Day: February 21, 2004

Marshalls Cave Trip Report
Feb. 21, 2004
by Kristen Smith

On Saturday, Feb. 21, Jared, Steve, Kendra, Bob, Laura, and I met at 10 o’clock and contemplated which cave we wanted to go to, and it was decided that we would attempt Marshall. On the way to the cave, we stopped to get bagels, and someone brought up the fact that Bob loves, more than loves, is obsessed with cherry milk shakes. “Would you rather have a million dollars or a cherry milk shake?” “Hmm, a cherry milkshake,” he replied. With that, the questions concerning his devotion to cherry milk shakes had begun. “Would you rather have a lifetime supply of your favorite pizza, or one cherry milkshake?” “That’s a hard one, but I’m going to have to go with a cherry milkshake.” “So you’d rather have a cherry milk shake than all of the chocolate, or rather your favorite dessert in the world?” “Yep, uh huh,” said Bob.

As we left, the other car radioed us asking, you guessed it, more cherry milkshake questions. This time they were more in depth. “Hey Bob, would you rather never have the use of your legs again, but have a cherry milkshake, or be healthy but never be able to have a cherry milkshake?” “I’d be paralyzed so I could have my cherry milkshake.” A few moments of silence, then “Would you rather have one cherry milkshake, then never be able to have one again, or just never be able to have a cherry milkshake ever again?” “Well, I’d have the cherry milkshake, but then I would have to say that I’d kill myself.”

We arrived at the parking lot, being fortunate enough that no one got car sick, and then had to cross a very bouncy bridge, on which we challenged ourselves to not hold the sides. After making it across the bridge, we hiked along a path, and then climbed the mountain to where the entrance to the cave was. A little while into the cave we had lights-out time, where we entertained ourselves making loon calls, which we had previously learned that day. Some of us not being as successful as others, we decided to begin drumming on the ground all at once, which actually sounded good. The formations in this cave were very large and defined, the stalactites rung if they were hit. On our way to the “leap of faith,” which turned out to not be as bad as I had imagined, we had to travel through a lot of water and a few small holes with drops right after them. There were many levels to the ledges on the side of the tunnel that could be used for support, but the water was deep if someone was not able to stay up.

On our way to finding the “mud wall,” we came across many bats. Bob, Kendra, and I noticed that after we had woken up one of them, it sounded like the screeching noise it made still followed us. Then we looked back and saw that a bat had attached itself to Bob! We quickly got it off and put it back onto the wall, and hopefully it went back to sleep. After we successfully discovered the “mud wall,” we made our way back out of the cave. As we left, we climbed back down the mountain, appearing to blend into it, feeling tired and wet, but satisfied.