I apologize for the silence on the blog lately. I just got back from an amazing spring break in the mountains of Arkansas! Plenty of hiking, spelunking, family time, and relaxing by the fire in the cabin made it an overall tremendous trip.
We were walking through one cavern on a guided tour (prior to the actual spelunking), when my Mom turned to me and asked if I was storing away inspiration for future stories. Yep! You know you’re a writer when the family vacation becomes a “research” trip! :) I can’t help thinking about what my main character would do in such and such situation, or thinking about the perfect way to describe such and such setting for a new scene.
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| Giant column in the Cathedral Room. It’s about 60 feet high. |
Spelunking offered plenty of new discoveries to be tucked away for later use. I’d been underground before, but this was my first time to venture into a cave in coveralls, boots (mine were borrowed and looked like they were from the Vietnam war!), and helmet.
I was amazed to discover that many of the cliches about being underground were actually true. We stopped at one point and turned all of our head lamps off, and it was quite literally pitch black. You couldn’t see your hand in front of your face, much less your neighbor’s face. And good luck trying to feel your way out without falling off the Death Ledge. :) Shutting your eyes to wait for them to adjust doesn’t work when there’s absolutely no light for them to adjust to!
The rhythmical drip drip you always read about hearing in caves was there, though perhaps not so loud or so rhythmical. I discovered also that your distance and depth perception is often off under ground. After passing hundred foot drops that I would have guessed were nearer forty, a pool of water that looked to be about two feet deep (it was actually about eight), and gigantic columns that I would never have imagined could be eighty feet tall, I gave up and just asked the guide!
While we did not get attacked by bats, giant cave salamanders, or gargan rockroaches, nor did we stumble through a portal into Narnia or other any world (I wish), the excursion was more than exciting. It was thrilling! It also helped with the few underground scenes I have in my current novel, and whetted my appetite for future cave diving scenes in later works… Hmmm, the wheels are turning! :)
Hee hee, I'm always a mixture of awed and terrified in underground caves. I'm pretty claustrophobic, though, and the thought of all that earth over my head .. *shudder*
Though, it has to be said, the awesomeness of looking around soon dispels that fear.
Thinking of Shelob from The Two Towers really doesn't help with caving fears either, it has to be said. Unless you imagine a giant falling rock to be a rolled up newspaper.
As for portals into other worlds … that would definitely be a lure to a cave. A very very big lure indeed.
Yeah, there were a few places where we had to crawl on hands and knees, and a few even narrower places where we had to squeeze through tiny cracks. But I really didn't feel like I was underground. I mean, it was dark and all, but I didn't feel at all like I was 200 feet below the surface of the earth. Funny, huh? :)
OOh,yes, Shelob. It was just the sort of place where you might expect to find her… or one of her long lost descendants. Thankfully, we didn't. But it is enough to give you the shudders!
We'd been listening to a dramatization of the Silver Chair in the car before we went into the cave. I couldn't help thinking about the Underland, and half expecting the earth men and gnomes to pop out and whisk us away! :)
We went through a tour of some caves in Missouri– and I got to experience complete darkness as well. It's absolutely…….. indescribable. Truly. It was like I could touch the darkness. *shudder*
I don't think I would adapt well to spelunking! In the dark, underground, and well…. small spaces :/ It would be a heck of an experience to save for writing, though! So cool that you got to do that :]
Wow, I'm jealous! I've been in a "surface cave"–nothing even close to 200 feet underground, but it was incredible even so. You're right about your height and depth perception being really "off" in a cave. The water in the cave I visited was so clear that I thought it was only about 12 feet deep. It was actually 80, with many stalagmites rising from the bottom like towers. And, yes, you know you're an author when all you can think is: "Wouldn't this be awesome in a story!" Consequently, my cave experience made its way into a later novel of mine. Can't wait to see what your experience inspires!
@ The Director – Cool! We saw some brochures for caves in Missouri. They looked pretty neat. It is amazing how dark it is! It's funny but I didn't get that feeling at all, though I'll admit to describing it that way in several stories.
@Yaasha Moriah – Wow. 80 feet deep? Tere was one section where the water was supposedly 30 feet deep. But it was quite a ways below us, and our lights didn't reach that far, so it was kinda hard to see. I'd enjoy reading your cave scene. Caves are quite exciting!