| Rocky Mountain Regional |
| September 2-5 2005 - Robert Cranney |
| Location: Pink Lime Pit Trip Leader: Robert Cranney On Trip: Cavers from Utah, Colorado, and Idaho I have been on a stay from caving for almost three years now, for reasons beyond my control. I just finished my 11th season working for the Boy Scouts of America. Having achieved all of my goals with scouting, I decided that it was time to move on. When I moved on from summer camp, I knew that caving was where I wanted to be again. With the Rocky Mountain Regional coming up, I knew this would be a good time to get my foot back into the caving community. This is my story. The Rocky Mountain Regional in Utah Valley was to be held at Pink Lime Pit over Labor Day weekend. This is a popular weekend for campers and outdoor enthusiasts, so I decided to head out early so we could reserve the area. I arrived on Monday and scoped out the area for the best possible camping and meeting place. I setup my tent and made home for a week. I had lots of things I wanted to get done this week, one of those being to read the new Harry Potter book. Jon Jasper and Spencer Christian arrived on Thursday with the porta potties. After setting those up, we scoped out the area where we would setup the registration tent. After a brief conversation Jon and Spencer headed back home. I had the chance to enjoy another peaceful night of relaxation and reading. It was great. The next morning everyone started to arrive. We setup the registration and trip sign-up area. The wind was a bit brisk at times, but the tent held up. People were starting to arrive from Colorado, Idaho, Wyoming, and Utah. It was a great turnout. I was scheduled to lead the Candlelight trip for Saturday. We met at the registration area at 9:00 am. Once we had everyone that was going, we headed out. The drive over was nice, and the day was sunny and warm. When we arrived at the cave we quickly unlocked the gate and rigged the ropes. Cami Pulham wanted to be the first one into the cave. She was in the drift and had the rope secured in under 2 minutes. She did a good job. The rest of the group went down the shaft. At Candlelight you rappel down a 230â mine shaft. At the 95â level there is a drift that goes off, you exit here. At this point the mine intersects the cave. We all headed in for a fun day of caving. The first stop was the Ohh Ahh passage. When we arrived at the passage everyone was ooh and aahâd at the sight of the formations. It was great to see everyone excited. Lots of picture were taken for about 30 minutes. We then decided to head out to the Candy Cane Maze and see the Post Nazel Drop. Bob decided to stay at the top of the drop, so I stayed with him while Cami took the rest of the group down. After 15 minutes her group was back up and we headed off to the Fair Game Room. This is one of my favorite parts of the cave. I love the climb that you do to reach to the top. After we did this, we decided to head back to the mine drift. One by one we headed out of the cave. Once we were all out we decided to do a historic tour of the Tintic Mining District. We drove over to the train tunnel, the Burgen Apex Mine, the Copper Leaf Mine, and into some other interesting areas. Saturday night Ralph made his world famous spaghetti dinner. I must say, of all the times that I have had this dinner this one was by far the best. Good job Ralph. After the great food, Jon Jasper did a presentation on Utah Caving. It was amazing, and Jon did a great job. I was not planning to lead a trip on Sunday, so I decided to try and go on Ralphâs Indian Springs trip. The night before, Duane McCully showed up with his family. Duane said he would be back Sunday morning and would like to see Indian Springs. At 9:00 am we all met the registration area and headed off to the cave. Another person that we met on this trip was Tami Jensen who has turned out to be a fun person to cave with a good friend. When we arrived at the cave, we were saddened to hear that the entrance had already been dug open by Ralph and the Colorado cavers. We were looking forward to this. Actually we werenât, but we got a wee bit lost on the way to the cave. Sorry that we werenât able to help. When we finally entered the mine, it was hot. I was wearing my full cold cave outfit and was sweating profusely outside and was ready to go in. Once we were in the mine, we had a few minor setbacks with the descent down the mine drift, but it all worked out. Once we were in the cave, things started picking up. Actually Duane and I got to spend about 2 hours catching up on old times waiting for the rest of the group to do the climb. It was good. At least I was prepared for this. Once in the cave we had a great time. The cave was beautiful. I had never been to Indian Springs before. Lots of great formations and big rooms. When we made it to the back room Ralph told us to go down a little passage that continued through the cave. When I got through to the other side I finally ran into the Colorado cavers that were trying to climb the 50â wall. They decided not too. By this time we were ready to do the trip back out of the cave. This is where it gets interesting. The entrance to the mine at Indian Springs is a bit tight. I was the second to last person to exit the mine tunnel. When I started into the hole I must not have been thinking. I just started going right into it. After about 6.543 inches I got stuck. Not the âJust push out a little air Rob and youâll be fineâ stuckâ¦noâ¦I was stuck. My body wasnât going forward. I tried to grad the walls, and they just gave way and crumbled onto me. This wasnât good. I suddenly felt like I should be at the Floyd Collins Family Reunion. Duane tossed a strap down to me to see if he could pull me out, but I broke the strap and I still wasnât moving. Ok. What to do. I decided to back down into the drift and rethink this. I decided to try and move some of the dirt that was in the way. Once I did this I started again. This time I made it 6.876 inches and got stuck. But waitâ¦there was hope. I was still breathing. Maybe I can squeeze out slowly. So I pushed and grunted and pushed and grunted some more and finally got my chest through the tight spot. I was out. I just laid there for a minute, exhausted. This is when I noticed that everyone was chuckling. Why would the group be chuckling? Rick from Colorado was filming the whole thing. That Son of a #&*#$!!! Let the fat jokes begin. Well, I made it out. We journeyed back to the camp. It was a fun caving trip. That night Rick was showing everyone on his laptop my little âAdventureâ underground that day. I must say, I was probably laughing the most. Good job Rick. The next day there were no caving trips planned, so we decided to tear down camp. I packed everything into my wonderful car and got ready to head home. It was hard to believe that the week was already gone. I had the time of my life. It was great to see old friends and make new ones. I will always remember the Regional at Pink Lime Pit for many reasons, but most of all I am caving again. Thanks. Side Note: I, for the most part, didnât go caving for almost 3 years. I was in a slump. I wanted to go caving, but had no desire. What was I missing? That weekend I figured it out. Itâs about friends. "Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe unto him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up." Ecclesiastes 4:9-10. |