Monday, August 31, 2009

Spelunking the Bloomington Caves

Brandon had a little adventure planned for us Saturday afternoon. First of all, he didn't ask me if I wanted to go - he told me I was going. Normally I don't tolerate that kind of abuse, but I was actually quite excited. I believe caving is one of those things you have to do before you die. Plus, I figured I'd get to wear a headlamp - yay! Brandon bumped into an old friend from his frat days at a college event and he invited Brandon to go along.

There are two entrances to the caves and we tried both of them out after the first one took us on an almost vertical descent. The BLM claims you don't need ropes and harnesses but I beg to differ. We decided to turn around after about an hour. Our second entrance included a bat, some rats, and required a very long crab walk and belly shimmy. The inside was cool and damp about 75 degrees compared to the 105 temp outside. I thought I'd have trouble being in such tight quarters but I was surprisingly comfortable. Another bonus - we were there mid day on a saturday and we didn't see another soul.

The Bloomington Caves span a distance of 1.3 miles and drop 240 feet and a permit is required. The caves are not for small children. I'm sure we'll be going again so let us know if you want to come along.

2 comments:

Shara said...

That is so cool. My friends and I used to go cave hiking all the time when we were at CEU. It's amazing and scary all at the same time.

Miranda said...

Since you are inviting... We would love to join you next time !!! That sounds Awesome !!! I am glad you had a great time !