In June of 2026, We joined a group of three other persons for an adventure thru the cave with the hope of making it to the Pillars of Fire. I have been thru the cave numerous times, however, my log shows my last trip was twenty years ago. The folks we went with were very quick and Clinton nearly burned up trying to keep up with everyone. When we got to the elephants feet formation and took a break, you could see how hot he was. We continued to scramble and eventually made it to the kings shower. Clinton and the couples daughter loved this feature. It is really cool, a small hole in the ceiling with a small shower of water splashing out. You stand on a pile of stacked rocks and lift yourself into the hole, and then up thru another one. You reach the topless dome where it is raining from high above. Very fun observation.
Climbing back down and pressing onward, you come to a huge stalagmite known as the Christmas Tree. High above it is a large stalactite that attaches to the ceiling at a very small point, making one wonder how it can hang on supporting its own weight up there. Our group turned around at the Christmas Tree and Clinton and I pressed on traveling downward to the sand crawl.
Then the dreaded, but exciting challenge known as the suicide pass. It is a crawl thru the spaces
between a pile of breakdown (a pile of large rocks). The pass is never large and often very tight and
sometimes referred to as the suicide squeeze. Eventually, after several rodent‑like maneuvers, you exit
the pass into a large room with great acoustics.
I traveled thru a sandwich-like squeeze, scouting ahead. I navigated by rolling which was easier than crawling. I knew we were getting tired so when I reached the other side and saw the additional obstacles
to Mount Olympus and the Pillars of Fire, I opted to turn around and exit. On our way in, about midway
thru suicide, we passed the last group coming out so our safety risk was greatly increased. Checking the
watch we had been in the cave 5 hours. Clinton was disappointed and so was I, but it was the right
decision. Back in the big room, we took a break and ate some snacks, before backtracking thru the suicide
passage. We made it to the Christmas Tree and then to the Kings Shower.
The journey out was tough. I got lost twice. The first time I believe was after the totem room. In the
area I thought we were to go there were marks on the ceiling that said no exit and dead end. It took a
bit, but we continued, having to climb up a slanted rock and very near the dead end.
I knew we had been in the right area, because I distinctly remembered the Shamoo rock and the formation that looks like the upper jaw of a T-Rex sticking out from a ledge.
The next mix-up took a while and is one reason you should minimally have three in a group. Clinton was drained and slow, so he couldn't scout with me. We followed some chalk arrows to a spot where we couldn't
tell where they pointed. So I went around in circles. Feeling dehydrated, I finally resorted to refilling my water from the cave stream. I thought we might have to wait for a rescue party.
I was calm, but my adrenalin was high. I was always within voice shot of Clinton who was in a panic. We
said a prayer and I told Clinton that we have a space blanket, lights and supplies and we were in a
well‑traveled area of the cave, so even if we had to wait for help we would be ok. I also had to explain
that panic would only burn energy and make things worse. It is best just to be alert of the conditions
and use the brain for thinking.
It ends up that the way out was so close to us. It was just around the corner from where I filled my
water bottle. Although it was not the exact same way we came in, it led us to the old saltpeter mine and
we saw a section of the mine we missed on the way in. Finally we found the elephants feet and were on our
way out.
The total time in the cave was about 12 hours. Since we were 5 hours in when we turned around, I figure
that counts for 2 hours of lostness. The Lord blessed us and opened our eyes to the exit shortly after
our prayer. Great but exhausting trip!
