In a perfect Utopian world or vacuum, it might be easier to plan and coordinate a caving trip and invite other cavers.
But there are realities that prevent this in the real caving world - especially in Texas. Sometimes there are spur of the moment trips, that fall into place because the leader's schedule and the schedule of other cavers suddenly aligns unexpectedly. Sometimes there are complications with the land-owner that make it impossible to bring unexpected people along. In some cases it is difficult to spend a 2 or 3 day weekend crammed in a vehicle with some person you don't really bond well with. It maybe something minor like they want to sing Lady GaGa music the whole trip, or maybe they just have really really bad breath. Or it could be something worse, like you can tolerate them at a grotto meeting for a few minutes, but that is the peak of your resistance. Or they could just be complete cluster-f*cks, and you have to go out of your way to make sure they don't know about the trip. And there are enough other reasons, that someone could probably write a nice article. Like taking cavers, that don't financially contribute to the cost of the trip, or the trip is a fragile cave with speleothems or endangered fauna. Texas cavers that want to go caving need to make an effort on their own to get on trips, or create their own trips. I have been telling cavers for nearly 20 years that there are 3 very nice caves in Langtry, that someone just needs to make an effort to get to know the rancher, and try to get him to drop his $ 100 per caver ( per day ! ) requirement. And on the subject of brochures, This is the 21st century. Get with the program. The thing to do is make a nice YouTube video explaining how caving in Texas works and how it is different from other regions. Also, make a tablet-friendly slide-show on-line, explaining the same information. This ain't Indiana, or Arizona or Britain. Caving in Texas is different here. Being a caver in east Texas really sucks, unless you prefer to hop on a plane to go to your favorite karst area. Also, I would like to go to Carlsbad on May 13th if anybody is heading that way from east Texas. David Locklear armchair caver with a hernia 281-995-8487 P.S. I will not be doing any caving until I get my hernia fixed. But I am willing to sit top-side and camp. And the East Texas Caver's Cookout is still on as of 4-26-11. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected] For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected]
