Adventure is fear on loan. Fear is what is
unpredictable. Risk is something that causes fear - the
first time. This was a short trip long on adventure to
the very best in caves.
The wildlife was out enjoying the spring
heat and sun. We saw numerous beaver dams & one beaver, one
immature bald eagle and lots of other bird life and plenty
of gators. BTW, the big gator goes 12-14 feet long.
Had to hike out over 5 miles and
a 1000' elev gain in almost 2 ft of new powder w/o snowshoes
(everywhere was rented out on Friday). great trip though--Lilburnis one crazy cave. over 20 surveyed miles, yet its
probably half the size of Fitton's. Parts of it there's a
five-way junction every 50 ft... you could get lost so
terribly easy. I'm bruised and sore as well since even the
"horizontal" sections we did had a lot of REALLY difficult
mantle moves and chimneys.
Saturday started out well
with me waking up an ungodly hour and then packing the truck
of caving and climbing and camping gear. Did I mention that
it was really freakin’ cold and there was a dusting of snow
on the ground?
(Read More...)
Finally
havingawindowofopportunity
to host the most recent installment
of
adventure of
the Southern Canyoneers, Shawn McKee, Andy "Roy" Andrews,
Dale Shearer and Houston Hardin joined me for
a weekend
of fishing,
South Louisiana style. Unlike most SC trips, however, this
weekend did not consist
of death
marches, explosives, pushing ahead into the unknown or
"seeing" if a
trail (bayou) "goes". And we still managed to have
a good
time.
(Read More...)
Valhalla, a TAG classic, is a pit with a
227-foot entrance pitch and over a mile of cave at the
bottom. Located in Jackson County (Alabama), Valhalla
represents on of the finest pit caves in the southeastern
region of the United States. Back in 2002 a group of cavers
calling themselves the Southeastern Cave Conservancy, Inc. (SCCi)
bought 125-acres surrounding the cave including the cave
entrance. A Valhalla Preserve Access Permit, from SCCi, is
required to enter the property. This past April, seven
others and I went to Valhalla and while it is extremely
difficult to describe such an awesome experience in a few
paragraphs I’ll give it my best shot.
(Read More...)
I’m ready for the long rappels. You can die
from a 50 ft fall just as easy as a 160 feet. The same
amount of vigilance needs to be practiced. Personally, I
more worried about the effects age has had on my 41 year old
frame this year, mostly caused by leading a fairly
sedimentary life behind a steering wheel and computer
screen. For some reason all joints ache more, muscles take
longer to heal etc. etc. Being the oldest out of the group
has it’s – disadvantages. I will not be making high jumps
down or stupid leaps. A good steady pace is in order for me.
-Roy
“the genesis of this Zion trip dates back to
1998 when Roy and I got this hair brained idea to head west
for a week. Just us two, headed for Zion and Bryce with few
other plans. What follows is the daily log of our trip as
posted to the Internet, from our cabin, in the late night
hours between exhaustion and the next day’s adventure. The
text has been recovered from backup files but the pictures
have not yet been restored, as they are on Roy’s backup
tapes”
(Read More...)
Next up: Arkansas Dec05, Camps Gulf Jan06,
Sipsey Mar06, Smokies Apl06,
Portland May06, Buffalo May06, Zion Aug06.
