Pleasant Surprises

By Emily Graham, Joel Johnson, and Ken Walsh

The gate was locked. The landowner was not home, so we needed an alternate plan. I (Ken) was not too displeased with the forced change because my previous encounter with Rail Valley Cave was not enjoyable (see January 2015 trip report).  Joel Johnson, Emily Graham, and I ended up surveying Beaver Creek Cave on Saturday and saved Rail Valley Cave for Sunday, and that turned out to be the best possible solution.

Each of us had several pleasant surprises that we’d like to share as our trip report (attributions below do not reflect comments by one of us specifically because they were composed during the drive home).

Emily’s Pleasant Surprises:

• Learning how to survey afforded her time to hear the croaking sounds from the formations.
• She hadn’t been missing any great clothing buys when Joel’s knee-high waterproof sealskin socks turned out to be 100% water absorbent.
• The rimstone dams were quite pretty in the section of cave where she was looking for a light connection with Ken, even if she had missed the turn in the passage.
• The stream outside Beaver Creek Cave was a wonderful place to wash gear, and the intermittent pools in Rail Valley Cave were great for cleaning the tape measure.
• The distance between survey points in Rail Valley Cave progressed from an average of 7 feet in the first two shots to an average of 42 feet in the last two shots.
• The trains running overhead didn’t cause Rail Valley Cave to collapse.
• Baby salamanders swam in rimstone pools with colorful banding (the pools had colorful banding, not the salamanders).

 Joel’s Pleasant Surprises:

• Inner Mountain Outfitters sent his virgin cave suit and Swaygo pack by next day air in time for the trip.
• Though he couldn’t fit down the first lead where we began survey in Beaver Creek Cave, we found an alternate way to the bottom of the slide.
• Ken’s loaner wet suit was appreciated when he splashed down the slide into the stream.
• Swirling black reflections on the water’s surface were mesmerizing.
• Free ice.
• Bonnie hugged Joel for saving a crow stuck in a tree.
• Wet caving clothes dried to a damp level after being left out overnight, retaining enough moisture to slide on easily and keep us cool on Sunday’s hike through the jungle.
• It wasn’t a human skull; it was only a milk carton.

 Ken’s Pleasant Surprises:

• Emily had a seemingly endless supply of rocks that Ken could bang against the ceiling until the passage was large enough for him.
• When he was forced into doing splits crossing Sculpin Lake, the water remained below the waistline afforded by his neoprene pants.
• Joel was willing to drive his truck through the jungle to Rail Valley Cave.
• The entrance to Rail Valley Cave was dry (a disappointment to Emily until after she crawled inside).
• Two novice surveyors surveyed so fast that Ken had to make them stop so the sketching could catch up. Ken also didn’t have to erase any numbers on the Sunday survey.
• Ken remembered that his cell phone was lost along with his keys, wallet, and pants.
• Emily and Joel (wearing Ken’s wet suit) had been talking about how stream water was warming their feet in their wellies rather than about the other fluids mentioned in their previous day’s discussion.

 And, for the numerically inclined, we surveyed well over four hundred feet of cave. Joel and Emily might add more comments below.