Spookyness

Ted the Caver (Part #8)

April 28, 2001

In this journal entry I discussed briefly the feelings B and I had at this point. I would like to elaborate on those feelings and set the mood for this part of my journal. I hope I can successfully convey our exact thoughts and feelings as we contemplated our next move. If not I'm afraid we will appear to the average reader as being ignorant, naive, or downright foolish.

This cave represented to us the culmination of weeks of hard work, complete with an array of emotions. From fatigue to fear. Anticipation to pain. From frustration to glory. To us we were not standing on the brink of possible destruction, but rather honoring an unspoken commitment. Much like a parent of a wayward child. We were not about to abandon our "child" out of fear of the unknown. Like it or not this cave had become a part of us. And now we must see this adventure to its fruition. Additionally, verbose explanations aside, we were being eaten alive with curiosity! Despite the overwhelming number of unexplained occurrences we experienced, we HAD to go back into this cave. What was making the rumbling noise? What caused the change in wind strength? etc, etc, all the way down to Joe. What could have possibly happened to him? What did he see? Or experience? We had many lengthy discussions about what our next move would be. We kept coming to the same conclusion: We had to return to the cave. We could offer no possible scenarios that would solve the many riddles held deep within the cave. The only way we could hope to complete the puzzle would be to conquer the cave. We were going back to Mystery Cave.

Two weeks after our trip with Joe and we were on our way back to the cave. To prepare for this trip we contacted the local cave rescue group and got permission to borrow their low voltage two-way phone. The phone consists of two transceivers and a long spool of thin wire. I would then be able to unwind the wire as I went into the passage and stay in contact with B the entire time. We also thought it would be a good idea to take a video camera into the new passage. I purchased a case that would protect my video camera from dust, as well as sharp rocks. I was more than willing to pay the cost of the case just to make sure B got to see the entire passage.

My head was doing fine. I still had a light red line to mark the spot where I tried to break the rock with my head. I never went to a doctor, but it was a very painful experience. I have thought about what would have happened if I had been able to go in the passage with Joe. He was a changed man after he came out. I have been calling his house nearly every day trying to talk to him, but he won't answer his phone. B called his work and a mutual friend told him that Joe called in sick two weeks ago and hasn't been in since. He said Joe warned his boss he might be out for a while. I even stopped by his house twice. The first time it looked like someone was home, but no one answered the door. The second time his car was gone and there were no lights on. I hoped to talk to him before this trip, but it didn't work out.

As we were rigging up the rope to descend into the cave I felt something for the first time. I DID NOT WANT TO GO INTO THE CAVE! It was not a feeling of foreboding. I was not receiving some premonition. I just had no desire to enter the underground world of Mystery Cave. I didn't share this feeling with B at that time. Even though I had no desire to go into the cave, I knew we HAD to. So I double checked my gear, and slipped over the edge of the cliff.

Right from the beginning it seemed like the cave did not want us to be there. Nothing went smoothly. Every time we tried to clip a caribiner or tie a knot or attach something to the rope we had to do it two or three times to get it right. Fortunately we recognized this and made sure everything was safe and secure. As we slowly made our way down we were continually bumping into the side of the cave, or stumbling as we walked, or dropping things. We finally reached a point where we stopped to gather ourselves before continuing. Our load was relatively light but we were taking forever to get to the hole. Finally we made it.