A Dark Secret Discovered

Can I now call myself a spelunker? I would say so! What do you think after looking at these photos? What would normally be so beyond my comfort zone turned out being not so bad. Life to me is all about learning and growing and to do that sometimes barriers have to be crashed! This crash was head on with full force and coming out victorious at the end! This could only have happened with the fun folks I was with.

Sporting my helmet getting ready for the crash, this is the entrance to the Dark Secret! I have driven by here so many times never realizing this existed. I guess that was the whole idea when the shelter was built.
This is the view of Lac Des Arcs looking across the highway from the cave entrance.

Headlamps were mandatory! I was surprised how much light my little lamp gives off and with 13 of us shedding some light, we could well see our way.

Would you believe this was our dining spot? Others had been before us which was apparent from the fire pitts here and there, and the used tea-lights left behind. Our tea-lights were our only light for lunch, as we powered off the headlights. It was time for weaving tales and taking lots of photos.

We counted seven storage chambers each carved off this main tunnel. We explored each one finding things such as rebar hanging from the top, nests in the corner and fire pitts.

Nests? Yes, nests! This cave is home to the woodrat! This little fellow sat and stared at us for the longest time before jumping out and sprinting off into the darkness. If you click on the photo, you can get a clear view of him.

After lunch and more exploring, we followed the light of our lamps until we saw the light of day which lead us back out.

I still don't know why I started to get a headache upon our entrance to the cave! Was it because my helmet was too tight? Was I straining my eyes too much to see? Was it the stress and uncomfortableness of going to some place and being in some place that was just so far beyond my comfort zone! While dining, I popped two advil thinking that would help. The relief of the headache came as soon as I was out of the cave and took my helmet off. Did the relief come because the advil was working, because I was finally out of the cave or because I took my helmet off! Hmmm!

So, you saw photos of me entering the cave, in the cave and here climbing my way out! Would you call me a spelunker?