Caving

March 9, 2010

When I was first introduced to caving, it was Mammoth Cave in Kentucky. You walk into the huge entrance of the cave, walk around looking at all of the things that are well lit and then walk out. Caving went to a whole new level when I came out of the other end on the Dead Man’s Crawl. Muddy and wet, I had experienced real caving. Until I came here I didn’t really understand that caving could go to another level. Then I was introduced to vertical caving.

With this type of caving you can’t just walk into the cave. Instead, you have to rappel into the cave. The Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia area is full of caves I found out. Some pits are over 500 ft deep. It is true, with most vertical caving experiences you have to be prepared to climb out. It isn’t the case for all of them, but most of the time the amount of feet you go down is the amount you have to climb to get out.

That was the case for Cagel’s Chasm. 193ft down I went and 193ft I had to climb out. All of it was well worth it as caving was taken to an entirely new level.

One Stroke at a Time

February 26- March 5, 2010

Well, Spring Break has come and gone. Last year, I went to sea kayaking in Florida with a great group of college students. Surprisingly, this Spring Break was very similar. The only this that differed was the type of boat being used. I went to Florida with a great group of college students but this time hours and hours were spent in a canoe.

Our trip started on the Santa Fe River, merged in the Suwannee River, and ended 110 miles later on and island in the Gulf of Mexico. The decision for me to go on this trip was quite last minute. Originally I was going to help with a different trip but that trip was canceled due to lack of interest.

My role for this trip was pretty simple: take pictures. So that is what I did, experiencing a lot of firsts along the way, the biggest one being paddling that far in a 6-day stretch. I also slept in a hammock for the first time, paddled through the rain, and saw manatees in the wild.

Below is only a small representation of the trip. As always, I find that my best pictures never have people involved but I did try, really I did.