Macadoodle Doo

The lateness of the Friday night at Tanya’s house was punctuated as I dozed off. Tanya entered the room to let me know that Macadoo’s is open early mornings. Emily, Ava, Martin, Pete, Anuj, and I discovered that Macadoo’s restaurant is open at 8 AM but not with a breakfast menu. We managed to meet Glen, Anays, Ryan, Steve, and the Molnar crew only a half hour late.

Ryan led the crew carrying water into Hancock Cave. It’s the first time I’ve been with a group hauling water into a cave to create mud. Mud making was exactly what we needed to do inside the cave. Graffiti covered some walls between the Grantham and Octopus Rooms, but it was mostly just scratched lettering and not spray paint. So Emily, Kim, Sophie, and Ava got to making mud pies that they smeared against the walls. They left the graffiti not only covered but also looking again like a natural wall. The rest of us were using wire brushes and having less success at hiding our removal efforts. I think that Emily needs to share some sculpting tips with the TriTrogs.

Then I wandered off with the mudpie crew to count bats. This was by far the most disappointing endeavor of the day. Our crew shone bright lights at the ceiling, poked into all the cracks, and explored most of the passages where we typically find bats. Nada. Pete’s crew found one bat all day, and Steve’s crew found none.  It sounds as though Steve’s crew wandered into the vertical maze where bats would’ve been hard to spot anyhow.

We did have a great time caving though. Sophie led us into the Anastamoses Maze where she saw someone had dropped a flashlight down a hole out of reach. From Harrington Hall, we traveled up In the Pendants Hall and then towards the Long Room. Much giggling as the girls dove into the Comic Book Hole followed by Emily finding her center of gravity.

Next we crossed up to the passage just before the Overlook Room and then down the Corn Cob Crawl. I seemed to get the best echoes just before Hickory Dickory Pit (where Ava lost her pants), and then we explored some of the area above TJ’s Trap (after Ava re-dressed).

The Breakdown Staircase offered a new challenge this time. Kim dropped Emily’s bright orange pack, but it didn’t fall to the bottom. It landed on a breakdown piece about fifteen feet from the floor. As I tried to convince myself that any rock that could hold the pack would support my weight, Ava shared “I can see it.” I was very happy that she found a position where I could reach the pack from below.

We cleaned up the graffiti cleanup gear and headed out.