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re: As far as worst ways to go..getting stuck in a cave has to be up there
Posted on 2/18/15 at 8:53 pm to BigOrangeBri
Posted on 2/18/15 at 8:53 pm to BigOrangeBri
That is Cumberland Caverns in McMinnville. The guy was Aaron Higginbotham. He was the original discoverer of the cave. He decided to go in one day by himself to explore a new passage he had found. He left his mule at the cave entrance as well as his pack. He went in with his pine torch and went into the new passage. He got to a place where he had to climb almost vertical about 30 feet and as he neared the top, he dropped his torch. He could not see but knew before he dropped the torch that he was only a couple feet to the top. He could not go back down because in the darkness he could not see where to put his feet and hands. He got to the top and sat there for 3 days in the dark. Later said that after a few hours he was in sheer terror and his mind was hearing all sorts of things. He was rescued because local minors heard his mule(which was tied to a tree) going bonkers from hunger and anxiety. They saw the mule and his pack and knew someone was in trouble in the cave. When they found him, he was curled up in a ball against a rock wall. Said he looked like a wild animal and yes, his hair had turned white from stress and terror.
Donald Ball died from falling into Ball's Pit in the 50s. He was rescued but died in the hospital 3 days later.
I did the overnight stay there with my 9 year old son and some of his friends 3 weeks ago. We did the a Wild Tour and it was pure hell for me. About 2 hours of crawling for 30-50 ft of 13"-18" clearance in many spots. That was with a guide and with headlamps. Kept thinking how crazy the first explorers were who did that with torches. I was probably the oldest guy in our group tour of 25 and I was in no shape to be doing that having suffered permanent leg damage from cancer. You need every muscle group in your body functioning at good to peak performance to do that. Working with one leg strength at 50% had me praying half way through just to make it out. Great experience though if your body is in shape and you are not claustrophobic.
Donald Ball died from falling into Ball's Pit in the 50s. He was rescued but died in the hospital 3 days later.
I did the overnight stay there with my 9 year old son and some of his friends 3 weeks ago. We did the a Wild Tour and it was pure hell for me. About 2 hours of crawling for 30-50 ft of 13"-18" clearance in many spots. That was with a guide and with headlamps. Kept thinking how crazy the first explorers were who did that with torches. I was probably the oldest guy in our group tour of 25 and I was in no shape to be doing that having suffered permanent leg damage from cancer. You need every muscle group in your body functioning at good to peak performance to do that. Working with one leg strength at 50% had me praying half way through just to make it out. Great experience though if your body is in shape and you are not claustrophobic.
1
Posted on 2/18/15 at 8:59 pm to BigOrangeBri
That is the Volcano Room. You camp in Ten Acre Room right beside it. They have a concession stand as well as bathrooms as well. Really a cool place but my Wild Tour days are done. Would go back to camp and do the walking tour though. No crawling and squeezing on that tour.
Posted on 2/18/15 at 9:08 pm to TheIndulger
(no message)
This post was edited on 1/10/21 at 8:55 am
Posted on 2/19/15 at 7:33 am to TheIndulger
just reading the story gave me anxiety.
Posted on 2/19/15 at 7:39 am to Topwater Trout
quote:Spelunkers like to crawl through extremely tight passages. Its part of the thrill supposedly and they usually have names for them kind of like ski trails/slopes.
Im having a hard time picturing how you get yourself wedged into a tight space like that.
No way for me.
Posted on 2/19/15 at 7:44 am to Dick Leverage
quote:
Donald Ball died from falling into Ball's Pit in the 50s. He was rescued but died in the hospital 3 days later.
Didn't he die from injuries sustained when the ambulance he was in wrecked? Hell of a way to go. I can't remember. It's been a long time since I've been to Cumberland Caverns.
Posted on 2/19/15 at 7:47 am to BottomlandBrew
I can't read anymore of this shite, my nerves are shot to hell!
Posted on 2/19/15 at 7:53 am to Kraut Dawg
Cool stories 
where did you usually get the maps from?
where did you usually get the maps from?
Posted on 2/19/15 at 9:06 am to TheIndulger
if i ever went spelunking or caving or whatever the frick it's called, i would always bring a gun in case i had to kill myself. frick getting stuck in those tiny spaces. i would have it mounted to my head so i could pull a string with my mouth and blow my brains out in case i couldnt move my arms
Posted on 2/19/15 at 9:41 am to Carson123987
I ain't no psychiatrist or nothin but I think you should just avoid caves altogether
Posted on 2/19/15 at 9:45 am to TheIndulger
i went in one in San Antonio once. they showed this little offshoot and they were like "if you want the deluxe tour, you take this way. the space was like big enough to fit a cat. he was like you have to lay flat on your stomach with your head on the ground pointed to the side and you inch your way through with your fingertips and toes
i almost jumped into the giant chasm on my right I was so scared
Posted on 2/19/15 at 10:29 am to BottomlandBrew
There were 4 of them that planned on rappelling down the pit. Ball went first and of course he fell the 40ft to the bottom. Took two of them over an hour to squeeze back through the passages to the exit. One guy stayed at the top of the pit to talk to Ball in case he was alive and eventually became conscious.....which he did. He was injured pretty bad though. The two guys drove into town to organize a rescue party. A group went to the cave and somehow managed to drag him through all the tight squeezes after someone had rappelled down and attached him to a harness to lift him out of the pit. He was put in an ambulance to take him to Vanderbilt in Nashville about 2 hours away. The ambulance crashed but nobody was killed. Another ambulance picked up Ball at the scene and drove him on to Nashville. He died a couple of days later from head trauma complications.
Posted on 2/19/15 at 10:39 am to Dick Leverage
Is there still a really muddy stretch in Cumberland Caverns called Bubblegum Alley?
Posted on 2/19/15 at 10:49 am to Ed Osteen
quote:
My brother learned this the hard way and still fricks me to this day
Your brother fricks you? WTF man
Posted on 2/19/15 at 10:52 am to DirtyMikeandtheBoys
Did you type out "frick"?
Posted on 2/19/15 at 10:53 am to TheIndulger
no, TD edits it automatically
Posted on 2/19/15 at 10:58 am to DirtyMikeandtheBoys
When you have your swear filter on they do
Posted on 2/19/15 at 11:00 am to TheIndulger
you don't say
Posted on 2/19/15 at 11:04 am to TheIndulger
My idea of Hell.
quote:
Utah County sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Spencer Cannon told CNN affiliate KSL that Jones was trapped upside down in a crevice that was about 18 inches wide and about 10 inches high. The crevice is about 150 feet below the surface and about 700 feet from the cave entrance, according to the sheriff's department.
Posted on 2/19/15 at 11:07 am to athenslife101
quote:
I feel that way towards all extreme sports.
Uh, caving isn't an extreme sport. Kind of seems like the antithesis of an extreme sport actually.
But I'd much rather die backcountry skiing or skydiving than stuck in a fricking rock coffin 200 feet underground. frick that
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