McAlisterville Cave 8-04
On August 21, 2004, 5 members of the Greater Philadelphia "Philly" Grotto went to McAlester Cave. Frank, Amos, Marcy and myself met at Ellen's house around 9:00 AM and departed shortly after to McAlester, PA., with all of us fitting in the "mighty Montana (not just a minivan)". This was my first trip to this cave. As a beginner, I was a little weary from hearing stories about the different challenges associated with exploring it. This is mostly because of my fear of heights and the climbing and chimneyimg involved.
This was my first trip with Frank. This was also his first trip since losing so much weight (looking good dude) which was apparent when he put his caving suit on. This was Marcy's last trip with us for a while as she's moving to Arkansas in a couple weeks.
After a preliminary equipment check we unlocked the gate and entered the cave. The plan was to do the "easy" part first. Yea right. Easy getting in. And it was. The formations and the size of this cave amazed me, being in Pennsylvania. Large rooms and passages. A few small crawls, but for the most part they were short in duration and length. There was some climbing involved in this section, but nothing too tough for this novice.
We went into a smaller room with a flat floor that was filled with mud sculptures. Most were between 2 and 6 inches. Some were on the walls and ceiling. Most were lined up on the floor. Marcy and Amos pointed out the ones they did on previous trips. There's a lot of talent in this room.
Amos suggested we drop our packs and try to last room in this section.
In the last room, Amos, Marcy, Frank and I slide down the flow stone to the center of the room. A very high ceiling looked like about 20 ft in the headlamp light. Off to the left was a small hole with just enough room for me to slide through. The hole was about 6 feet deep, but opened into a small room just big enough for, maybe, three people to sit in. Tight fit, but the crystal formations where worth the trip.
Now to back track to the passage to get to the other side of this cave. OK, so you can't just walk back up the flow stone. It was very slick and after a few minutes of trying, Amos and Ellen admitted they never have seen anyone get up that way. Amos explained while Frank climbed a crack in the rock to the ceiling and chimneyed across slowly and carefully. Then Marcy went up, again no problems. Oh boy, my turn. I climbed the crack in the rock. Got into the chimneying position and inched my way across. I was almost at the end. There was this rock I had to squeeze my back past. OK, so I have the flexibility of a 2X4, and to boot I was quite a few feet off the floor with my back against one wall and my feet against a ledge. Yes, I found my first limitation. It's not that I didn't keep pushing, I just could not fold up like that.
After a while of everyone's suggestions we all agreed that it would be best for me to find another route. Back across the ceiling to the crack in the rock and back down the crack I went. Amos and I looked up the flow stone and made a plan. I went up as far as I could. Amos got into a position where I could step on him enough to get a few more feet up. Ellen was sitting on top of the flow stone with her legs reaching down enough for me to grab and climb up enough to get a footing. Finally out. I was tired and ready for a break and some food and water. So back to the Mud Sculpture room, where I left my pack, for a break.
As we're all sitting there, I realized that during the last section my glasses had been fogging up a lot and had to take them off and put them in my pocket. Checking on them, I found them all bent out of shape. While trying to straighten them out, they broke. My spare glasses were in my car parked back at Ellen's house. Well, I'll just have to enjoy what I can see. After a must deserved and needed rest, we moved on back to the "rabbit hole" entrance to the other section of this rather large cave. For me, rabbit holes are no problem. Put my hands over my head and just slide through till I feel something solid to put my feet on.
A little more climbing and into a canyon about a foot or so wide with a twelve foot ceiling. Not a straight shot, but kind of a slalom. Made it interesting. Then a little more climbing. Then back to my favorite (please note sarcasm) chimneying. Yes, here we go again. Back against one wall and feet pressed against a ledge, inching my way along about 6 six to ten feet up in the air. First Amos, then Frank, then Marcy, than, me, then Ellen. I'm trying to watch what everybody else is doing and stay on the same level plane as they are. This one was a lot easier, but that's not saying much on my behalf. I did get through it. A little more climbing down and into the "Voodoo Rock Room".
This is one room you have to see for yourself, and someday I hope to have a picture to really show it's size and optical illusion of the "Voodoo Rock". We took a break here and rested a bit before continuing on to the mail slot.
We got to the slot and Amos proceeded to show us how to get though it. I looked and tried. It didn't seem too bad, but a voice or reason, not mine, insistently said that we should turn back while we had the energy to negotiate getting back the way we came.
Yielding to the request, we headed back. By the time we exited the cave it was 6:00 PM. This was my longest caving trip so far. A great workout and adventure no doubt.
I'll be back to try this cave again.