Post by Mike Green on Mar 15, 2007 15:57:23 GMT -5
The Caver’s Solution for Dry Eyes
March 3rd, 2007
Matt Ketron, Jason Hardy, and I (Mike Green) meet at Charlie Smith’s property with our sites set high on Solution Rift. This 400+’ cave in Marion County has a reputation as one of the most difficult pulldown trips in TAG. To my understanding, very few people have ever attempted a trip during wet season due to beavers damming the bottom entrance shut; however, Charlie Smith recently set explosive charges in the dam to “flush out” any unwanted tenants. With the dam gone, we were able to try our luck in the high waters of Solution Rift.
After approximately a mile of walking up hill, we encounter the giant sink that is home to Solution Rift. Upon arrival, I knew that it was going to be one hell of a trip. The 100’- diameter sink was in the process of taking on large amounts of water due to a heavy rainfall. The first stream poured directly into the cave’s entrance while the other emptied into another small karst feature (undoubtedly connecting to the cave a short distance underground). Within a few minutes, we were ready, and I proceeded quickly through the waterfall to rig the first pit.
In the cave, the water immediately disappears down a pit that is shrouded by a thick cloud of water vapor. By traversing over this pit, we located a series of dry, bypass pits (24’ & 18’). After we all had rappelled and pulled the first two drops, we proceeded to follow the meandering stream passage. Within a hundred feet or so, we passed where the intense waterfall from the series of wet pits crashed to the ground, and then flowed though walking passage. With water over our knees, we sloshed down the loud and busy passage for about 100’ to the next drop (30’). This pit could easily be heard from far upstream, and it was amazing to watch as the water broke over an array of ledges before finally vanishing into the darkness below it. We all had a great time rappelling in the water as we allowed it to blast us down the pit. We carried on and joked about getting drenched, but we were totally unaware of the trials of terror that awaited us further into the Rift.
Excited and reenergized by the amazing display of water and limestone, we ran to endure the first crawl of the day. This belly crawl is actually an old dig site that parallels the stream. This passage is very tight and time consuming due to the slick muddy that lines the sides of the passage. Before we knew it, a few hundred feet had passed, and we were belly crawling in the stream! It was nice to cool off in the water after crawling in the dry passages in our thick cave suits. After a short distance, we were stooping and walking again for approximately 800’ until reaching the next pit (23’). From the top of this pit, the entire contents of the stream came crashing down into the tiny room below us. This large amount of water flow poured over the edge in a “V-shape”, sort of like a carton of milk. This would cause any careless caver to be instantaneously swept over the ledge if he happened to get to close. This marked the end of our carefree entertainment, and began one of the hardest caving trips in all of our lives.
The bottom of the 23’ pit was enough to make a caver diver uncomfortable. The water swirled around the base of the drop with little to no constancy. The entire room seemed to be saturated without a single inch of space left untarnished by the liquid vortex. Once on the ground, I ran behind a flowstone curtain in attempts to shield myself from the intense winds and blinding vapor, but it provided me with little protection; however, it did allow me to signal that I was off rope. Jason was next to descend the drop. We both had to pause for a moment as Jason struggled to remount his headlamp. The intense power of the water had blasted it right off his head! This would prove to be a reoccurring problem. Ketron was soon joined us in the monsoon-style environment. The tremendous roar of the water left communication practically nonexistent. I yelled into Ketron’s ear to give me a few minutes before he proceeded pulled down the rope. I wanted to make sure that the following passage known as the Brr Tubes was not completely sumped before we stranded ourselves in a hopeless situation. If the Tubes were to be sumped, we would have little to no chance at surviving long enough for a rescue in the hypothermic conditions. He agreed, and I plunged forward into the water-filled crawl to investigate our status. I knew immediately that it would be close. The passage starts as a hands and knees crawl, but the most daunting feature is the water level that stopped just a foot short of the ceiling! After about fifty feet, the dimensions of the crawl shrank to a most uncomfortable level, while the water seemed to be relentlessly increasing. At this point, I paused for a second to inspect the upcoming passage, and was shocked to see that there was only three inches of airspace that remained! I could hear the distant rumble of Confederate Well, a 167’ pit, but was unable to force myself forward. I called back to my comrades, but there was no answer. I tried to call out again, but water poured into my mouth causing me to choke. Much like the water, fear began to saturate my very being. I struggled to suppress the onset of panic as I began to route back to the last drop. I stopped myself. I knew that the clouding of judgment was the first sure sign of hypothermia, so I began to calm myself the best I could with my lips pressed against the ceiling for air. I knew that the rope had probably already been pulled down, and there would be no chance at waiting for rescue in the torrent of cold water and violent air that raged behind me. At that moment, I came to realize that our only chance out of the cave was forward. Pushing my pack and rope in front of me, I continued toward my uncertain fate. My arms and legs began to weaken and fail as I began to slip into the next stage of hypothermia, but I cleared my mind of this unnecessary information, and began to hum a familiar bluegrass tune. It would have been nice to have a radio or something…
Inching through the Brr Tubes with my helmet off and lips pressed against the ceiling, the once distant rumble of the 167’ was now a distinctive roar. Not able to see past my gear, I continued sliding on my side, and hoped that I would not be swept off the edge of Confederate Well. After approximately thirty feet, I popped out of the passage, and was able to stand once again! Thank God! I quickly took advantage of my opportunity to stand, and I began to convulse uncontrollably as the water cascaded off of my near-frozen body. The cold had taken much of my energy, but I had more important things on my mind: where the hell was the rest of my team?! I waited for what seemed like hours, but there was no sign of Ketron or Jason. I feared that I would soon be forced back into the horror I had just faced. After some more time had passed, I began to hear hoots and hollers! I knelt down to the end of the crawl to see Ketron’s light! I began to once again feel at easy, but this was short-lived. Ketron had somehow made it through the passage by going a different and more treacherous route than me. In turn, Jason had not followed him through, and had completely disappeared from sight! As Ketron explained the situation, he began to shows signs of confusion, slurred speech, and slowed response time. I knew that both of them had to get out of the tubes immediately before hypothermia complicated the situation further. Once Ketron understood the impeding threat, he quickly turned around and crawled out of my sight. “Crap,” I thought to myself as I sat back down on my pack. Once again, I was alone with no one but my pessimistic thoughts to keep me company. I began to shake as I prepared myself for the Brr Tubes once more.
It wasn’t until I was back in the water that I heard movement. They had made it! Jason came out of the passage first followed by Ketron who was hauling a ridiculous amount of gear including an uncoiled 80’ rope. I grabbed gear from both of the tired and mentally vanquished cavers, and helped to pull them to safety.
As they rested and tried to recuperate, I began rigging Confederate Well (167’) for the technical pulldown. Within a few minutes, the pit was rigged, and I started my decent. Looking down in the seemly bottomless void, many thoughts began to race through my head. The entire contents of the Brr Tubes plunged over the ledge only a few feet from me and the top of the rope. After approximately twenty feet, the rope was consumed in a vicious cascade of water, wind, and vapor. Most of the drop would have to be done inside the waterfall itself. This is not uncommon in the caving we like to do, but I have never before witnessed any similar power to this waterfall. This was going to be intense. The rope violently flailed back and forth, and made me wonder if the ropes would twist and tangle together as I descended into a certainly sketchy situation. A waterfall like this could induce hypothermia within minutes due to the wind super-cooling the water. This is a direct result of the large volume of air displaced by the falling water. If I were to encounter some sort of tangle in the rope, it would be unclear whether or not I could manage to cope with the situation. I pulled and inspected the rope one last time before I proceeded to slid out over the edge.
I initially wanted to play it safe by rappelling at a reasonable speed so that I would not rappel off the end of the rope if it were to be short-rigged, but I decided to try for a controlled 100’ fall in order to minimize my time in the thundering waterfall. This seemed like a prudent thing to do, so I held my breath and let myself slip into the void. Within a few seconds, I had dropped sixty feet, and was in the heart of the raging falls. I have had a lot of experience with single rope techniques in wet, vertical caves, but none of that experience could have prepare me for the intensity of the situation. Although I can not be sure of the amount of water traveling over the edge of the pit, I can say that I have seen few things like it in my life. Falling down the middle of the pit, the water is as inescapable as the violent wind that swirls around it. The waterfall would constantly osculate back and forth causing there to be times that the water would appear to slow for only a second, but would be immediately be proceeded by a force that would literally blast me across the pit like a pendulum. The shear power of the impact took the breath right out of my lungs. Adrenalin began to surge through my body as the sound of water pounding my helmet deafened and disoriented me. Time appeared to slow to a stand still as the white noise of water seemed to grow quiet. I felt numbness to my figure tips, and my heart began to race faster and faster as though it was about to leap forth into the darkness around me. I quickly snapped out of my thoughts and regained my wit. I knew that it was time to be out of the water. Continuing downward, it wasn’t long until my visibility dropped to zero as the water, seemly coming from every direction, thrashed into my eyes. I could not hope to keep me eyes open for even a second before I would have to wipe the water out with a soaking wet glove. It was at this point that I knew it was impossible to determine my distance from the ground. Even if I was only ten feet from the floor, I could not hope to see where the water was breaking. I decided that I trusted my rigging and judgment as I let gravity and the force of the water launch me to the bottom of the pit. The situation was so detaching that I could not even tell whether or not I was moving at all! Although, I knew I had to be moving quickly, because I was on the ground within a few seconds.
Once on the floor, I blindly got off rope, and ran to safety. The base of the room must have exceeded forty feet in diameter, but I was unable to rid myself of the pervasive mist that filled the entire pit. My eye literally burned as though I had been in a swimming pool for hours. I continued to seek refuge further downstream, and it was not long until I had reached the next pit (31’). Even though I was up to my knees in water, I was relieved to be away from the noise and wind. The blurriness in my eyesight began to fade as I leaned against the wall, and smiled at my accomplishments.
Still standing in the roaring stream, I waited for Jason to rappel the nightmarish vortex. It was not long until I heard his calls. I figured he was yelling for Ketron to get on rope, but I was wrong. When I got back to the pit, he was dangling fifteen feet above the floor, and tangled up in the two ropes. He was desperately trying to free himself, but I knew that his efforts would prove to be futile. Running back into the chaos, I grabbed the two ropes, and began to pull him out of the waterfall. He was soon able to get off of rope, but only after struggling for a few moments. When he was finally able to open his eyes he stared at me for a second as to wonder why I would have ever brought him to this cave. It was not long until Ketron had descended into the same trouble as Jason. I proceeded to use the same technique to save Ketron from the water as I had with Jason. The funny thing was that Ketron had been so blinded by the water, that he didn’t even realize that there was even a problem much less my attempts to help him!
After all had safely descended the pit, we began to untangle the ropes, but were soon halted by another problem. The ropes would not pulldown. Without the ropes, there would be no exit. We struggled and wrestled with the ropes for what seemed like an hour. The roar of the water did nothing to remedy the situation. We were constantly yelling in each others ears in efforts to formulate a plan of action, but nothing could really be heard or understood. We finally managed to free the rope after many, many failed attempts. Cold and exhausted, we coiled the ropes, and it wasn’t long before we had rigged and descended the next pit (31’)
Proceeding forward, we traversed a few blind pits that diverted the water into other aquifers. From here, we were far enough away from the water to have a “normal volume conversation,” and decided to take a break. We rested for a few minutes, and all laughed at the trials we had endured and successfully passed. It was nice to think that the trip was almost over, but once again, this would prove to be far from the truth.
I will not go into explicit detail about the bottom portion of Solution Rift. I will leave that for another to summarize. I will say that after the last pit (36’) we crawled for over 2000’ in very cold water with many, many <3”-airspaces that have a much higher potential of filling completely than the Brr Tubes. I cannot be certain of the time that elapsed during our trip, but it was less than six hours. I can easily say that all three of us are now better and more intelligent cavers. The cave evoked growth in all three of us by teaching us a little something about ourselves, but perhaps the most important lesson learned was that SOLUTION RIFT SHOULD ONLY BE DONE IN THE SUMMERTIME!
Although the water levels where high, but I wouldn’t say that they were over our heads!
March 3rd, 2007
Matt Ketron, Jason Hardy, and I (Mike Green) meet at Charlie Smith’s property with our sites set high on Solution Rift. This 400+’ cave in Marion County has a reputation as one of the most difficult pulldown trips in TAG. To my understanding, very few people have ever attempted a trip during wet season due to beavers damming the bottom entrance shut; however, Charlie Smith recently set explosive charges in the dam to “flush out” any unwanted tenants. With the dam gone, we were able to try our luck in the high waters of Solution Rift.
After approximately a mile of walking up hill, we encounter the giant sink that is home to Solution Rift. Upon arrival, I knew that it was going to be one hell of a trip. The 100’- diameter sink was in the process of taking on large amounts of water due to a heavy rainfall. The first stream poured directly into the cave’s entrance while the other emptied into another small karst feature (undoubtedly connecting to the cave a short distance underground). Within a few minutes, we were ready, and I proceeded quickly through the waterfall to rig the first pit.
In the cave, the water immediately disappears down a pit that is shrouded by a thick cloud of water vapor. By traversing over this pit, we located a series of dry, bypass pits (24’ & 18’). After we all had rappelled and pulled the first two drops, we proceeded to follow the meandering stream passage. Within a hundred feet or so, we passed where the intense waterfall from the series of wet pits crashed to the ground, and then flowed though walking passage. With water over our knees, we sloshed down the loud and busy passage for about 100’ to the next drop (30’). This pit could easily be heard from far upstream, and it was amazing to watch as the water broke over an array of ledges before finally vanishing into the darkness below it. We all had a great time rappelling in the water as we allowed it to blast us down the pit. We carried on and joked about getting drenched, but we were totally unaware of the trials of terror that awaited us further into the Rift.
Excited and reenergized by the amazing display of water and limestone, we ran to endure the first crawl of the day. This belly crawl is actually an old dig site that parallels the stream. This passage is very tight and time consuming due to the slick muddy that lines the sides of the passage. Before we knew it, a few hundred feet had passed, and we were belly crawling in the stream! It was nice to cool off in the water after crawling in the dry passages in our thick cave suits. After a short distance, we were stooping and walking again for approximately 800’ until reaching the next pit (23’). From the top of this pit, the entire contents of the stream came crashing down into the tiny room below us. This large amount of water flow poured over the edge in a “V-shape”, sort of like a carton of milk. This would cause any careless caver to be instantaneously swept over the ledge if he happened to get to close. This marked the end of our carefree entertainment, and began one of the hardest caving trips in all of our lives.
The bottom of the 23’ pit was enough to make a caver diver uncomfortable. The water swirled around the base of the drop with little to no constancy. The entire room seemed to be saturated without a single inch of space left untarnished by the liquid vortex. Once on the ground, I ran behind a flowstone curtain in attempts to shield myself from the intense winds and blinding vapor, but it provided me with little protection; however, it did allow me to signal that I was off rope. Jason was next to descend the drop. We both had to pause for a moment as Jason struggled to remount his headlamp. The intense power of the water had blasted it right off his head! This would prove to be a reoccurring problem. Ketron was soon joined us in the monsoon-style environment. The tremendous roar of the water left communication practically nonexistent. I yelled into Ketron’s ear to give me a few minutes before he proceeded pulled down the rope. I wanted to make sure that the following passage known as the Brr Tubes was not completely sumped before we stranded ourselves in a hopeless situation. If the Tubes were to be sumped, we would have little to no chance at surviving long enough for a rescue in the hypothermic conditions. He agreed, and I plunged forward into the water-filled crawl to investigate our status. I knew immediately that it would be close. The passage starts as a hands and knees crawl, but the most daunting feature is the water level that stopped just a foot short of the ceiling! After about fifty feet, the dimensions of the crawl shrank to a most uncomfortable level, while the water seemed to be relentlessly increasing. At this point, I paused for a second to inspect the upcoming passage, and was shocked to see that there was only three inches of airspace that remained! I could hear the distant rumble of Confederate Well, a 167’ pit, but was unable to force myself forward. I called back to my comrades, but there was no answer. I tried to call out again, but water poured into my mouth causing me to choke. Much like the water, fear began to saturate my very being. I struggled to suppress the onset of panic as I began to route back to the last drop. I stopped myself. I knew that the clouding of judgment was the first sure sign of hypothermia, so I began to calm myself the best I could with my lips pressed against the ceiling for air. I knew that the rope had probably already been pulled down, and there would be no chance at waiting for rescue in the torrent of cold water and violent air that raged behind me. At that moment, I came to realize that our only chance out of the cave was forward. Pushing my pack and rope in front of me, I continued toward my uncertain fate. My arms and legs began to weaken and fail as I began to slip into the next stage of hypothermia, but I cleared my mind of this unnecessary information, and began to hum a familiar bluegrass tune. It would have been nice to have a radio or something…
Inching through the Brr Tubes with my helmet off and lips pressed against the ceiling, the once distant rumble of the 167’ was now a distinctive roar. Not able to see past my gear, I continued sliding on my side, and hoped that I would not be swept off the edge of Confederate Well. After approximately thirty feet, I popped out of the passage, and was able to stand once again! Thank God! I quickly took advantage of my opportunity to stand, and I began to convulse uncontrollably as the water cascaded off of my near-frozen body. The cold had taken much of my energy, but I had more important things on my mind: where the hell was the rest of my team?! I waited for what seemed like hours, but there was no sign of Ketron or Jason. I feared that I would soon be forced back into the horror I had just faced. After some more time had passed, I began to hear hoots and hollers! I knelt down to the end of the crawl to see Ketron’s light! I began to once again feel at easy, but this was short-lived. Ketron had somehow made it through the passage by going a different and more treacherous route than me. In turn, Jason had not followed him through, and had completely disappeared from sight! As Ketron explained the situation, he began to shows signs of confusion, slurred speech, and slowed response time. I knew that both of them had to get out of the tubes immediately before hypothermia complicated the situation further. Once Ketron understood the impeding threat, he quickly turned around and crawled out of my sight. “Crap,” I thought to myself as I sat back down on my pack. Once again, I was alone with no one but my pessimistic thoughts to keep me company. I began to shake as I prepared myself for the Brr Tubes once more.
It wasn’t until I was back in the water that I heard movement. They had made it! Jason came out of the passage first followed by Ketron who was hauling a ridiculous amount of gear including an uncoiled 80’ rope. I grabbed gear from both of the tired and mentally vanquished cavers, and helped to pull them to safety.
As they rested and tried to recuperate, I began rigging Confederate Well (167’) for the technical pulldown. Within a few minutes, the pit was rigged, and I started my decent. Looking down in the seemly bottomless void, many thoughts began to race through my head. The entire contents of the Brr Tubes plunged over the ledge only a few feet from me and the top of the rope. After approximately twenty feet, the rope was consumed in a vicious cascade of water, wind, and vapor. Most of the drop would have to be done inside the waterfall itself. This is not uncommon in the caving we like to do, but I have never before witnessed any similar power to this waterfall. This was going to be intense. The rope violently flailed back and forth, and made me wonder if the ropes would twist and tangle together as I descended into a certainly sketchy situation. A waterfall like this could induce hypothermia within minutes due to the wind super-cooling the water. This is a direct result of the large volume of air displaced by the falling water. If I were to encounter some sort of tangle in the rope, it would be unclear whether or not I could manage to cope with the situation. I pulled and inspected the rope one last time before I proceeded to slid out over the edge.
I initially wanted to play it safe by rappelling at a reasonable speed so that I would not rappel off the end of the rope if it were to be short-rigged, but I decided to try for a controlled 100’ fall in order to minimize my time in the thundering waterfall. This seemed like a prudent thing to do, so I held my breath and let myself slip into the void. Within a few seconds, I had dropped sixty feet, and was in the heart of the raging falls. I have had a lot of experience with single rope techniques in wet, vertical caves, but none of that experience could have prepare me for the intensity of the situation. Although I can not be sure of the amount of water traveling over the edge of the pit, I can say that I have seen few things like it in my life. Falling down the middle of the pit, the water is as inescapable as the violent wind that swirls around it. The waterfall would constantly osculate back and forth causing there to be times that the water would appear to slow for only a second, but would be immediately be proceeded by a force that would literally blast me across the pit like a pendulum. The shear power of the impact took the breath right out of my lungs. Adrenalin began to surge through my body as the sound of water pounding my helmet deafened and disoriented me. Time appeared to slow to a stand still as the white noise of water seemed to grow quiet. I felt numbness to my figure tips, and my heart began to race faster and faster as though it was about to leap forth into the darkness around me. I quickly snapped out of my thoughts and regained my wit. I knew that it was time to be out of the water. Continuing downward, it wasn’t long until my visibility dropped to zero as the water, seemly coming from every direction, thrashed into my eyes. I could not hope to keep me eyes open for even a second before I would have to wipe the water out with a soaking wet glove. It was at this point that I knew it was impossible to determine my distance from the ground. Even if I was only ten feet from the floor, I could not hope to see where the water was breaking. I decided that I trusted my rigging and judgment as I let gravity and the force of the water launch me to the bottom of the pit. The situation was so detaching that I could not even tell whether or not I was moving at all! Although, I knew I had to be moving quickly, because I was on the ground within a few seconds.
Once on the floor, I blindly got off rope, and ran to safety. The base of the room must have exceeded forty feet in diameter, but I was unable to rid myself of the pervasive mist that filled the entire pit. My eye literally burned as though I had been in a swimming pool for hours. I continued to seek refuge further downstream, and it was not long until I had reached the next pit (31’). Even though I was up to my knees in water, I was relieved to be away from the noise and wind. The blurriness in my eyesight began to fade as I leaned against the wall, and smiled at my accomplishments.
Still standing in the roaring stream, I waited for Jason to rappel the nightmarish vortex. It was not long until I heard his calls. I figured he was yelling for Ketron to get on rope, but I was wrong. When I got back to the pit, he was dangling fifteen feet above the floor, and tangled up in the two ropes. He was desperately trying to free himself, but I knew that his efforts would prove to be futile. Running back into the chaos, I grabbed the two ropes, and began to pull him out of the waterfall. He was soon able to get off of rope, but only after struggling for a few moments. When he was finally able to open his eyes he stared at me for a second as to wonder why I would have ever brought him to this cave. It was not long until Ketron had descended into the same trouble as Jason. I proceeded to use the same technique to save Ketron from the water as I had with Jason. The funny thing was that Ketron had been so blinded by the water, that he didn’t even realize that there was even a problem much less my attempts to help him!
After all had safely descended the pit, we began to untangle the ropes, but were soon halted by another problem. The ropes would not pulldown. Without the ropes, there would be no exit. We struggled and wrestled with the ropes for what seemed like an hour. The roar of the water did nothing to remedy the situation. We were constantly yelling in each others ears in efforts to formulate a plan of action, but nothing could really be heard or understood. We finally managed to free the rope after many, many failed attempts. Cold and exhausted, we coiled the ropes, and it wasn’t long before we had rigged and descended the next pit (31’)
Proceeding forward, we traversed a few blind pits that diverted the water into other aquifers. From here, we were far enough away from the water to have a “normal volume conversation,” and decided to take a break. We rested for a few minutes, and all laughed at the trials we had endured and successfully passed. It was nice to think that the trip was almost over, but once again, this would prove to be far from the truth.
I will not go into explicit detail about the bottom portion of Solution Rift. I will leave that for another to summarize. I will say that after the last pit (36’) we crawled for over 2000’ in very cold water with many, many <3”-airspaces that have a much higher potential of filling completely than the Brr Tubes. I cannot be certain of the time that elapsed during our trip, but it was less than six hours. I can easily say that all three of us are now better and more intelligent cavers. The cave evoked growth in all three of us by teaching us a little something about ourselves, but perhaps the most important lesson learned was that SOLUTION RIFT SHOULD ONLY BE DONE IN THE SUMMERTIME!
Although the water levels where high, but I wouldn’t say that they were over our heads!
Brrrr.....I got chills just reading it! 
