Was There A 3rd Choice? By Keith Finn
Jennifer (the keeper of my heart) is a leader of a Girl Scout troop. The scout troop decided one day that caving sounded like something they ought to try. I am an occasional caver, so Jennifer asked if I could take the troop caving. Ay yi yi! I managed to deflect my role to that of assistant cave guide, since I was able to convince Jennifer that Dave Seslar would be a much better choice to lead the expedition. Dave is a much better choice for cave guide, but he chose a cave where much of the system has the same cross-section as my torso. We were going to Jarvie Rourke cave in Kentucky. For reasons I never have been able to understand, I cannot find my way around Jarvie Rourke with any reliability. I don't get lost in the classic sense; I just don't know where I am! I can always find my way back; I just can't follow the cave map to a goal.
At the cave entrance we split into 2 groups. I had 1 adult and 4 GS; Dave had 2 adults and 4 GS. The scouts had to choose the leader they wanted to cave with: Column A - Go with Dave and get stuck but not lost (Dave is 6'2" and 140 lbs - he can fit through a 7.5" gap) Column B - Go with Keith and get lost but not stuck (Keith is 5'10" and 330 lbs - he MAKES his own gaps!) After some hemming and hawing, they asked if there was a 3rd choice! Whadda bunch of babies!
Anyway, off we went with our victims, er...scouts. Dave's group took the high road, and I took the low road. We tromped along a stream passage for a while, clambered over some rimstone dams, straddle walked a crevice in the floor, then settled down for some crawling. I had chosen a destination on the map, and we had 200 feet or so of crawling to reach it. It wasn't bad, hands and knees in single file, but after a while it seemed like we had crawled longer than we should have. When we came to a wide spot, I would have everone examine the map, agree that we seemed on course (consensus is good when trying to explain things to a search party). After two more consensus building sessions, I decided that once again, I was lost. I think I was in a passage named "Endless Crawl", and it was aptly named. I decided to backtrack, climb a level and look for Eagle Pit. After backtracking, climbing and wandering around (in which the scouts had a great time investigating diverse nooks and crannies), I ran into Dave and his group. Much to my chagrin, he told me I was nowhere near Eagle Pit - I was in the Registration Room. But my group didn't feel so bad about being lost after the horror tales of where Dave made his group go! Once I was oriented, we made a quick exit (I can always find my way out) and waited for the others to catch up. All in all, the scouts found it a worthwhile excursion. They even let me take them caving again - as long as it wasn't back to Jarvie Rourke!