Camping and Caving Abbreviated

I wouldn't suggest reading the long one, unless you really want to know the juicy details about my fears, triumphs, and wandering around in a cave. This is the abbreviated version of that story.


Because Branden was out of town, Aaron and I decided to join some friends on a camping and caving trip. We headed out to West Desert on Friday evening to go camping. I'm scared of camping (I don't like the thought of wild animals) (I'm also scared of hiking on ground that is sloping or isn't completely level). Meg let me share her tarp with her, but I headed off to it alone. I was the second person to go to sleep, and something woke me up in the middle of the night. I sat up to check it out, and it turns out that Sam, the golden retriever, was asleep between my ankles. He gave me so much comfort that night. He never bothered me during the day, but he was my guard dog while I was asleep.


The next morning we had a yummy breakfast cooked in a dutch oven. Once we ran out of shade to sit under, we packed everything into the trucks and drove out to the cave.

I didn't mind the initial descent, but I was really intimidated about going into areas that I couldn't see very well or where didn't know what to expect. We went exploring and even found a bat. To see more pictures, look at my previous post (the longer one). Then we headed back up to the surface of the earth. Once we were within sight of sunlight, it was time for me to try my hand at rockclimbing.


Once I got up I basically rolled over the edge and onto the ground. I laid there for a few minutes before I stood up. I was so thankful for it all to finally be over. While I was in the cave, I was so terrified and worried that I didn't enjoy even five minutes of it.


We packed all of the climbing stuff up and headed back home. I was so exhausted that I fell asleep in the car. It wasn't until I looked back on it that I truly appreciated the interesting and neat nature of what I did that day. I accomplished something that I hadn't even hoped to do before. Caving was never on my plan of things I want to accomplish before I die, but on that day, I did it. I did something despite my fears, and I kept myself from crying, although my tears just about slipped out. Now, I want to say Thank You: Aaron, Seth, Rishann, Phil, Megan, Taylor, Beth, and Ryan. Thanks guys for being so patient with me and showing me something entirely new and interesting that I could have never done on my own.