See below ----- Original Message ----- From: "Louise Power" <[email protected]> To: "texas cavers" <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, March 12, 2014 6:26:17 PM Subject: [Texascavers] Favorite crawl
My favorite crawl was The Corkscrew in Midnight Cave on one of my early trips to CV. I didn't find it a particularly hard crawl except that I got a little claustrophobic. But what made it stand out in my mind was that someone (don't remember who) had taken their speleopups into the cave. As I was making my down the crawl, I heard some noise behind me and four furry feet planted themselves in the middle of my back and a speleodog went right over me and out of the crawl. Guess he didn't want to wait while I made my way down. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Rest Of The Story That was a memorable weekend at Carta Valley, camped inside the long-gone Triangle. Probably in the late 1960s. It was a dark and stormy night, as chronicled by Carl Kunath in his 50 Years of Texas Caving. Trucks and assorted vehicles arrived and found themselves parked nose-in, in a ragged circle. Tarps were strung from truck to truck, cavers sitting on the warm (initially) hoods and speleo-bumpers in the center. Louise arrived in her VW beetle. Jon Everage arrived from Houston with a case of odd-lot bargain wine from the get rid of it quick basket - a buck a chuck. Bottles of various unmemorable vintage were passed about the assembled cavers. Stories grew, songs were sung, and bladders filled as it continued to rain. After Sandy and I turned in, Louise decided she had found a dry spot under Tortuga. (See Kunath for complete description of why she found herself so wet in the morning). The next morning the rain had stopped and we visited with Doc Harding. Then off to Midnight Cave. Both Crooked Thumb and Woola were along, as were students from Sul Ross. Pete Lindsley was there and also stalwart Carta Valley Texicans. Crooked Thumb (the Truffle Hound) was the much more experienced caving and climbing dog. He was used to waiting patiently as I climbed up a distance and then signaled him, whereupon he would scramble up over me, using me for toe and claw-holds, and continue upward. We started up the Corkscrew, and from Louise's post, she must have been ahead of me (although I remember being in the lead). Crooked Thumb suddenly clawed his way up and around me (he failed to wait for my signal) and continued ahead, up the Corkscrew. He disappeared on up into the cave. Woola (the Norwegian Elkhouhd) less adept, followed. Dimnly, In the far distance, I hear voices of someone we did not know was in the cave: "Did you hear that?" "Someone is coming behind us!" "G--- D---IT!" " IT'S A DOG!" "SH---!!! HERE COMES ANOTHER ONE!!" It turned out that there were four young people ahead of us. Doc Harding's son and some friends. DirtDoc
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