Cave Stream and Narnia

Dec 27: We went back to Castle Hill because my friend Erin had never been there. On the way we passed through Springfield. Yes, they used to have a giant Simpson's Donut, but someone thought it was ugly and burned it down. So Erin and I took pictures with the giant tire that the town put up in its place. The plaque below the tire said that it was the baby donut and would remain unnamed until the Mom donut came back. We climbed around and I banged my knee so hard that it pooled blood underneath the bandage. Then we drove to Narnia. Well we drove to the place where they filmed the big battle in the huge field against the White Witch. We couldn't see the area because it's on private land but we could barely make out the edge of the valley. I took some pictures in front of the valley where I was pretending to hold a sword.

Then I donned a wetsuit, my vibram five finger shoes, a headlamp and my camera in a dry sack. Erin and Gordon just put on old shoes, old clothes and headlamps. We wandered down to the entrance of the Cave Stream. This is the under a mountain walk where you enter one side and walk all the way through a 362m cave. The water was a little chilly, but I would have been fine even if I hadn't been wearing a wetsuit.

When we first entered the cave it was a little intimidating because the stream drops down a waterfall. You have to crawl along the edge with a chain to hang onto and then you get to a ledge. There are metal bolted rungs that you have to climb down and then slide into the pool at the bottom of the waterfall. It's pretty dark at this point, but you still have a little light from the entrance. Then you can follow the stream to the other end of the cave. The water level varies from ankle to knee high. There are pools in some some areas that are about waist deep. You can also climb into different caves that shoot off in all directions like left, right, up and down. Every now once in awhile I'd lose everyone and mildly freak out by myself. Once their light is gone and your headlamp is the only thing you see, it's a little eerie and makes you feel completely alone even if they happen to be just 5 feet around the bend. It's pretty loud and sounds like rushing water and you have to almost yell to hear each other because the rushing water just echoes on the cave walls.


At one point there was a tiny little opening that Gordon said Leyla, our other housemate, had climbed through and gotten out at another point along the stream. So of course I decided it would be brilliant if I tried it. This was a very tiny hole, just small enough to fit my shoulders through. Erin decided it was too small for her to get through. I really should have thought a little more about the situation before I literally dove head first down the cave. Leyla is super small and skinny and very flexible. She does yoga and has been climbing for 6 years. I contemplated all of this while I was worming my way through a cave that seemed to be growing smaller and smaller as I moved forward. After climbing into the hole, I made Erin wait at the entrance while I crawled forward in case I had to back my way out. This would have been nearly impossible because at one point I had to crawl down a 1 foot drop. I can't imagine trying to crawl back up it backwards. At the end I saw Gordon's light and was slightly relieved until I realized that I couldn't move. There was a really tight spot that pinned both my arms to the sides of my body. I had to hold my camera/dry bag in my teeth like a pirate as I shimmied forward. There was also a build up of mud and sand which freaked me out because it made the end of the tunnel very very tight. Then the crux of the crawl came after I had wiggled my arms free. The very end required you to crawl forward and follow the tunnel in a complete 180 around a thin rock wall. So at one point my feet and arms were pointed in the same direction with my torso bent in a U shape around a rock barrier. I yelled to Gordon and Erin a lot while I was crawling through this tunnel because my biggest fear was getting stuck and having them not know I was stuck. Eventually I made it through, completely covered in mud and slightly shaken. I decided not to go solo caving anymore after that. We all climbed up a bunch of different tunnels and explored as many as we could reach. 

We made it to the end and had to wade through water up to our chest. It was really shocking and cold so I yelped. Outside was a rock valley and a continuation of the stream into a river. The wind had picked up and kept us made us cold so we turned around and went back through the Cave Stream. On the way out instead of climbing up the metal rungs we decided to climb up the waterfall. It was scary, but it was a more challenging and more interesting feat. The Cave Stream was a lot of fun and a unique experience. Every now and then we'd all stop and turn off our headlamps   in the hopes of seeing glow worms. We didn't have any luck, but it made me feel like an intrepid explorer. I didn't see anyone else in the caves nor did I see any evidence of humans other than the metal rungs and chain at the entrance of the cave.

It was cool to have a new sensory experience. My hearing was overwhelmed by the sound of rushing water and my sight was limited by the strength, direction of my headlamp and my feet were slightly numb from cold. Even with a headlamp it's difficult to see the rocks under the swiftly moving water so every step was little adventure. After we exited the cave, we ate a bunch of food. We had apples, cookies, crumble bars and Gordon had salami. It was a good way to recharge because the physical activity and dealing with the cold had taken a lot out of our bodies. My whole body was pretty sore the next morning. I give the Cave Stream two thumbs up.