Boy Scout Trip to Tumbling Rock Cave

It was a gloomy Saturday morning when we were getting ready to lead a group of  Boys scouts to Tumbling Rock Cave. There were ten boy scout who's ages ranged from 11 to 17 years old. Mike Pearson was on his way to pick us up, and we were to meet Selena Campbell at Wall-mart.  We called her and she was already there waiting for us. She told Mark to tell me that she got me some fresh made egg-rolls to take in the cave to eat for lunch. I found out that a Large container will hold three egg rolls, and I usually grab me a small container of Broccoli Salad to eat with them. YUM! It may sound strange, but wrapping the containers with my purple duct tape secures the food from spilling out. Well any way we headed out to Scottsboro, we arrived there just a few minutes before everyone else. As we were waiting for Michael Ray at the house where the cave is awaiting us, the cave owner came out and opened the bathroom and changing rooms. As he was walking back to the house to round up the waivers, the nice cave owner told us that he had Tumbling Rock Cave T-shirts and caps for sale. Good way to make money. Own a house with a cave on your property and help the cavers by supplying us a bathroom and changing rooms. Michel Ray showed up to the house at 10:15a.m followed by three trucks full of boy scouts and troop leaders. Mick Ingle whom we have led a trip of boy/girl scouts with him once before was in charge of arranging this trip. The boys got ready and they all gathered around the cave to take group photos. One young man in a blue jacket stood up on a tall rock and said "I am taller", I'm taller than all of you" "I am taller than ALL!!!" It was cute. There were so many scouts I gave some of them nicknames. These are the names that I have given them to remember who was who. Brave-man, the brave one and was ready to rumble. Harry Potter, he was the only one who wore glasses and was a neat young man. Green Bo, because he has always wanted to go to Green Valley Cave. Frodo, the sweet boy who had determination to push himself further. The Candy-man, who saved me from having the sweet tooth. Jolly Ranchers. The Cookie Monster who had all kinds of cookies to choose from Oreos to choc. chips. Speed Racer because he was quiet young man, who was serious, and alert, Drum-line, because he is a drummer at his high school. He wants to join our grotto. Sebastian, because he stayed focused on his surroundings. Little-foot, because he was the youngest of the group. The boys wanted to go all the way back to climb Mt. Olympus to see the Pillar of Fire. All through the cave, Michel Ray, the great school teacher that he is, gave taught the kids a lot about the temp. and geology of the caves beauty and how the formations formed. He was doing a wonderful job teaching them everything they needed to know about not only the geology but the ecology also. We showed them  the asphalt oozing out of the walls. Rim stone dams that were formed by pools of water. On the way back out, we stopped at the King's Shower. There they all climbed up to see what was to the right and around the corner. Inside the climb up hole is a 400' ft. topless dome. For some reason no one has ever found where the water comes from the top of the dome. Cavers have searched, even climbed it. Green Bo said "That was the most awesome thing he has ever seen." The other boys seemed to like it as well, even though they came out soaked and wet. They seemed to enjoy it. They were quite worn out and tired by the time they jumped back down. The King's Shower had a pretty good amount of water splattering down hard against the rocks that help leverage the kids up.Most of all. I think it taught them how to become self confident with themselves, it gave them self esteem, inner strength, and togetherness. We were heading back out toward the outside world. Some scouts had what we sometimes call "ENTRANCE FEVER" and was trying to rush to exit the cave. We had to stop and make one more head count before we continued back out We came out of the entrance and noticed the ground and our vehicles were covered with a small dusting of snow. How cool can that be. We were out of the cave by 7:30 PM. That was a good 9 hour trip for the boys scouts. Some are ready wanting to join our grotto and learn more about caving and getting on rope. The boys had to go back out in the cold where their tents were set up at Camp Jackson. They were going to cook pork chops and garlic mashed potatoes but instead they went to a fast food place. The troop leaders said that the boy scouts were more than likely going to be "OUT COLD" by the time the slipped into their  tents. They had a good time that's all that matters.

Written By: Kelly Keener NSS# 48045  SCCI.# 1023