Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting What’s your most miserable night in the woods

This was (gosh!) 40-some years ago. It was before AIDS. It was also the NSS. This was dangerous business and it attracted a certain type. It's a bit like alpine climbing in the dark without all the ropes, and death at 50F comes a lot slower. I got into it, because I designed a lighting system for filming 16mm in a cave. My buddy only told me I was going in the cave with the rig after I was up to my neck. I dug the vibe and stuck with it for 5 years.

A simple broken arm could kill you or, worse, put a whole team in jeopardy. We were under strict orders that, should an accident occur underground, we NOT alert the local authorities. We had an 800 number. It rang to a 24/7 nationwide rescue team that was on call to fly in and get you out. While I was active, there was one death. Somebody slipped into a crevasse and their helmet caught. They strangled on their chin strap before anyone could get to them. It was two married couples and lifelong friends on that trip.

While I was still caving, I got a call. The University of Cincinnati had put a team down the hole and the cave had flooded. Somebody had erroneously leaked that I was the 5th unnamed member of the party, and it went out on the national news wires. Everyone thought I was in there, although I was sitting at home, warm and happy. That made for a strange call to my parents.

Truth of it was, the 5 members had anticipated flooding and prepositioned stuff in sealed 55 gallon drums for such an occasion. This trip was way over my head, because it required scuba. After 2 weeks, the flood subsided and they swam out.

I never got checked out as a cave diver, because. . . well, I kept a poster in my bathroom for years




I could never see a way out with cave diving.