Posted by Mychal Manie:

Chris Kerr is the club's renown caving expert. This is actual his professional occupation and Chris has his own wonderful tales to tell. Let's start this recollection on one of his infamous "Beginner Caving Trips" to the ever popular Sloan Valley Cave.

The first thing to know is that whatever time frame Chris tells you that you'll be back by is actually a number that is plugged into a mathematical formula. I won't go into the numerical theory behind this, but the rule of thumb is anywhere between 5 hrs over and the following day.

We start this magnificent outing with Chris indicating that he didn't know where the cave entrance was. Okay, this is an exaggeration. He found the cave entrance, the question was really that he didn't know which tunnel to take.

The second thing you should be aware of is that Chris assumes that when you say you want to go caving, you are not claustrophobic, therefore he doesn't ask. I think we had at least 2 people who didn't like being cooped up in what some people refer to as a very deep tomb.

The one thing Chris does well prepare people for is the weather. That might be the easiest thing. The temperature in caves is always the same and you almost always count on getting wet/muddy. So when Chris tells you "cave mud" will never come out of your clothes, it is prudent for you not to take a Cashmere sweater for warm comfort.

Well, several hours later into the cave and much exhaustion and desperation in the group of "begginer cavers", Chris decided to go off to find the "correct tunnel". Chris placed 6 people in a small chamber, and the rest in a mini chamber behind it. Well, a couple of us got stuck in a 1 ft high or less crawlspace in between. Except for a minor cramp in my leg (I was in the crawlspace), things were partway okay.

Well, that is, until an unplanned event took place. One of the small chamber members thought they would light up. And we're not talking cigarettes. Maybe they needed a fix really bad and that's why they didn't think long enough to realize that caves don't usually have good ventilation. The offending "butt" (butt is open to a couple interepretations) was quickly doused. And thankfully, the effects on the small chamber group was minimal (the cramp in my leg went away also).

Some thought Chris had found the way out and thought "the hell with going back"; however, Chris did return. So we started the trek forward again. I twisted my body in certain positions before but this was making me feel like a centipede in a very dense maze. My gymnastics teacher (also an ex-girlfriend) would have been proud.

Chris disappeared once more "to clear a passageway". Faith was dwindling as we heard small boulders falling somewhere above us in the ascending passages. But finally, after trekking further and the "mud-walk" we were sure the end was near (one end or another). Then somebody saw some greengrowth on the wall. Funny thing shouldn't there be light. Oh there it is... Starlight... The outside... Wait a minute. Weren't we supposed to immerge from the cave around 5pm. Its now 10pm but everybody is here. It doesn't matter that we still have another 3/4 mi to cover on foot. We are outside and can handle having terrain only below us instead of all around and above.

I'll give this to Chris also, he did find the way out of a cave that he didn't have a map for and a route he had never been on.

Well... The trip was over... Some new cavers were born and some others vowed never to enter a closet without a light again. There was a lot of bonding that day/evening, and with a few ropes, their might have been a little bondage with our fearless leader, Chris Kerr.

Caving Trip Reports