Jeff Moore, Brandon Stephens, Mike Murphy, Nate Newkirk, Tom Duselis

The next morning my alarm didn’t go off for some reason.  I got up and got my stuff together.  Jeff and Brandon weren’t yet back from the Smoke-a-torium.  Eventually, we corralled everyone to their vehicles and started off.  Not far away, Alan pulled off and introduced us to Keystone River Cave.  We all geared up and Jeff, Mike, Tom, and I climbed down into the entrance.  Brandon and Nate hadn’t showed up yet so I dashed back to the car for my bright flashlight.  It turns out Brandon and Nate had gotten lost so I bo’d them in as I routed to and from Tom’s car. 

Once back in the cave, we crawled ahead trending to the right.  After a couple hundred feet, we descended 2 climb downs into a dug belly crawl leading to a low crawlway which soon emerged into a wet stoop-walk.  A few hundred feet later, the ceiling opened.  We did a short crawl up and over a breakdown collapse and back into descent size passage again.  Eventually, we T’d left into a large trunk and Jeff and I led the charge downstream occasionally slipping on the wet chert.  Soon, the water was lost through the chert floor and we arrived at the pit.  Jeff rigged and I was first down.  I was impressed.  The room was huge!  I rappelled into a vast blackness.  Once down, I took great pleasure yelling off rope in the echoing chamber.  Then, I climbed the tall, often flowstone encrusted breakdown slope until I found where Willie had taken his picture.  I then lit the pit for Mike, Brandon, Nate, & Jeff with my bright light. 

Jeff required a brief pit stop and yelled off rope.  For some reason Brandon wouldn’t let Tom come down so the rope remained empty for 5-10 minutes.  Jeff then geared up and rope walked out.  Brandon, Mike, and Jeff hightailed it back to the entrance while Tom, descended.  Nate, Tom, and I explored downstream a bit.  It was somewhat interested in that after some smaller wet, smelly passage it opened up into large muddy passage.  We oohed and ahhed at the mud covered walls and Tom and I took a siesta waiting on a small hole to spit Nate back out.  Tom was feeling ill.  Eventually, the cave regurgitated Nate and we hiked back to the pit.  I made descent time up the drop. 

Once up top, I noticed that my pack had gorged on the surrounding passage in my absence.  Luckily, my pack is bulimic so I was later able to remove it from the cave.  Otherwise, I couldn’t have lifted it at all.  I actually fell asleep and dreamed while Nate and Tom tandemed out.  Once I cooled off enough to wake up, I groggily walked over to the lip and was confused why they were both still so far away.  It turns out that they were really closer than I though since I’d judged Tom’s ascent by his distance from Nate not knowing that they were tandeming.  Once up top, I helped Tom over the lip and told Tom I’d be yelling at Nate if I were him for making it difficult for Tom to get off rope.  We de-rigged and decided to trade off the rope on the way back out.  I said I’d carry it through the borehole.  I even carried it through the stoop walk before handing it off to Tom.  It soon became evident that we’d exit the cave faster if I carried the rope so I hauled it along as I found our way out of the cave.  It was pretty easy since I could often follow Mike, Brandon, and Jeff’s tracks.  The threesome only missed one turn that I could tell. 

We got back to the car around 5 and found our way back to Marion’s.  Marion was glad to see we’d brought him a rope.  Alan could pick it up later.  We talked with Marion and Sharon a bit and headed toward Cookeville.  After a pit stop at Ryan’s, Tom and I started home around 7:00 PM.  I snoozed between Bowling Green and Indy.  Upon arrival, I was glad to see my car.  I hadn’t really liked the parking situation but knew it would be all right.  It was rather funny because I’d obviously spoiled the hotels plans.  My car was coned off to keep the workers from getting to close while re-blacktopping the parking lot.  I got home a little before 2, bought a dry box, and got in the hot tub.  I went to sleep around 2:30 AM and slept poorly.