noharleyyet
Well-known member
Worked construction in OKC with a former tunnel rat. Damn good dude, he didn't talk much and I didn't ask. Small guy that exuded deserved respect.
Caving
- Thread starter Bhoesl
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Southern Elk
Well-known member
I’ve never been in a cave. There’s not much that scares me, but going inside of a cave does.
Straight Arrow
Well-known member
Knew of a similar guy who cleared VC tunnels when US forces entered Laos during Vietnam. He told the story of encountering a defected US soldier in a tunnel, a defector who tried to convince him to defect. When asked how he responded, he calmly explained that he just merely put the guy out of his traitorous misery with a bullet in the head from the pistol always carried in tunnel clearing.
I've done some 'cavern' SCUBA diving in the past. It wasn't the super squeeze that true cave diving is, but it was dark and terrifying enough. Luckily I had a guide and there was a rope to hang onto so it would have been tough to get lost. I also did some dry land spelunking in Turkey after college. It was pretty fun, but also terrifying at points. We have a big cave here locally that is pretty neat to explore, but there is no chance of dying, which I like.
npaden
Well-known member
Wow. Never heard that story before. I got sucked into reading the daily updates. What a way to go.
Sheltowee
Well-known member
Might want to check this book out, then: https://www.kentuckypress.com/9781985903326/trapped/
The Sand Cave tragedy was one of the first live, on-the-scene media events in the radio age.
When I was a kid I went with my dad and brother to Gypsum cave near Las Vegas. The first time we went we only had a lantern for light. Once inside a ways there was a room that opened up and we couldn't see the far side with that light.
Back then it seemed like an adventure
. Now I doubt I would do it again.
Back then it seemed like an adventure
. Now I doubt I would do it again.
Mt Elgon National Park in western Kenya allows visitors to leave the relative safety of your vehicle and walk to several cave sites. Theoretically the park doesn’t have lions anymore, but there are secretive leopards around. The trail is littered with elephant and buffalo tracks. You will also probably see one or two species of monkeys in the forest canopy. The caves are theorized to have been created by a combination of water erosion and elephants digging into the sidewalls of the caves in search of minerals.
When I visited the caves with a group of 11 people jammed into a Chevy Love truck we arrived at the entrance of the cave after the half mile hike from the parking area. I was first under the overhanging cliff and started to walk towards the posterior of the cave. As I advanced I saw where local folks had stacked up stones to make corrals to keep their domestic animals. As I continued into the darkness I thought I heard noises coming from the back of the cave.
I called out to my group to warn them that there were animals in the cave, with me imagining the worst case scenario of elephants or a herd of buffalo.
I advanced a couple more feet deeper when the rustling noises grew louder, accompanied by lots a deep grunting. Then louder noises of hooves on rocky cave floor and porcine squealing. A dozen Giant Forrest Hogs decided to make a break for it, thundering out into the forest.
Years later I learned that there have been several people who visited these caves and later came down with Marburg virus (closely related to Ebola). Bat contact being one theory of disease transmission.
Deeper inside looking back
(Photos lifted from internet sources)
When I visited the caves with a group of 11 people jammed into a Chevy Love truck we arrived at the entrance of the cave after the half mile hike from the parking area. I was first under the overhanging cliff and started to walk towards the posterior of the cave. As I advanced I saw where local folks had stacked up stones to make corrals to keep their domestic animals. As I continued into the darkness I thought I heard noises coming from the back of the cave.
I called out to my group to warn them that there were animals in the cave, with me imagining the worst case scenario of elephants or a herd of buffalo.
I advanced a couple more feet deeper when the rustling noises grew louder, accompanied by lots a deep grunting. Then louder noises of hooves on rocky cave floor and porcine squealing. A dozen Giant Forrest Hogs decided to make a break for it, thundering out into the forest.
Years later I learned that there have been several people who visited these caves and later came down with Marburg virus (closely related to Ebola). Bat contact being one theory of disease transmission.
Deeper inside looking back
(Photos lifted from internet sources)
