Trip Leader: Ralph Powers
On Trip: James Henry, Jeff Johnson, Doug and Brittany Vincent, Tammy Jo Heazlit, Ralph Powers
James really wanted to go do Candlelight again and when he found that there wasn�t a trip leader for Salt Lake Grotto�s month then he contacted me about being able to go. Sure. Doug and Britt and Tammy hadn�t been to the cave and they were also up for it. A late addition was Jeff Johnson who would be making his second trip to the cave.
James had already been there once before and knew that two more trips were needed for qualification to be a trip leader. I asked him if he really wanted the responsibility for this particular cave and he was affirmative. So it was going to be a training trip for him.
James and I had camped out on the mine dump the night before having a good quiet chat about nothing in particulars. The next morning the rest of the group arrived in timely fashion. The gate was opened as usual and my 300'-er was rigged and I went on down after posing for a couple shots so Jeff can have a good slide show at the grotto meeting the following month. Turns out that he took shots of everyone on rope... except for himself of course.
Once I was down, I let the rope back out into the drift, effectively leaving me stranded if for some odd, bizarre, cock-eyed reason the group decided to pull up the rope and leave. Nah, they wouldn�t do that...besides they wouldn�t get to see the cave. I�d made sure of that. To my surprise they dropped another rope down. In my opinion not a good idea until the last person is down because the possibility (it�s happened) of the ropes getting twisted around together making it a miserable rappel/ascent. James came down the �new� rope and worked his way in with a little of my coaching. He did very well. The rest came down in short order and since they wanted to visit the lower-most areas of the cave I had them leave their harnesses on to save time.
Traditional trip, following the trail to Ooh Aah and letting them have a good look around. Then onto Post Nasal. Like most people they were hesitant about using the purple webbing. I demonstrated that it is possible to rappel on webbing if one is careful. Jeff opted to free climb down and within a few minutes everyone made it okay. I�d like for the webbing to be replaced with a good stout rope or even a 9mm line will do. It makes it that much easier for first timers to go down. But that�s just my opinion.
I went on ahead after making sure that Brittany, the smallest in our group was able to negotiate the down climb just above the main drop for Post Nasal. The 120' rope was rigged securely to a good boulder and I went on down.
The group was largely surprised that the drop was a free one once past the constriction. I forgot to mention it to them but told them that I wanted to �surprise� them instead. Once everyone was down, I laid out a caution for loose rocks as they were to go down the slide to the bottom of the cave. I asked that as few rocks as possible be knocked loose as they descended. This is doable as long as one watches where their feet are placed as they go down. Honestly I was reluctant to make this trip in fear of the gypsum beards being damaged. But all promised to be careful and they were. I was the first down and was able to manage the rope so it wouldn�t be a hindrance to the others as they made their descent.
The rope was actually a bit short but if one moved to the left (facing up from the bottom of the drop) then there was enough to meet the slope and get off rope safely. One by one they came down and one by one I pointed out that they needed to stay away from the far wall... even at the risk of getting smacked by a small rock or two. Once everyone was down they all saw the reason why it�s not a good idea to visit this portion of the cave as often as the others. I�m glad to say that everyone took great care around the beards and needles. They were a sight to see. Tammy Jo, who�s been caving across the country was especially impressed with the whole cave but marveled particularly at the beards and the size and lengths of the needles.
Jeff, Doug and Brittany took many photos and happily a good number turned out. Everyone seemed to be on eggshells as they made their way back up the slope one at a time, knowing what�s behind them. The ascent out of the cave went well, except for a small moment of nervousness when Tammy Jo attempted to make the free climb out of Post Nasal (the purple webbing spot) and found herself �stuck� with her ascenders on the webbing.
With a little coaxing her to climb up a little higher I managed to help her unstick her ascenders and called for the rope that was being de-rigged by James and Doug to be brought up to me asap. With it I made the free climb out and rigged the rope around the same boulder that the webbing was on and got Tammy to put her ascenders on it and she made it out without any difficulty.
It is possible to ascend on webbing, just have to pay close attention to detail and to make sure that the ascenders� teeth don�t dig in too deeply. Mainly the webbing is to be a hand/safety alone but again I think a cord of 9mm or 11mm will do better here. Yes it�s a hint.
The usual trip out and ascent up the rope out of the shaft. I did manage to keep James behind so he can get a taste of what it�s like being the �last� caver out. Since we had two ropes going it was a simple matter of choosing which rope for whom and me going out first to show how it�s done. I think he was a bit un-nerved by the idea but came out anyway.
Next trip I plan for him to go down by himself first and out last. After which he�ll be another resource for the Salt Lake Grotto to rely upon for trip leadership to this fine cave.
| Photography | ||||
 group photo Ralph Powers |  Brittany On Rope Ralph Powers |  Gypsum Beards Ralph Powers | ||
 Pink Popcorn Ralph Powers | ||||