopped. I finally found a break, and realized that the showers only had cold water. Which was a bit miserable, but still nice to wash off. Then Davis laughed at me later when he corrected me that the hot water worked, they just installed the handle in reverse. UGH...a hot shower would have been great, but I may have never left.
That night for dinner, the adults had Chili and Grilled Cheese. The boys all had red beans and rice. And we sat under the dining flys as the rain that was supposed to stop never did. It rained until about 1 AM on Sunday, at least that is when I think I woke up to hear the last hard rains falling. Tent held up very well, with only a small leak onto my pillow. And Sunday was finally dry...so it was nice to get everything packed up without getting wet. Everything packed up wet so we had to set it all up again at the house to dry.
And then it was time to leave camp, and that mud we came thru the day before was now a swamp. And the Honda Odyssey did not have much clearnance, and I got stuck quick. There was a much better way for me to get thru, but I have never drove in stuff like this, and my ignorance was clearly visible when I got stuck almost immediately. Davis said he knew right away it was me when he heard someone was stuck. Luckily Sam Dabbs had 4 wheel drive that pulled me out, and also was able to get the trailer thru the mud. Another fun weekend in the cave.
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