Petty John's Cave

Petty John's Cave is one of the best places a human being can ever be in. It lets you be completely free. In every sense of the word. Free to climb,touch,run, and be completely stupid without people telling you that you are not allowed to do this and that. Free in the sense that it doesn't matter what you look like. Nothing matters but the thrill you get from climbing a mud covered rope 40 feet up or wiggling through holes and rocks just to see whats on the other side. It's a feeling that not very many people are willing to risk feeling. But those who are willing , truly know what it means to live life to the fullest.

Today was one of those amazing days. As I sit here writing this I am trying not to move due to the fact that almost every part of my body is bruised. Some would ask if looking and feeling like I got beat up is worth it and I would have to say......Heck yes!!! Let me start at the beginning and show you what I mean.

It's all about the thrill of doing things that push you to your limits and discovering things that hardly any people ever get to see. The ultimate goal for me and a bunch of others is to get to the discovery room. The discovery room is pretty much exactly what it implies....a discovery. Not very many people get to it due to the fact that it requires crazy amounts of stupidity to get there. But of course every time we go into the cave we go a little further and learn a little bit more so that someday soon we will get there.

Today we got to the echo room which was a room we had to learn how to get to so that ultimately we can get to the discovery room. Getting to this room requires a few things that I was not to pleased to have to do. After climbing down slippery rocks and ropes and going through some tight squeezes we made it to the worm tube. We have had quite a bit of rain lately so the cave water had risen quite a lot. Because of this the worm tube, which is a 100ft long tube that you have to lay flat on your belly and army crawl through, was filled with water. Now normally there is no water and crawling through it wouldn't have been a problem. But for some odd reason when a person has to lay down in a foot of muddy 50 degree water and swim/crawl through it with just their nose above the water it can be just a little nerve wracking. After starting and than backing right back out of the work tube I sat there at the entrance for a good 10min debating either facing my fear or just turning back with some of the others. I finally dove in, manned up, and made it through the tube with 2 others.

On the other side we found ourselves wet, slippery, and facing a 20 foot climb straight up a cliff of rocks with one muddy rope to haul ourselves up. When we finally made it up we were faced with a beautiful room called the echo room. It was a huge room with vaulted ceilings and an echoing sound affect. After climbing around for about an hour and a half looking for the exit to the next room we want to go to on our next trip we carved our names into the wall of the echo room and left to go back through the worm tube.

After another hour of struggling up rocks with our wet and slippery selves we finally met up with the rest of our group. And of course the light of day, which was a very beautiful sight after 6 hours in a dark cave. So no, I don't regret how I know I will feel tomorrow and no I do not regret being scared to death because, the thrill, adrenaline rush, pride and astonishment one gets from it is truly worth it!

And at the end of the day it makes me more confident in who I am and what this chick is made of. Which in my opinion is one of the best rewards to playing on God's jungle gym. Oh and I hear mud is good for the skin.....sooo I guess I got my adrenaline rush and beauty treatment done all in one shot.