here is a story that my dad put up on our website about a caving trip that we took, if it interests you:
6-17-01
Hall of the White Giant tour at Carlsbad Caverns on 6-16-01
Scout Troop 101 went to Chimayo, New Mexico this year for summer camp. Neither David Clayton nor I went to summer camp this year. They left on June 9th via tour bus. I had arranged back in January for a tour at Carlsbad Caverns called Hall of the White Giant. This tour is difficult to get into since they only accept 8 reservations per week. I was able to secure all 8 slots by calling in at opening time on the day they began accepting reservations. Even though David and I did not go to summer camp, we opted for the Hall of the White Giant tour.
We left on Friday, June 15th to drive up to Carlsbad. We were also giving a ride to the relief bus driver, whose name was Rodney. He was from Brooklyn but had been in Texas for 12 years. The drive up was long and uneventful and we arrived at about 5:00 pm. We had brought our bikes with us and after checking into the hotel, we drove the 20 miles to Carlsbad Caverns and up to the visitor center. The drive from Whites City up to the visitor center is 7 miles through a winding canyon. When we got to the top, where it was 95 degrees, I rode my bike down while David Clayton drove down. There was a scenic loop along a 9 mile dirt road which he followed. My ride was virtually all down hill and only took about 20 minutes. I had to wait a long time for DC as he could not go very fast on the scenic loop. When he got to the bottom, we drove back up and it was David?s turn to ride down. I had planned to take the scenic loop but it was late in the day and they had closed it. After the rides, we headed back to Carlsbad and had pizza for dinner.
The next morning, I bought some supplies at Walmart and gassed up the car. We were to meet Rodney at 10:00 and head for the caverns. Rodney was a few minutes late as he was confused by the time change from Central to Mountain time. We arrived at the caverns at 11:00AM, which was when we were supposed to meet the tour bus with the scouts from Chimayo. We went inside and bought the tickets for the scouts who were going on the Hall of the White Giant tour. The rest of the scouts were to go on the regular cavern tour. While I waited for the scouts to show up, David and Rodney took the walking tour through the natural entrance.
I tried repeatedly to get a hold of the group in the tour bus but was unable to. There is not much cell phone service in central New Mexico. Finally, I received a call from someone in Austin, relaying the message that the bus was about 30 miles north of Carlsbad. It turns out that the tour bus was 1 hour late getting to Camp Frank Rand to pick up the scouts. To make a long story short, the bus pulled up in front of the caverns at 1:00. We were supposed to have met the ranger at 12:45. The ranger was very understanding, however. His name was Greg **** and he was from New Zealand. The other ranger was Mike **** from Carlsbad. They led us into a room off the visitor center and went over the plans for our tour while we got our gear ready (hard hat with lantern, knee pads, gloves). He gave us some basic rules: no food in the cave, stay with the group, don?t go outside the orange tape markers, striped markers mean danger or caution, etc.
We made a final bathroom stop before heading into the cave. The tour would be 4 hours long and there were no bathrooms (or lights) where we were going.
As we passed through the visitor center on the way to the natural entrance we attracted some stares from visitors. There were ten of us including the rangers wearing our headlamps and knee pads. We hiked down into the cave through the natural entrance. As anyone who has been there knows, it is an awesome cave. But we still didn?t know how much fun we were in for.
About one third of the way down, our guides stopped at one of the hair pin turns in the trail. He made a final adjustment on his headgear and told us to follow him. He climbed over the railing and about 5 feet up the side of the cave and then into a hole that was about 2-1/2 feet across. (Note: All dimensions are estimated)
We followed, one at a time. This section of the cave was narrow and continued for about 30 feet. Then we began an upward climb in a spiral shape, called ?the corkscrew,? for another 30 feet or so. At the top, there was a larger space that we could sit (but not stand) in and we took a short rest. Greg reported problems with his headlamp and asked Mike if he?d brought the spare. Mike responded that he had not. At that point, we offered one of our lights to Greg but he was able to get his working again. We proceeded horizontally through a series of narrow tunnels, some which we could crawl through on hands and knees and others of which were only large enough to slither through. After about 100 yards, we came to the end of a tunnel where a ladder disappeared through a hole above. The ladder was about 30 feet long and must have been carried into the cave in smaller sections and then assembled. We climbed the ladder one at a time and came out into another small rest area.
We proceeded horizontally again, still through narrow passages, for another 75 yards or so. Here we came to a place called ?Matlock?s Pinch,? named after a ranger who passed through this place OK but got stuck on the return trip. Greg described the opening as being the size of a toilet seat.
After Matlock?s Pinch, we came to a very slippery section that turned upward at a steep angle. There was a knotted rope to assist in traversing the 25 feet or so. We climbed another 30 feet or so at the same angle and then came into a section with a little more room where we were able to stand and walk. We climbed a flowstone which was also very slippery and then began a long hike through a more open area. At one point, we paused and Greg pointed out some footprints which had been made in 1965. Since there is no wind or rain inside the cave, the footprints would be there forever unless someone came along and destroyed them. We continued hiking until we reached an opening into a very large room, the Hall of the White Giant. The ceiling was over 100 feet high and it was over 100 feet from where we stood to the other side. To the left and right, the room tapered downward to depths that our lights could not reach. In the middle of the room was the White Giant. It is 50 feet or so high and very white in color. Mike used a knotted rope to climb up to the base of the White Giant and then we took turns, two at a time, climbing to see it up close. After everyone had been up, we sat in a circle and turned out our headlamps. Mike talked for about 15 minutes about the cave?s history and other interesting things while we sat in the dark and listened. After awhile, we got very quiet and listened to cave sounds. We could hear water dripping far off in the distance.
They had a watertight tube containing a register of everyone who has been to the Hall of the White Giant. We all signed it and then headed back along the same path we used coming in. We moved a little faster coming back as we knew the way. When we got back to the trail, we wiped our feet on the mat before climbing back over the railing. We then proceeded to hike the rest of the way down to the elevators at the bottom of Carlsbad Caverns. We met the rest of the scouts from our group at the dining area but we only stayed briefly as we were allowed to take the staff elevator back up to the top. At the top, we turned in our gear and thanked the guides who had done an excellent job. They were skilled at spelunking and very knowledgeable about the cave.
We began our long trip back to Austin almost immediately. There was a tremendous head wind from Carlsbad to Ft. Stockton. We used ¾ of a tank of gas going 120 miles. Once we got on IH 10, it got better. We arrived back in Dripping Springs at approximately 1:45 in the morning. The tour bus did not fare so well. They stopped for dinner in Ft. Stockton and were later delayed by a traffic accident. They arrived in Dripping Springs at 5:00 am.
In August we have a trip planned to the Caverns of Sonora.
hows that for spelunking? I have also been to Enchanted Rock, a few hours away from Austin, and they have some caves there. It is not officially marked or anything, and you really are not supposed to go in them, but I have gone through them several times.
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