get lost

While staying in Gillette, we took a day/night trip to the Big Horn Mountains after I'd been told tales of a majestic cave system that extends through the mountain range. I partnered up with a military chap named Rob and headed to the mountains while the rest of the crew cruised into town with an Escelade-on-spinners drivin' heir to a chain of hotels named Waseem to meet up with some girls. Waseem's girlfriend was stunning and word had it that the rest of the crew was on par with her.

I didn't know what to expect when we entered the cave, but I knew that my guide was a trained soldier who was familiar with the terrain and had been there only a week prior to our descent. Good enough. We arrived around 8 pm and began our trek up the mountain path to the cave opening. After about 20 minutes, we came upon a tight squeeze which required laying down flat on our bellies and scraping forward inches at a time. It seemed to go on forever, but we finally reached the end and found ourselves in a massive cathedral. Very impressive. Ahead, the cave broke off into a multi-tiered maze requiring quite a bit of rock-climbing and nerve-racking stunts in order to proceed. We heard water and followed the sound until we came upon an underground stream. We followed this for about an hour and eventually found a waterfall (pictured above). We pressed on until we found a massive room and no way to go but back.

Once we knew that we were lost, I tried to remain optimistic by thinking things like "I want to keep exploring for hours." and "We'll certainly make it out of here. We just need to keep our wits about us and avoid injuries.". I could see that Rob was clearly losing it. It's hard to describe the manner in which the cave environment manipulates thoughts, but the effect is hallucinatory and disorienting. I didn't want to add panic to that equation. After another hour scrambling around, climbing through one obstacle or another I realized that we couldn't physically keep up this pace and we'd have to start conserving our energy. It was hard to think logically and keep track of the terrain. Everything looked the same. It was a dizzying array of downside-up crystalline rock formations that twisted and squirmed ad infinitum. We didn't see anybody else during the journy and the fact that we found 3 pairs of jeans, 2 flashlights, and a super-sized package of batteries on one of the rocks wasn't helping our mental integrity. Apparently Rob had also seen some horror movies that took place in caves very recently so I'm sure that contributed to his panic outbursts and delusional ramblings. The only thing that I was afraid of was having to sleep down there for the night and be found the next day wearing military-issued pants and boots which Rob was kind enough to lend to me. But then again, I didn't know at the time that the cave extended 50 miles.

We eventually made our way out. At 4 in the morning. It was a harrowing experience, but I loved it. I feel that the true test of one's character is found by trials of adversity. I don't know how well I pass the tests but I love the chance to take them.

When we returned to the hotel our crew was clearly shaken. It turns out that the girls they met up with had a car accident. With each-other. I still can't figure out how that could have happened, but the cars were totalled and everybody escaped without injuries. Needless to say, their party was over. I took a much-needed shower and we all turned in for the evening.