Toothbrush Cave/LBCC

Saturday, November 12th 2005 - Duane McCully

Trip Leader: Robert Cranney On Trip: Duane & David McCully, Robert Cranney, Cami Litchford, Rachel Kenske, Peter Hartley, Dave & Adam Herron, Al Hinman, Britney Vincent, James Henry, Peter Ruplinger, Jason Baxter, Thorpe ?, and one other David, Rob, Cami, Rachel, and I all drove out together in my car on Friday night and camped. The next morning we headed down to Toothbrush at 9:00 a.m. and rigged the drop. I did the same routine as the week before and tied my 120' to the end of my 165'. All five of us and Peter Hartley immediately dropped into the cave to have a look around. After perhaps thirty minutes, David, Peter, and I headed out. We didn't want to get caught waiting forever given that many more people had arrived and were ready to rappel. We left the cave and went over to LBCC. While I waited for David to take care of his insulin, Rob, Cami, and Rachel went and looked at the Black Pit and the White Pit. David and I headed into LBCC. I don't really know the cave well so we just took the most obvious route. Eventually we ran into a pool that had a couple of 12" trout in it. After that there is a much larger pool that we would not have been able to cross without getting wet. On the way back out we ran into Peter Hartley who reported, "We've got something of a serious problem. We've lost Cami." Several minutes later, Cami appeared out of a side lead that is actually very close to the entrance. She reported that after climbing a couple of chimneys she came to a larger drop the she partially tried to free climb. After nearly falling she came back out somewhat shaken. David and I then headed up the passage she had just come out of to check it out. The pit is certainly not free-climbable by me. Upon talking to Dave Herron later he reports that it is actually a 50' drop that bells out at the bottom and drops into the Mushroom Room. Upon arriving at the exit, we ran into Rob, Britney Vincent, and James Henry who were ready to go in. So we did it all over again. Back at the car we warmed up and ate. We had planned to run over and do part of BBCC but we ran into some logistical problems. Cami and Rachel were still in LBCC with Peter and my ropes were still rigged in Toothbrush. By the time the rope was derigged in Toothbrush it was too late to go anywhere else. Many thanks to the several cavers who derigged and helped me stuff the rope into the rope bags. Pretty much everyone on this trip that I didn't report on spent their day in Toothbrush after I got out. In terms of sheer numbers, this was probably the largest caving event in Utah this year besides the Rocky Mountain Regional.