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Wet cave:
The wettest I've ever been or me, my pig,
and a heck of a lot of water
By: Wesley Pinyan
From the July 2000 Flowstone
I had attempted this trip once before (but never made it). I read the last trip report. Nothing short of being dragged through a creek over sharp rocks for a mile could have prepared me for this trip.
As usual Patrick O'Diam, Harold Calvert, Ryan Madole, and my self met at the library at 7 am (that's 4 am lazy college student time) and headed for Wet Cave in
Sewanee, TN. To my surprise, we arrived at a beautiful little Bed and Breakfast that had flower gardens and a creek around back. All this pretty stuff is just an illusion to hide the evil that lies within the mountain. As we crossed the creek, the air blowing from the exit of the cave was so cold I swear it was December (the first sign of trouble). By the time we all got to the cave entrance, we were all soaking wet with sweat. As we started gearing up, I noticed that Patrick, being the only one who had done the cave before, was a little more prepared than Ryan, Harold of myself (the second sign of trouble). Then we entered the cave.
The cool air felt great. The first drop is only about 30 ft. inside the cave. Wet Cave is a pull down, so once you're in you're committed (people should be committed for doing it in the first place). When we got to the bottom of the first drop, I pulled down the rope and began the 600 ft. crawl (felt like a mile) through a creek (a very cold creek). The crawl was so tight that my helmet wouldn't fit up right, so I had to turn it to the side. Sometimes my face was in the water. The whole time I kept thinking about things. Things like: How crazy was the first person that did this? ; Why is this water so cold? ; Is that a Crawfish or a Cave Lobster? What does Hypothermia feel like? ; Why didn't someone kill Patrick after the last trip? ; Will I want to kill Patrick after this trip? ; Is Patrick trying to kill me? ; And how long is 600 ft., really? I wore the elbows and knees out of a pair of Dickies, drug the stomach off my jacket, and nearly drowned my pig (that's for you Micah). The 8 drops came and went like little surprises, but I can hardly remember the times when I got to stand completely upright. After the last drop we all ate our wet lunch, and let me tell you flattened out, cold, wet apple pie is surprisingly good.
Through the remainder of the cave we got to walk some. Close to the end is the mudroom. This was my favorite part. We were knee deep in mud, and when Patrick made Ryan and myself crawl down the wrong passage, it was really easy on your elbows and knees (remember this part). From here on we crawled through the creek again. We hit a dry (by this I mean not so wet) crawl for about 100 ft. I did it twice because I forgot my pig. This is where I let the rest of the group in on my patented "Rolling Wesley" technique (rolling instead of crawling). The rest of the cave was very pretty, and it was no time before we were back where we started.
I have never been so wet. I used muscles that I didn't even know that I had, and I thought that I was going to freeze to death. But, I was surprisingly happy (signs of Hypothermia, no doubt). I had a great time, but as I told Patrick, I had fun but I won't do it again (probably not, I said the same about White Side).
Here is a short run down of Wet Cave:
First drop,
Faith pull down,
Wet, hypothermic, never ending crawl
(with pauses for praying, fighting crawfish, and talking to Leprechauns),
Somewhere in the next 7 drops:
The wet part,
Crawling part,
The wet part,
Crawling part,
The wet part,
Birth canal (I had to dislocate my shoulder for this one),
The wet part,
Crawling part,
Last drop,
Wet crying with happiness,
Wet group hug,
Wet lunch,
The wet part,
Wet mud part,
Crawling in mud in a dead end passage part (remember this),
The wet part again,
Tuck tag back in shirt part (for Wendy),
And finally the bath part out side the cave in the creek.
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