Giants in hiding

As we descended through the darkness one point seemed to be coming to the forefront of our thoughts..... who had built these tunnels and why were they evidently so large? I would imagine that if people of ancient times had carved and made these passages, they likely would have made them proportionate to their statures. Why would some race of underground dwellers make these passages any bigger than needed? It surely would have been a Herculean enough of a task in the first pace just making minimum passages. We were to find out later the reason for the sheer sizes we encountered. From the outside, these tunnels typically were covered or obscured by the natural terrain, often with the presence of large boulders, and in such a way that unless you were to walk behind a seemingly plain bolder, you would likely walk right past the entrances. There was a clever method to their hiding, and it seemed wherever you found one, there was some feature close by that would ultimately dazzle you and attract your attention, thus dismissing the real location as nothing of interest. In that way, you were likely to favor the feature and ignore the area of the openings. Clever indeed, or human nature? What had started as just conversation and tales around a campfire one summer evening, evolved into the discovery of a story known only locally, more an ancient history or legend. As with most legends, this one was enticing and mysterious, a sure recipe for adventure. It was ultimately forgotten though and only by accident was it found. There was a reference in the newspaper archives in the local library of two brothers, miners, who had claimed to have found a tunnel while prospecting, and had explored the opening, but had to return later with lanterns to explore much past what light was available from the opening. The opening afforded about two hundred feet of light in the late afternoon during the summer months just before sunset, so it was decided rather to try exploring with lanterns during the daylight hours so as to still have light upon their return to the surface, thus allowing them easier access and a bit of time to prepare for their return to town when they had finished their explorations. It was at first guessed to be only three or four hundred feet in length because the light seemed to die out about the same time the outside light became too distant to illuminate the passage with any appreciable light or reflection from the opening. But in fact what they were seeing in their somewhat dim lantern light was now known to be a wall of almost entirely crystalline composition which had the effect of absorbing the light somehow. This is where the prospectors were to believe the tunnel ended, but later exploration by myself and two friends Mark and Lance would find this to be essentially a dead end mirrored wall. However, unless we were to actually go to the absolute end of the passage, we would have easily overlooked the sharp left turn this passage made.... it was disguised that well. Having LED lighting and the latest in illumination devices, we were afforded much much better and brighter illumination, thus our discovery overlooked by the prospectors that were fooled with the false end. We had come fairly well prepared, with lighting, climbing gear, repelling gear and enough rations, snacks and water to actually last in the tunnel for two to three days. Of course these rations were not five star resterant quality, but on the other hand we had gourmet jerky and trail mixes that were top notch high end stuff. There was much speculation and outright guessing as to how or who had constructed this particular tunnel. It was apparent that it was absolutely not formed by nature. Along the way and along the high sides were what appeared to be holes that were about ten inched in diameter and most were about eighteen to twenty inches deep into the walls, with some appearing to have crush marks or spaulding of the edges on the sides facing inward. We would later learn their purpose. The tunnel seemed to go the initial first section where the left hand junction was, and then to descend in a fairly gradual decline. I'd say that in fifty foots distance one would drop in elevation by aproximately five to eight feet, so it didn't take to far to start descending some appreciable depth in relationship to the entrance. We had traveled what we had estimated to be about a bit over a quarter of a mile when we encountered the end. At least it appeared that way, but once again it was due to the peculier crystalline surface ahead of us. We did in fact come to an end of sorts, but not as we had expected. One thing that was curious was that from the opening all the way to where this vertical tunnel was, the entire length was the same heigth and width. It didn't vary much more than mere inches at most. Again at this vertical area was the holes on the sides of the walls near the roof, and they were also eighteen to twenty inches deep, and nearly perfectly round. We had guessed that they had been used as anchors, and round wooden poles were being used with some apparatus like a block and tackle to pull sleds or some such devices, as the floor which was relatively flat, had evidence of heavy objects being dragged, and scored lines were to also be seen on the floor of the tunnel, along with the first turn where the walls also had evidence of these dragging scuff marks.We lowered a flashlight down into this pit with some construction line we had brought for use if we needed a line to guide our exit of the cave, but hadn't needed it as the tunnel was fairly straight forward with no offshoot tunnels to become confused in, just the main passage.We had let out about seventy or eighty feet by our estimation when the light touched down on another floor. Would this floor be the end? we guessed not, but the only way to know would be to repel down to the bottom. Fortunately the air seemed to be of a fairly good oxygen content and seemed to have a faint flow to it. It seemed to come up from the depths. Our problem now was in securing our repelling ropes to something that would support them. There was nothing however to tie to, and it looked like the petons would have a difficult time if we chose to pound them into the floor. There were no fissures in the rock, nowhere to even attempt to pound one in let alone a reserve one for safety. We would ultimately be forced to leave this tunnel and have to regroup and return on the next day. With some careful measuring, we determined that the holes in the walls would in fact support a round wooden pole of about ten inches diameter, slightly larger than we had initally thought them to be. Later that afternoon after we left we would go to Lowes and find nothing that worked as we wished, instead Lance had some remnants of very heavy thick-wall high pressure plastic pipe that was used by the utilities there with the road department. It was ten inches in diameter and had a wall thickness of a half inch. This would be perfect to push into the holes as support, moreover it was a slip joint piece that he had so the end was a diameter of around twelve inches which afforded us an end that the rope would not slide off of or work its way off. We cut this pipe to twenty four inches in length so that nearly all but about five inches could be inserted into the rock holes. With these pipes in place, we had made two, one for this pit and one to lower and have at our disposal if we encountered more pits. After securing our ropes to a harness we had made to tie to the pipe with caribiners, Mark was the first to descend. He had decided to go first being the lightest, and our untested pipe would be tested with Lance and I as safety anchors in case the pipe pulled out somehow. It seemed prudent to accomplish the decent that way. There was no wobble or pulling of the pipe and it stayed in place perfectly, although w had wrapped the pipe with duct tape to act as a cushion between he pipe and the rock and diminish the chances of it pulling out, but that was to prove to be overkill in the end, but for peace of mind only. Mark made it to the bottom of he pit and it was in fact about seventy feet deep, and there was as we expected, another passage veering towards the same direction as the upper passage. we were now on. It took another couple minutes for Lance and I to descend down to where Mark was. Once there, it appeared much the same as the upper passage in nearly every was. There were the holes in the walls every thirty or so feet and the consistent scrap score lines on the floor, evidently from dragging some type of sled. Something curious occurred to me as we were making our way deeper into the tunnel, and that was.... why were there no tire or wheel marks instead, surely whoever carved out these tunnels had access to some wheeled type of sled ? or were the loads carried too heavy for even metal wheels? This would puzzle me for some time, and eventually I would find the answer much deeper inside. We had traveled now for about the better part of an hour and a half and made excellent time. Of course it was an easy walk in and an equally easy descent repelling down. Resting for a few minutes, we determined that all our equipment was intact, we had plenty of time left on our lighting and nothing amiss, it was time to continue our decent. Now however the decent was proving to be somewhat steeper that the first stretch. It was about half again more of a grade than the upper grade, but not difficult. It was however a bit more tiring with the increased steepness as walking down hill always proves to be. This passage would turn out to be much more lengthy than the first however, and we estimated that in two and a half hours time that we had traveled somewhere in the neighborhood of a mile. The air still seemed good enough with no undue staleness to it. We had now approached the noon hour in our exploration, having started just a bit after nine o clock this morning, and had to decide what our plans would unfold into. As I said, we had brought provisions for around two whole days time if we need that much. More if we found a source of drinkable water. At that point, we could easily enough stretch out our rations to possibly four days. We would never guess what would change that estimate as we descended deeper and deeper. As we proceeded further and further, there was beginning to be a distinctive sound, a sound as yet unrecognisable, but perceivable just the same. We would travel for another two entire hours steadily descending, deeper and deeper. Though at one point the floor was a bit more difficult for walking as it seemed to be covered with a fine sand and proved to be somewhat slippery in places causing all of us at one time or another to slip and fall on our butts at least once or twice. But this stretch only lasted for about four or five hundred feet or so. The composition of the rock had changed somewhat to a more sedimentary type of rock, thus he loose sands. It would now be coming up on six hours underground and our thoughts were on finding a place to arrange our gear and sleeping equipment. As luck would have it, as well as a little mystery, we had descended to a chamber that opened up into what I can only describe as a large domed room. The ceiling was at least thirty feet if it was an inch. and to our direct front, the passage split into two different tunnels and in every way, the same as what we had traveled all the day earlier, however these tunnels had the difference of being very close to level. We were becoming weary from the hike now and it was unanimous that we set up our arrangements and sleeping supplies here in this spot. The sound I mentioned earlier was now distinctly louder, yet still not to be recognised. But it was enough along with weary muscles to lull you to a sound deep comfortable sleep. My watch read 10:15 when the last of the conversation turned to snores. Luckily and planned, our lighting or night light was LED with just enough light to illuminate the immediate area and power miserly to last upwards of 50 hours continuously. However it would only see about five or six hours use each time we stopped to sleep. Once back awake, after six hours of sleep, we had to decide how we were going to proceed.... if we went further in, it would take us to the point of no return as it depended now entirely on our provisions and how much water we had left. All provided nothing unexpected occurred. I think wisely we decided to only explore further for a couple hours, but leave out supplies and nap-sacks there at our sleeping area. Nearing the end of our agreed two more hours, fortune would have it that we would discover running water, and while it tasted of iron somewhat, it was palatable. This would play greatly in our next decent as we now knew we could carry only half as much water and more foodstuffs instead, rather than needing that amount for he return. The return was uneventful, the ascent up the pit was non-eventful though a bit timely, though the pipe held perfectly with no movement. It took us until around noon to emerge from the tunnel into the brightness which seemed overwhelming after twenty four or so hours of darkness. Fortunately the last stretch of the exit prepared us with ever brightening sunlight until we emerged. We would return as soon as we had restocked our supplies and a couple additional things we had not thought to bring originally. We had thought that tomorrow would see us back here again. As fate would have it interruption would have us away from this location for quite some time. In fact it would be nearly four months before we could return. Illness had affected Mark in the form of a hernia. He would have a surgery one month after our last outing to the cave, and during recovery we would spend hours and hours on our impending game plan. Recovery was slow for Mark, at 44 years old, he wasn't a kid anymore, and it took the better part of the four months until we had a solid group again. This time we had devised a sort of folding cart with wheels and a lanyard to pull it with. This would allow us a bit more speed in our descent on the longer down hill stretches. and allow just a bit more supplies. It was decided that this next Saturday would be the day of our next adventure, and we were anxious. Saturday came, and it was early, this would have been the season the original explorers had entered. It was mid April, and the sun shone long in the sky as it headed to the equinox. Though we scarcely need the suns illumination, it somehow had heightened our spirits as spring always does. This time it took us about an hour and a half to get to our deepest mark to date. The cart was a mixed blessing, but all in all it functioned as well as could be expected, and the descent speed was well within the acceptable. We would now leave it along with most of our gear here at this room, or what I would call, more of a landing. To our front the tunnel continued but within a hundred yards it would amazingly split into two passages. By our reckoning, the right passage would lead to the north, north east. but we couldn't be sure as the compass gave irregular readings that we accounted for by the fact of the iron in the rock. It was evident in the water we had found back some ways. As we deliberated which direction to follow, we again heard the distant sound of water. It was most recognizable in the left tunnel. These were not caves, they were deliberate at this point, and had been for some while, there was no mistaking that they were fashioned with tools of some sort, and though the surfaces were rough, it was apparent they were man made. With our gear stored just a hundred yards behind us, we decided that travel would include only the minimum of supplies. This in turn helped us to decide if the sound of water would play an important role in our choice of direction. We decided on the right tunnel. Mark had spoken little, and I had wondered if his recent operation was bothering him, but, I figured if it was he would have said something by now. This tunnel continued for about what seemed like a quarter mile and then leveled off. The walking was easy, as a constant down hill always seems to wear a bit more than uphill or level. Stopping to listen, we heard nothing, no water, no wind, nor did we feel any movement of air, all was still and silent. Continuing on, and with an abundant light supply, we could see the stratification in the rock and though we were traveling level, the stratification was at an uphill plane in relation to the floor, and it had changed composition slightly. It seemed composed more of sandstone or a limestone like strata. It had a certain opaqueness, yet a sort of iridescence to it. Continuing on, we seemed to second guess ourselves as to whether or not we might have been better off to have taken the left tunnel instead. But that was not to change our path. We had been in the tunnel now for around two and a half hours, and now it seemed that we had made as much distance in an hour as we had in two hours of our original descent. Well traveling level ground made for a fairly rapid consumption of the distances. Lance was now taking the lead, and increasing the speed of our walk, and really it was still a comfortable rate. We soon found ourselves entering a room of considerable size. It was more like a hall, and a great hall at that. I'd of guessed it was about 700 feet long, and about 900 feet wide, and the ceilings at least four hundred feet high. This was a Grand Hall and along the walls were carved columns, columns that spread all around the borders of this hall. The columns were simple, yet each one had a pedestal carved into the top and bottom and the column itself slightly larger girth in it's mid height. The columns were separated by around ten feet all around except for the middle of each wall where three columns combined on each side of a passageway leading out. The ceiling was domed, and there appeared no ornamentation, just a smooth appearance. The floor seemed smooth and had no pits or downward leading entrances, it just went from us into the distant walls uninterrupted. Our lights spread eerie shadows along the walls as we moved towards the center of this hall. Who could have possibly made this, and where were they, Were they still somewhere not too far away, did someone or something know of our presence? We all without thinking quickly made our way to the far side and took up places behind the columns and stopped. What were we to think of this. Lance had supposed that it was very ancient, but Mark expressed just the opposite, while I really hadn't formed a concrete opinion. There was no debris as one would think, but then if it was cleaned after it's last use and abandoned, there would be none. There were no clues. only questions. Slowly and quietly we made our way to the passage across from the tunnel we had exited. We had come within about twenty foot of the opening and stopped. Again we listened, and again there was nothing...... our breathing the only sound above our hearts. Lance decided to take this tunnel out of the hall where we had stopped, and took only his light, we stayed with the rest.He was gone for about a half hour before he returned, and upon his arrival his excitement had fully taken him over. I tried to quiet him some but he paid little regard, nor was he concerned of the necessity of our being quiet. He had exclaimed that he had found an opening, an opening into another ....world, yes he had traveled some quarter mile to find the tunnel opened into an underground world with it's own lighting, a somehow illuminated valley, one with trees, green shrubs and a sky, a sky the color of sunset, hues of pinks, reds and oranges. and that there seemed no horizon to be seen, but that he had rushed back to tell us. We grabbed our things and followed down this tunnel almost at a trot until at last we exited the tunnel into a vast underground world, complete with sky. Looking around we were amazed at what we were seeing, a lush forest, an almost tropical forest with many kind of what appeared to be ferns and an eiray of every conceivable color of flowering plant. The atmosphere was thick with humidity and in the distance a fog hung over the entire horizon. We were only a few feet from the lushness of some primeval jungle. In the distance we could hear the sound of what appeared to be birds or something that occupied this forest, though were we were it was somehow arrestingly quiet. There seemed only an occasional rustling nearby, and certainly it was a small creature, but nothing easily seen. We decided the first thing to do was to set up a base camp, bit not in the open, but rather inside the lushness of all the dense undergrowth, in the event we needed to keep ourselves unseen. After all this was a foreign world to us, and if there were occupants, how would they take to us if we stumbled upon them or them upon us? There appeared no paths in our immediate vicinity, so we began making a small clearing, carefull not to disturb our cover. The soil here was a deep blackish brown, no doubt it was the most fertile we had seem in ages anywhere. There seemed to be the usual type of creatures such as worms and curiously what we had always called 'Sal-Bugs' a little armadillo like bug that would roll up into a ball if disturbed. There were grasshopper like bugs, only in minature and the soil was teeming with microscopic life no doubt. Lance and Mark and I began planning what we would do now that we had found this world, and it was decided that they would go back and get our gear while I stayed here and reconnoitered the area. They quickly were off. Something curious, the light never seemed to diminish any inside this world we had found, nor did it get any brighter. It's source must have been something constant. I'll have to admit that while they were gone I was slightly on edge, the silence was unnerving a bit, and I felt as though I was being observed, not so much watched as observed. and in fact I was. As I sat waiting, having made a small clearing, I had discovered a small boulder to set on and as I faced the vastness of the forest, I spied a lizard. It was a normal lizard as lizards go, gray and green and it was curious about it's new neighbor. I wondered if it had eve seen another human as it seemed to find no fear at the sight of me, nor when I moved toward it, it neither moved or expressed any concern. About a little over an hour had passed and I heard Mark and Lance coming back through the tunnel, quietly but audible. They had brought everything that they thought we might use or have need of, but since we had found this habitat, some of what we brought would not be needed and was left behind. As they returned and saw the clearing I had worked on, we began to set up our ropes and tarps so as to make a shelter. We would later find ourselves wondering why we had bothered. The light neither increased nor decreased, it was a constant, and nothing but the thickest of rain forest lay ahead of us. This reminded me of pictures I'd seen of the Olympic Rain Forest in Washington, a place of seemingly perpetual rain. We decided to rest up for a while and have something to eat and also brew up some coffee. We were set for a while................... Neither Mark nor Lance nor I had the slightest idea where we were other than at the end of a long tunnel, and an artificial one at that. Somewhere above some six hours away, the world blundered along placidly, oblivious to the world we had discovered. Had it been discovered before, or had the outside world been discovered from here? I had brought a bowie knife, but none of us had brought a machete, which would have come in real handy where we were heading. The quest was on, we decided to take only the necessities in case we somehow became lost from our camp here, and were unable to find our way back for some reason. The first thing we did is locate some sturdy small trees and cutting off a couple straight branches, fashion them into spears. We had no idea what we might encounter and were wary of our new environment and this afforded us some feeling of safety. I led the way through the dense undergrowth, but our progress was slow. We forged ahead for about an hour until the undergrowth seemed to split into a path. It didn't appear traveled, but then we didn't know what might travel upon it if at all. The sky seemed to change color, more into the yellows, brighter somewhat, and in the distance we thought we heard the sound of a waterfall or some brook perhaps. We had crossed several small creeks along the way, the water crystal clear and excellent for drinking, so there was no fear of thirst where we were heading. As we went, occasionally a lizard or two would appear, and again they were oblivious to our presence. Further ahead I saw the first bird of many I would later encounter. It looked odd, sort of like a parrot except it had a bit more reptilian look to it, a bit more steeped in antiquity than the birds known on the surface. Deeper we explored into this lush paradise, and at last we came into an opening. It was a lake if you'd call it that, though smaller, it was probably a good half mile across to the far side and surrounded by this dense forest. Off to our left was a waterfall that spilled over a cliff, a steep foothills behind it. the Hills seemed to rise several thousand feet, yet the shy seemed even that much hugher, and the sky actually seemed to not have a roof as you'd imagine, instead it obscured into fog and clouds. It was hard to determine the height. In the distance for the first time we heard a trumpeting, something like what an elephant would make, but too distant to be sure how far. In the lake along the edges fish were to be seen, they appeared like trout and were arrayed with the most exquisite of colors. This was noted, as a probable source of foodstuffs in the future if need be,as well we kept our eyes open for fruits or berries along the way. There was no night here, only perpetual day, yet in some way the growth of plants seemed static, neither getting larger or dying back. If we were to find our bearings, surely it would come by finding the highest point in this new world, so we decided it best if we skirted the lake and sought to ascend the hills behind the waterfalls. It took some time to reach the falls, but once the ascent started, it wasn't long until we were at a tree line. I would guess we had ascended 2,000 feet above the lake and had come to the point where only grasses grew, a velvety green landscape all around. To our left further along the hilly range, it seemed a continuation of that which we had just climbed, while across the lake it appeared that the lushness ended abruptly and began what seemed like sand dunes, short, but definitely sand, and from the way we came, was only low forest with no hills, going back into the fog that bordered everything. we decided that we would take the route that skirted the lake and try to reach the sandy plain dotted with dunes. This would give some idea of the extremes we might find in this underground world. We stopped to rest, and again snack and to ponder what we had discovered. Had any human been here before? That question seemed madness...... who had built the Great Hall, or the tunnels? It had to be humans, who else could have, or what else? Inside his world there was a certain stillness and silence that was only broken by small flocks of birds in the distance. That is all we had seen, what else besides lizards lived here? Were there people? As of yet, there was nothing to indicate the presence of anyone else man nor beast..... except the far distant trumpeting of some beast, or was it just a bird? We would not travel far before we were stopped in our tracks. Straight ahead of us was a stone well, circular about 8 foot in diameter and about two foot high. This was no natural formation, it was built by human hands. It had moss growing along the bottom and by the looks of it had rested undisturbed for ages uncounted, yet it had not deteriorated. Inside it almost appeared empty except for the reflection of light that appeared 50 or 60 foot from the surface. Along the inned wall were absent stones which formed foot and hand holds down to the edge of the water, what an odd construction this was. We were off, ahead we traveled on fairly rolling hills, with nothing but an occasional bird flying by. We reached the border of the sand plain after about two hours, rested and ate some. We had started almost 30 hours ago, and it had not seemed more than just a few hours. How long did we expect to stay? Nobody could say. We would stay until we were too low on food to continue, or until............ well we really didn't know when. After all, who had ever discovered such a magnificent land or world, and what awaited us on the outside compared to this paradise? A worn out dingy used world. Lance had a watch and we were coming up on 48 hours since we had left the surface, we had been in this world two days, and it scarcely seemed more than a single day, we would have to keep better track of our time and designate times for sleep or we would find ourselves loosing our sense of time. As we made our way along the border of the sand and the lush grass, we decided to pull off and head towards the more dense area with tree cover, if for nothing more than a sense of security from the cover it provided. We quickly made a small clearing to sleep and a small place above to guard from. What were we guarding from? We didn't know, but somehow we thought it prudent to keep an eye and sleep two at a time while one watched. As we took turns sleeping the fog seemed to roll in and in just a few minutes we were fully enveloped in it. It seemed darker, but the temperature seemed steady and not uncomfortable. In fact the climate here in this world seemed to be a perfect temperature, I'd guess about 80 degrees. Neither hot or cold. Sleep came quickly, and lasted a long time. The hours had caught up with us and all of us slept. I was the first t awake, the fog had dissipated and it was again a yellow hued sky. Mark woke next and we talked quietly while Lance still slept. We heard a trumpeting again, this time it was closer, how close we knew not. But I would have thought likely less than a quarter mile at most. Lance stirred and awoke. We decided to have what could be called breakfast, and brewed some coffee and hydrated some eggs and ham to heat. I was he first real meal we had prepared, and it hit the spot. We wondered what we would find, or which direction we would go? Across the sands, or skirt the grass. For the time being we would skirt he grass. As we went, the grass became denser and much taller, and in places reached well above our heads. Bing was tough, snaking through the grass. Finally we came out into a forested area, ferns replaced the grass and it seemed to extend like a meadow. Along our left were cliffs, the bases of the rolling hills we had come across. Still the sky seemed yellow, ant we looked anxiously to see a roof, we had envisioned being inside a huge cavern or on the interior of the earth, something of the idea of Agartha, spoken of in legends, believed to exist inside the hollow earth. Yet we could see no such ceiling. Trekking forward, we would discover something that would amaze us. We hadn't gone too far before we came upon a pool of water, and all around it prints, roundish foot prints, something like an elephant would make. Was this the trumpeting we had heard in the distance before? There was only one way to find out, after all where were we going? We had no destination really, only thing was, not to get lost, and we felt we could easily backtrack our path so far as we had come. I led, followed by Mark, followed by Lance. The prints were fairly easy to follow, and we made good time. After about a half hour, we were back into the tall grass again, but the prints and path had left us a much easier trail to navigate through. A trumpeting, this time very close, it was only yards away. We froze, silently I pointed back the way we came and Mark and Lance knew exactly what the plan was........ retreat. We backtracked probably 50 yards and decided to circle around to the right and see if we might run into shorter grass or forest that might give us a better view while affording some safety if this was what we thought it was, an Elephant. We took some time but we did find that the grass died out into a tree covered canopy of forest and that the thickness of the trees could provide a certain amount of invisibility. As we skirted along through the tree trunks silently, we came upon the creature responsible for the sounds of trumpeting , and it was no elephant, this was Mammoth. That explained the size of the prints, they were I figured about 18 or 20 inches in diameter. This thing was huge. It stood 20 foot tall if it was an inch, it seemed as big as a cement truck. But the thing that stopped all three of us, was it's stare. It saw us, it was quite aware we had followed it there and it knew. The look in the eyes, the look was like nothing I'd ever seen, it could see into me, it could read my intentions, I believe it knew what I was thinking, it had a control of the situation It raised it's huge tusks, tusks that curled into magnificent arches, it's head high in the air and then stood on only its hind legs, front feet bent, and it reached nearly 3 stories into the air. I couldn't move, nor could Mark and Lance. We were transfixed. The Mammoth dropped one leg and raised the other, it's mouth moved, and I heard a sound. A deep voice, a powerful voice, it uttered "COME" ............ I could not imagine it was speaking and I understood. The voice was deep and it uttered it again.... "COME".... I stepped out from behind the tree I was using as cover and took a few steps toward it, Mark and Lance stayed behind, semi hidden behind the trees. The Mammoth dropped to all fours and faced me, I looked into his eyes and walked forward. I knew, I don't know how I knew, but I did, that there was no need for fear, that I was meeting a great mind, an intelligence even superior to mine. I asked, who are you..... he just stared into my eyes, then he said, "I am "NIXKAMICH" .....come. And there was no fear in me. I walked up to him, I stood five foot from his eyes, I can not tell or describe the feeling or look other than it was to look into a persons eyes, the same as if you looked into your own in a mirror, the way time stops, the way you see inside. I stood there looking, and said who are you audibly, he blinked and dropped his head slightly and spoke, and I understood. His voice was deep, the deepest I'd ever heard, but he said" I am NIXKAMICH, I live in this valley, why do you come here? Who are you and where do you come from. He spoke English, and his mouth matched his words, I wasn't imagining this, nor was it mental or something, it was real. He pushed me with his tusks to the left and said come this way, and bring those two with you, so I allowed him to lead and I followed. I signaled for Mark and Lance to follow, and they quickly did, catching up quickly. I followed Maw through a stand of trees and between two tall cliffs into a hidden hollow. The cliffs opened up into a giant arena the size of football field. there were pillars around a central pond and along the outer sides next to the cliffs were fruit trees abounding with fruit. There were hundreds an hundreds of trees and in the center it was sand. This was obviously where he stood at rest or slept and it was littered as you would expect. when we reached the insides, a asked him ..... how can you speak, and he said, he could read my mind and form those sounds, and that his language was not too unlike mine in sound, then I asked him if there more of his kind, and he said there were many many of his kind, and that there were once a kind like me and my friends who lived here, but that he had not seen any in the time he was alive, but in the time of his Father they were. I imagined their lifespan probably 75 or 80 of our years, but I didn't know, I didn't know squat really about these creatures. But I suspected they could reasonably outlive a human, so that had to mean there had been no humans for probable 50 or 100 years? Where was I and what was I doing here? Above my Daughter and Son were working, living, doing whatever, polititions getting ready for elections, the world almost out of control, wars, oil, all the crap on the surface. What would now drag me out of here? Neither Lance or mark seemed sure about their safety, but watching that I seemed in no danger, they followed close behind us. The undergrowth became so dense that I had to follow single file, so we grouped again, myself, Mark and Lance. NIXKAMICH was moving at a quick walk for us, buy. We would stay here for another hour then proceed to follow the trail Maw had left. Overhead it was the color of a sodium light, a yellowy gray, we had missed the starry night skies, the stars illuminating against the blackness of space. Here it was an eternal sky of clouds, becoming dense and defining our skyward boundaries. Energy was returning to all of us now, rested we would continue on following this path, surely it would prove easy enough. The trail was in fact easy enough until we came to a huge rock hillside. Wile not very steep, it was one flat surface of a vastly huge single rock, with only a crack or split here and there. The surface left no trace of any foot prints, so we scanned to see if we could locate the most likely way off tht for him, it was a leisurely gait.Without knowing where we were going, we gave each other questioning looks but continued behind this huge beast. We had not traveled more than a half hour before the lush greenery subsided and opened to a wide and high sand dune, in fact a range of sand dunes. I was dreading climbing the sand face of the dune, but as luck would have it we skirted the edge for about a mile it seemed. Then there became areas of the dunes where grasses grew, and there were more and more islands of this waist tall grass. And all at once the dunes seemed to turn into a more soil like composition which allowed for more and more plant life. The grass had changed to bushes and small trees and vines, and then slowly back into the dense forests of before. On we went, occasionally  NIXKAMICHwould stop and turn, looking back to measure our progress behind his. I could now hear the faint sound of water in the distance, surely a creek or stream lay ahead of us, but from our vantage, we had yet to arrive. Two more rises, and we would see this water, but it was hardly what we had expected. As we came down the slope we exited the lush under growth to find a rock strewn expanse straight ahead of us. This was a concave shaped small valley or more two ridges which contained a rock slide about two hundred yards wide. This concave contained a fairly voluminous creek which more likely eroded the shape. This rock slide covered the downhill slope of a mountain, an actual mountain, not a hill or foothill and the slide and creek disappeared into the lofty heights of the mountain which was covered in a fog. I asked NIXKAMICH if we could rest for some while and he spoke, saying that he would go ahead, and that if we wanted, we could follow the tracks he made. We would remain here for about an hour. Lance had some candy bars, and we each ate one fairly quickly, we were almost to the point of hungris huge rock hill. It appeared that off towards the top at about two o clock, the trees at the edge opened to a path, so we headed in that direction. As we got there and the rock gave way to soil and mosses, we could see no sign that it had been traveled. Mark suggested we follow the rock edge downhill as did Lance, but I had a feeling the path resumed higher up the hillside. I told Mark and Lance to go ahead and follow their hunch and I would continue uphill and try to locate anything that looked like prints. This time Lance led the way and Him and Mark were soon some distance from me as I ascended. As I continued uphill I spied a spot on the rock where it became dirt and plant covered, a spot where it appeared to be crushed plant life as if it had been stepped on. I knelt down and touched it, and it was in fact a bit of crushed moss and fern. I whistled to Lance and Mark and waited a moment..... I heard a whistle back and a very distant voice hollering back. I cupped my hands to my mouth and hollered to them "I got it", "it's here", to which I heard an "OK". I went from kneeling to twisting down into a setting position where I would wait. It was about five minutes before I could hear them just behind me. Mark called out.. " did you find the path" I turned to face them and nodded and said yep. I would let them rest again from their uphill return and then we would all start somewhat fresh again. It was getting colder as we rose up the mountains elevation, though still about 50.Degrees. The drop was discernible though. Rested, we got up and tried to follow what appeared plant crush marks, or prints but they were scarce, though we did find them with difficulty. Presently the undergrowth became more dense and taller and a path was beginning to emerge before us, clear prints, clear enough to follow. From the floor where we encountered the rock creek, we had ascended probably two thousand feet, and we were approaching the fog and clouds soon. In places we passed through brief fog banks and the temperature seemed to drop into the low fifties. I hoped it would not get to much colder, but if it did, we had clothing in our backpacks that would serve us. Continuing the mountainside seemed to have reached a fog covered plateau, be it still slightly uphill. The grasses and mosses had turned to exclusively moss and lichens and I believe this was due to the altitude. Ahead of us lie a plateau who's edges were unseen because of the fog and a surrounding of cloud cover, yet we could still see with difficulty, prints leading off to the right side of our location, we continued. For a second we all heard a trumpeting, it had to be this huge beast NIXKAMICH, who else could make such a sound. It was faint, but distinct. We would find that it was closer than we had imagined, it was the fog that was muffling the sound and we would be less than an eight of a mile away. It was beginning to be our night time, and even without darkness we felt the internal clocks calling us to slumber. We decide we either had to follow NIXKAMICH or set up some sort of shelter. Shelter where we would not be trampled should NIXKAMICH or perhaps others like him traveled in our vicinity.We chose a rock outcropping with tallish rocks on three sides and the mountain on the open side It would afford protection from being stepped on, and any breeze or wind that might arise. We quickly were out, sleep came fast to all of us. We would find slumber and dreams unending, or so it seemed. Mark awoke first and some nine hours had passed since we fell asleep. He found some fairly dry sticks and branches and started a small fire to warm by, and also to boil water for coffee for us all. It was the smoke smell that woke me, and Lance remained still asleep for another half hour. Once we were all awake and had coffee and something to eat, namely roasted Spam and crackers, we were ready once again to follow the path to the abode of NIXKAMICH, somewhere not far here on this mountain. We had scarcely traveled a hundred feet when w were face to face with NIXKAMICH. He had come down from above silently. Imagine something the size of a dump truck, and the kind used in Copper mines.... at least he seemed that big. We stood there in silence, no one really ready to question NIXKAMICH. His eyes were piercing and they seemed to see down to our very being. I hesitated and then stepped forward... no real plan yet, just that I felt something must happen. Sort of like those long uncomfortable silences we all endure at one time or another. What would I say? My internal dialogue was churning for words, and at last I spoke. NIXKAMICH, I said, where will you take us now? I sort of knew the whole point was to meet His fellow Behemoths, but would we be welcome? I was bursting with questions, but somehow none of them would surface just now. NIXKAMICH raised his head and his whole body stepped towards the ever thickening fog. Follow me was his reply. It was as though he said it in a tired way, not with enthusiasm, but with a hint of distress. His steps were strides of over six foot, and we were in a brisk walk to stay at his pace. We had only walked about 500 yards when we emerged into an opening, or rather what was really a meadow sized flat area opened on the back and obviously on the path we entered from. On either side were cliffs that disappeared into the overhead fog. But in the clearing the fog had diminished and we three could see ahead of us, probably twenty more Beasts as large as NIXKAMICH. Some were oblivious, even seemed to ignore us, but two immediately transfixed their gaze on us in a very intense stare, at first it was unnerving, but NIXKAMICH  stood between us and them. He said in a low tone "we have visitors" and the entire gathering slon to our presence. It was what we thought to be about mid morning, about 9 o clock surface time. But surface time had little meaning here, this was an entirely different time, a different age, we were in the presence of an ancient race, like it or not. A soft mist was falling and it would become necessary to build ourselves a shelter, rather to erect our tarp wly turned to face us. One by one it their own time turned to see the curiosity that was us three. One appeared to rise on it's hind legs and then drop to the ground with its front feed. With this we could feel it through the ground as a tremor. About now we were looking at each other, weighing the possibility that we might have to run... hard and fast. That would never do, I was not capable of running, my hips prevented that, but if need be, I would tell them to flee without me. The beast addressed NIXKAMICH..... You.... why have You brought these kind here..... what have you done. You know the ways of man, why have you brought this danger here to your people?......... It was now becoming tense, I whispered to Mark and Lance..... we may have to run, whatever happens we must get to the Great Hall if we survive this, be ready to move quick. Don't look afraid or concerned, follow NIXKAMICH's lead for a minute here. "I have searched their minds and hearts, and the will do no harm" I have brought them here to chronicle the Old Ways.... before they are lost only to memory. The outside world grows larger than ever since the First Age, we must be vigilant, and we must be ready if Man appears in our world. These three are not ones that seek riches like those before. Moments past, fearful moments, then at last the one said "it is well then" They are welcome and will be cared for. Mark looked at Lance and Lance at me, this was the relief we were hoping to hear, but were afraid might not come. Yet it had and we were now free to move around within this Ancient race. Had it been so long that they had all but forgotten man? They had surely not forgotten some event in the distant past, and we wondered at the nature of what it was? The One came closer and closer to where we all stood, the others watching in caution it seemed, and then NIXKAMICH said to the One, I will watch over them, I will take them to the place. The 'place'..... what had he meant "the place" ? As it turned out, it would be a spot higher on the cliff that would provide us with safety from being trampled while we slept. NIXKAMICH  took us there. It was a flat level spot that rose a couple times the height of our hosts..... if you could call them hosts. Some seemed indifferent, others curious and still others..... it was hard to gauge their reactioas a lean-to so as to keep dry in the thickening mist. We neither knew how much it would increase or the strength it would fall, so our first thought was to prepare a dry place to inhabit while here. It only took us a few minutes and we had erected our lean-to in such a way so as to evacuate the runoff out and down the face of the cliffs. Now we had all we needed, and our audience was awaiting to see our next moves. I came off of the cliff and stood next to NIXKAMICH and asked him if anyone like us had been here..... ever? As fate would have it, I would get the Ancient history of their majestic race from times shrouded in myth and mystery. A time many of NIXKAMICH's kind knew little of. I would chronicle the life and times of an ancient race, in it's entirety. What I am about to write down will seem impossible, but I am as sure it happened as if I had lived it myself.

Antimatter Engine propulsion

Watching NOVA on a movie site, I had an idea from the program. It had to do with antimatter propulsion, but I sidetracked off of that and thought ION propulsion more appropriate in this example. So be warned, I'm planning to ramble a bit as this whole idea spans several years of internal dialogue and imagining. To start with, and mind you alot of this is more in the realm of Quantum Mechanics, to start with, we'll describe a phenominon called 'Johnson Noise'. What this is, I'll try to explain, starts with the temperature of Space, yes, outerspace. IT's said to be near absolute zero, but you have to wonder if Pluto is any colder ?? At absolute zero, electrons and neutrons cease motion until temperatures rise above zero and, rising the electrons and neutrons become corespondingly mare active, more temp, more active. This phenominon relates to a device a Nano technology inventor had produced and had used in the process, nano-diode's. This inventors name was Charles Brown. No, not of 'Peanuts' fame, but an inventor in recent times. The final product his nano-awray's pourpose was to produce electricity. I had previously in research, came across an article with photos and the inventor with the actual machine, but have misplaced the info, never mind, I'll find it later, it does exist. The aparatus he had was an electron accellerator, whick produced higher and higher voltage basically, from minute amounts of voltage. I think you begin to see the use of these two machines, ie. the diode-awray would power the electron accellerator, which in turn would produce useable amounts of electrical energy, which in tandom with ION genration through an ION generator, could be used to power and propell a space ship at the increadable speeds nessessary for inter-stellar travel. To increase the thrust was the crux of my whole idea, as the previous componants seemed rudamentry, and basically a given. What I proposed was to generate a magnetic feild and dirrect it with electromatic manipulation of the space behind the exhaust of the ION motor, thuss esentially 'grabbing traction'. I know this is starting to sound like a motorheads pipe dream but, These are the principals I'm going to use and manipulate into a usfell means of high-speed star travel. more to come...Ok just a thought acumulation in space nothing is static, yet if there is 'big bang' expansion, does it not flow forth from somewhere ie. this nothing? is it maybe like the shape of a doughnut and flows in a circular outflow as it also inflows or outward laterally.

Ted's Mystery Cave final story

Well I guess enough time has passed since back when I brought this story to you, it's time for some closure. After three months of barely going out in public, I began to feel the draw of the cave pulling me back. I was thinking about the video camera that I had left when I had the incident with my skull and the roof of the passage, I had to get the video camera and see what if anything was on it. I remember, or at least think, that it was running when I hit my head, but remembering only seeing stars at the time, I might have automatically shut if off and set it down or likely dropped it on the floor. Weather it was on, I really don't remember, I was more freaked by my bloodied head, the sounds around me, and the ones I had heard from the place that the round bolder lay. And the smell, the smell seemed to come from nowhere, and I dont actually remember if it was during that event or only when I was returning through floyds tounb, as I was feeling sick and panic by the smell. Still I knew the video camera was still there and if anything was on it, I'd first have to get it. These three months, more like four months had had an affect on more than my mind, I still wanted the lights on when I was alone, and I had lost about fifteen pounds as well. I haven't seen Joe much since we all met back around May, he seems to still need closure, the same as B and I.
From May through to Late October B and I had akwardly avoided takling about the cave. I will try to tell it now as it unfolded. I was wondering about something almost supernatural,looking for creatures or something to account for the noises and the incident with the rope at the enterance. My title barely does it justice. During this time, B did something strange. It seemed that overnight he had almost completly changed his wardrobe, as though he were hiding, at least that was the vibe. He talked quieter, but less than ever. He was different like being in a fever, going in and out somehow. I don't think I could ever really explain it, that.. and what I was feeling. I had been unnerved by this too. By now we were again being overcome with curiosity. I had to go back, there's alot of fear inside a tunnel the size of floyds tomb. Staying cool is difficult, it's practiced. We'v decided not to bring the dog this time.
It's now November 11 2001 and the cold has me doing little. I have been to the library in town though, and on a hunch or mabe just to prove to myself that I wasn't crazy or loosing it, I was looking for anything, legends, Indian stories, petrogliphs, unusual geographic disturbanced, anything that could answer the questions, explain the cave, the mark on the overhang and possably why I was feeling so lost. It's been some months since May and my hearing things, shadows have gone, and I'm able to sleep now, and I'v been able to finally quit the medication.

B and I met breifly today and something completly strange happened again. It seems we spent the first bit together, quiet, sort of waiting for the other to start the conversation. I'm feeling distant from B, but in the same sense, I feel like we are on the same mental plane and words are unnessessary. It was B that started, by telling me he thought we ALL had to go back back in the cave. That meant B, Joe and I, and I hadn't seen much of Joe. He seemed to go to great lengths to avoid me, it was just as I got a call from my Sister, that she said she had seen Joe, he had stopped by, and had told her he wanted to see me again and it needed to be soon. She expressed concern that I was possably going to meet up with Joe again, since there were times that I would only let her come over while I was recovering from the last exploration, she feared Joe might cause a relapse of my depression and paranoia, and start every thing up again.

I called the only number I had for Joe and it had been disconected, all I got was a operator number 30-something. I only knew of one way to get ahold of him. B had known Joe since junior high school but had not been close friends, and didn't really hang out togather, still he had done some things once or twice with Joe and his close friends the Twins. If I could get ahold of the twins, or B, I might have a source. I called B and asked if he knew where either of the twins were, and he said he had seen Donny, one of the two, Donny and Derik, and that Donny was working at the real estate office surveying lots for one of the land speculators. Donny wasn't hard to get ahold of as it turned out, and while he really didn't remember me, B, was a vague memory..... untill I brought up caving. Danny seemed agitated or nervious at the mention, and began to tell me about the changes he had seen in Joe, and that he had known later about Joes night epesodes. He told me that while it had been a long time, Joe had made progress returning to normal and was sometimes even joking Donny, about feeling like a sissie over the whole thing.

I was able to find out where Joe was. It seems he had a relative living in Anchorage Alaska and he had been there July through mid September. After that he had went Las Vegas for a month and was working doing construction with a guy he had worked with breifly in Anchorage. He was actually harder to get ahold of than I expected, but I found him working in Henderson for a second phase of a housing tract. Joe seemed to already know when I pulled up what I was there for, He was setting on a pallet of scrap wood when I walked up, and just looked at me as though no time had passed since we had seen each other last. His first words were, "We have to go back, theres something more we have to find". He said it with his eyes closed as though that made it easier to say. I just stood there. After a fiew seconds, I said I know.... I told Joe, B and I were going back, B couldn't make it through the passage, but that He and I could. Thanksgiving was only two days away, and the day after, he would have time. Joe seems ok, yet something from the cave has left him more cautious, more reserved, the dry humor he had seems completly gone, which makes for alot of quiet akward moments in conversation.
With Thanksgiving over we now have time for one or two days to cave again. B needs to contact Joe, we need a fiew things more if were going to go in deeper, and thats what we're planning. Im almost looking forward to going in again, this time with better lighting, but I don't know what were looking for, And it still gives me the creeps
December 26 2001 B and I met Joe at the south end of town at the Sporting goods. The shop carries climbing equiptment. We got a new coil of rope and some more lighting consisting of glowsticks and a D cell maglight, also some bulk batteries, if indeed. We would be able to explore further past the rise and right hand turn that my maglight had exposed previously. With replacements of the rope and harness's we lost fron the last time, and somewhat better lighting we left. B had brought his Van this time and figured it would afford us better protection from the elements if we needed to stay for an extended time.
It was overcast to the east of us, but the sun was shining brightly over us in the warmest part of the day. The desert doesn't affort too warm of weather this time of year and at this altitude. I hoped we wouldn't need the Van for that. We carried everything to the entrance and harnessed up, and lowered our rope. It was for a brief moment that a chill ran through me, here I was. Was I crazy? The last time I was here we couldnt get out fast enough. We sat there for what seemed like a half an hour, just looking into the blackness. Then B stood up and hooked his caribeiner to the ropes, turned, and backed down into the darkness. His helmet light flashed down inside and back up as he decended, watching for any new changes to the cave. About half way, He called up to Joe and I, that everything was ok. Next down was Joe, then finally I decended. Everything was quiet except for an occasional bit of voices as Joe and B talked. I reached the bottom and B was holding the harness that we had lost the last time, but there was no trace of the rope that pulled into the cave last time. Nothing except some fuzzlike stuff at the entrance of the hole we had broke through. It almost looked like the rope had been pulled past this hole and the rubbing had left some particles chaffed off of the rope. There was no breeze or air coming up from the passage, all was still, there was however, the smell of water. That smell you get when you are near. It seemed as though there was more humidity in the cave compared to last time, and it was coming from deeper inside the passageway. Joe wanted to go first, and I don't know if I felt relieved or more nervious. B seemed ready for anything and was composed, arangeing the packs to set and lay on while waiting for us which might be a lengthy time. I waited as Joe dissapeared into the opening, We could hear the crunch of rocks and chips as Joe scooted himself in farther and farther into floyds tomb. After about five minuates Joe had made it through floyds tomb and was in the small chamber where it started uphill. He called out and said everything was ok, he would wait for me. A sudden aprehention came over me, I was here, there was no backing out now. I made my way to the enterance and assumed the position I had used both times before, only this time as I scooted further and further in, I was less restricted and squeezed. The fifteen pounds I had lost since had helped. I was able to go through without exhaling all my breath, instead it seemed roomy, it felt much less constricting. As I scooted with my toes, I was aware of only three things, the sound of gravely rock chips gringing along and Joe and I's breathing. As it was opening out of floyds toumb, I was able to increase my crawl speed untill I could put my arms and hands under me and push along into the chamber at it's end. He was there with the light held to his chin, illuminating his face like some goul. I didn't think it was funny, but I did feel safer here in this chamber with him. B was calling to us, asking if we made it in completly as he couldnt hear us now. I called back through that we were fine. Somehow he sounded like he was three or four times the distance away rather than the 70-80 some odd feet that the actual distance was. Joe was holding my Video recorder and handed it to me. The batteries were dead and the extras We had brought were with B. Joe and I spoke, not much above a wisper, in these confines we really didn't need to. He wasn't quite as daring on the next streach of passageway. I took off my climbing boot to remove some rock chips that had got packed down around my ankle While putting my boot back on and lacing it up, a faint breeze started to rise and come through the chamber, just percieveable, but a change since intering the chamber. This air had to be coming from further in, how far neither of us knew. I decided to go first this streach, and squeezing around Joe, I made my way up the slight incline. About fifteen foot ahead it turned slightly to the right and opened up to ten or twelve feet to the ceiling, but was slightly less wide. It began to be shaped like a fisure on the floor, and became more v shaped. I had to use my hands to support my weight through a streach of about twenty feet, mostly with feet slipping, then it gave way to a widening ledge on the left side of this thin chasm. I could feel rising air from here and ahead it again turned but this time, hard to the right. Were we going in a spiral around the main chamber? I felt like we were somehow going in a circle. Joe had advanced up to where I was and the additional light was welcome. We had been down here for close to an 40 or 50 minuates by this time. I continued with Joe close behind, ever forward in this, what seemed like a fissure until it abruptly stopped. I could still feel air coming from an unknown source. I used my D cell maglight now and shone it above our resting spot at this dead-end. Was this all there was? A dead end? The air flow was coming from above, but the chasm only went up mabe ten or twelve feet and appeared to veer off to the left, obscured by a bulge in it's face. Joe took off his harness and squeezed up the chasm wall, pushing his butt on one side and holding presure with his legs on the other side. One leg ahead, one leg and butt behind, up the wall, he worked his way up foot by foot until reached the bulge in the wall face. Speaking to me, he said that what was in front of him was a gradually leveling flat opening, a rather wide opening, but that the steepness was to much to overcome before he could reach a spot where it was flat enough of an incine to get a grip. He said I had to come up, he had a plan, but it would take both of us. I followed suit and scooted up the chasm till I came within a couple feet under him, and he pointed with the light where the rock opened up into a sort of space. Since Joe was lighter I proceded to wedge myself with my legs and butt against the rock faces, I boosted him up an additional two or three foot. From there he did a sort of worm crawl for about three or four foot until he could get this hands under him and use his shoe toes for traction. Slowly scooting and lifting with his arms, his palms and fingers pointed down he made it and stood up. His light dissapeared as he turned and it shone ahead of him. "OH My god", what,? what,? I said to him? I think theres a cavern here was his responce. We'll need ropes though, he said. My heart sort of sunk. I knew all along we would need ropes and harness's, and now it seemed foolish to have left them. He said, I have an idea... But we will eventually need ropes. I said that I would go back after them, but he said 'no', lets see how far we can go. We had plenty of time left on the flashlights plus six glow sticks between us both. Making my way up until it leveled off, what appeared in front of us was increadable, it was a cavern, complete with stalaglite and stalagmites and what appeared to be, some faint source of light. We both turned off our lights and sat there in darknes interupted only by the faint light which seemed to flutter like a reflection, And infact we would soon learn that it was a reflection. Another thing I had noticed was that it was warmer here in this cavern. We would shortly learn the source of he fluttering light. It was a pool of water, a thin pool mabe an inch or two deepwhich extended in a sort of pear shape from the vertical wall, the faint light source, was still unknown. Neither Joe or could see anywhere that it could be coming from. Never the less it was there and the slight undulations of the water were making a wavy reflection on the wall. It was like the light from radium on watch faces, and did seem to fade.To the left opened up a cavern, who's height and width seemed to increase like a pyramid on its side. By now B must have been getting pretty concerned and had moved from setting on the packs to the chissled opening and began calling for us. We never heard him, he had to be several hundred feet away, with turns and different levels. Having found this cavern, we decided the next course of action was to explore it, but that would have to wait for ropes. I suggested that we make our way back to the entrance chamber where B was, and attempt another exploration with a fiew other items we would need, since the task of bringing them throuth Floyds tomb was sure to be difficult, we'd have to put everything in a duffle and tie a rope to it and pull it through behind us. Both making it back through all the ground we'd covered, we slithered back through the tounb and out the hole and into the chamber. I was first, Joe second. Once there we decided that we needed to come back soon, and having the right equiptment we could consider exploring the cavern area. We left our ropes and harnesses and climbed out into an overcast late afternoon a bit relieved. Still what was the smell and noises that we experianced on our first passage through the tomb? No evidence of either of them today.
My sister would tell us were crazy to go in a cave like we described , the pictures I took didnt impress her. Instead she harped about the danger, there was no real rescue ETM's close or for that matter experianced cavers. If we had a problem, help would come, but we wern't dealing with a regular cave
November 21 2001 B's excited about going back into the cave, this time looking very forward to it.. Joe hasn't spoke much, instead I think there must be alot of internal dialogue going on, he's been much too quiet for someone as excited about a return as he says. I too, feel like its an exploration, the feelings of fear vanished, and for a caver, sometimes thats not a good thing. It makes you sloppy and prone to take risks. But here we are, and this time we are better prepared. We brought petons to tie to for the ascent up the face of the overhang. And We'v brought a coleman propane lantern with twenty five hours worth of canisters and two sets of mantels just in case.. along with our regular lighting. One thing remains in the back of my mind, and thats the rope that was seemingly pulled back into the cave after our exiting in fear the first time. Fear might be a bit extreme, but at the time seemed apt. Again we'v brought B's Van, this time we'v also brought the landphone and new line for it, brand new wire line. This way B will have some idea if theres any trouble. Joe and I had an uneventfull passage back here to the ledge. This time I have a nice scrape on my cheek and forehead for my troubles. Joe decided to be the first up once again and I will have to follow to give him a boost the last fiew inches, where he can get traction, and ease up the face. This time it went relativly easy getting to the landing space at the opening. The coleman lantern came through along with a fiew other items in the duffel and seems unscathed. Lighting was easy enough after a couple trys and the difference in illumination is night and day. Before, our light beams died into nothingness as we shone them ahead. This time we have a much brigter source of light. The first thing to do is secure a rope to anything that will hold if we choose to decend the bulge. I purposly brought a shorter piece of rope for just such a acent, or the sure to come decent after we'v explored for a while. The thing we did this time was unroll a line this time as we crawled through the tomb area and now are able to pull the line along behind us for the land phone. I spent a minuate connecting the wires and we have comunication with B. As I was saying earlier the interior looks considerably different with better lighting, the pool being much more defined. It is about eight feet from the wall and travels along the wall dissapearing into an underwater fissure that seems to open up as it goes deeper This must have been the source of the water smell I mentioned before. We have ropes, flashlights and batteries along with petons and a rock hammer. From the illumination of the lantern, held overhead, we can see that this cavern has the shape I spoke of earlier, like a pyramid on its side, widening and raising above our heads higher as we go further out into the cavern. The floor is irregular and in places the only way forward is to jump from rock to rock, boulder to boulder. The sounds I originally heard like a grinding of rock against rock is evident, but very faint and intermitant. At first we traveled out towards the center of this vast cavern, but found that water was dripping in places from the roof and stalagmites, and decided it might be drier to skirt the sides. There are formations of crystals all along the higher side opposite us, and the distance between, and using the lantern makes viewing them closeup something we will do later. Were on the downhill side at this point and it seems to be the reverse of the entrance that is, its a mirror immage of the pyramid only backwards. Traveling around the perimeter has brought us to a cleft in the wall and shining our lights up into the void, it appears shaped like a gallery, like in a theater. I'm still aware of the grinding sound even if it is faint. I just cant discern where its coming from, the direction is indistinct. This cavern is about half the size of a football field in length, and about twentyfive feet high, tapering down to the ledge we came in at. Here at the cleft we're faced with going back or trying to ascend up and explore. John decided to try placing some petons and ascending the rock face. It seemed the only place that a peton could be driven, was in a crack or fisure, but it somewhat veered to the right and did not appear to let us climb to the gallery area. Joe went first. The first ten or so feet he was able to pound in the petons rather easily, and I suspected that they were iffy as far as holding, luckly they held. Joe had pulled himself along a crack that ran almost horozontally then rose at a thirty degree angle from there. It would take us to within five or six feet of a rock outcrop at the edge of the gallery. Joe made good time and found much better cracks to pound into, and in about twenty minuates we were at the edge of the outcrop. I was again to find myself boosting Joe up to a handhold and pulling himself up onto enough of a ledge to stand safely. Now with only flashlights, the coleman illuminating from the floor below, Joe inched along the ledge and reported that there appeared to be an opening into a small chamber. You could sence his excitement, but would this be just another dead end? Joe had one rope with him across his sholder like a bandoleer and he was preparing to unwind it and drop one end to the floor and tie off on a sort of natural archway above. It was small and a fiew feet out of reach, but looked to be easy throwing distance with the end of the rope. On his third attempt the rope flew up and over the archway, but the loose end failed to come down enough to reach. With a little finesse, he whiped small circles untill the rope fell on through the archway and fell to where he could reach it. He tied off and dropped the single line down to the floor. I made my way back down to the floor while he waited and once on the bottom, I tied the lantern to the rope and he hauled it up to where he was. Now with enough illumination he was able to see that a passage trailed off from the other side of the archway, and could be reached by climbing up the rope just a little further. He made his way up and entered the small archway and found it to be about three foot in diamiter. By now we had been hiking and climbing for nearly an hour and a half, and I knew B would be getting nervious waiting for comunication. Joe and I decided that I should make my way back to the first ledge and contact B with the land phone. It was a bit tougher getting back across with only flashlights for lighting, so progress was slower. I did find what seemed a shortcut along the bolders and rocks that lined the floor. Among these were stalagtites here and there, and in the shadows just empty voids, some wet, others not. I made it back to the land phone and buzzed for B. Immediatly he answered, and I told him everything was fine. I told him that we intended to explore a passageway we had found inside the caverns wall, and that he should make himself comfortable in the cave and get some sleep if he wanted. He said he couldn't sleep, and would get the rest of the equiptment we had brought, sleeping bags and a coleman heater. He didn't sound as though he was nervious, but rather that he was just antsy waiting so long for comunication from us. With comunication, I was free to return to where Joe had prepared a means of ascent up to the arch. I reached it after about a ten minuates and rested from the leaping and climbing nessessary to navigate the rocks and boulders. Shortly I was ascending up the rope to the ledge below the arch where Joe was. We decided to enter the passage and see where it went. As we proceeded, it seemed to narrow much like the tomb crawlspace untill we only had inches to spare. Joe called back to me and said that it was opening up into a larger passage, and that it looked tall and wide enough to walk upright in. Within about fifty feet, it did infact open up and the ability to stand was welcomed. My previous back injury was starting to make its pressence known, and I suppose leaping and traversing the cavern floor hadn't been the best thing for it. So for now I would favor it and go easy. I would guess we had traveled about a quarter miles distance all told. As we crawled then stood and walked down this passage the air became noticeably better and seemed fresher. Still, even with artifical light, we knew we were deep in this cave. B had brought sleeping bags and heating enough, for a not too unpleasant stay in the main chamber. As Joe and I made it down this passage it decended slowly then at a steeper pace untill it opened into another cavern. This one was different, there was an absence of stalagmites and stalagtites, instead were crystal formations, and the walls were shaped much different, it was like a bowl, and the sides sloped up to a relativly flat roof. though tilted down at our end. Where would this lybrinth take us? and should we explore further? Up untill now we were just looking for passage, but now... we were starting to appreciate our surroundings, taking time to examine the geology the crystals. Here both Joe and I heard grumbeling sounds, sounds that seemed to pass along above us, but no distinct dirrection or source. Along with these were the grinding-like noises. Only if you were setting on or had your hands on the boulders, you could also feel it.
I wanted to go on, and I wanted to leave, there was something about this cavern that made me feel weak. Joe was setting half on and half off of the boulder next to me and were it not for our lighting, I would only have known he was there by his breathing. the darkness was absolute and thick.
Why were we here, what did we hope to find? There was no reason except the original challenge, getting through floyds tomb and the mystery of the sounds, beyond that, it had been almost terifying. I had paniced down there, and the ascent. And what could have pulled the rope. B has been very mute about our November epesodes here, and seems to get agitated when mentioned. We are best friends but it seems to be a cold friendship right now. Joe was listening now and I didn't know what for, I could hear nothing either close or distant. There.. now there was something, it was like a sound, but I couldn't hear it but instead feel it through my palms on this rock like a precurser to an earthquake or something. If my hand was off of the rock, it was gone, if I pushed my palm ont the rock, it was there. He asked if I felt it, I noded, he looked lost in concentration. Still it came and went. I suggested that this was an increadable cavern find, but they weren't really so rare in this part of the state, but look who had found these. B, gets credit, but Joe and myself finding the cavern, we had discovered them, we had been the first to see the insides. What else was here? We could explore any time we wanted, we could take our time. Because only the most experianced cavers would ever see these caverns, only someone thin enough and able to stand the tight push through floyds tomb. We had nothing to do, just explore. The mystery has been replaced with awe, three perfectly sane guys absorbed in this cave. What can we hope to find? It depends where we look. Right now, I just want to leave, I dont want to think about the rope, and I think you know which one. Thats all there is If we choose to come back, it will be a ways off in the future, then too theres the video camera, what is on it, I havn't seen.
On a post script, Once out of the cave, you might wonder the layout or mapping of the cave and caverns, thinking that everything should be just feet from the surface of the bowl cavern. As far as I can discern, its my guess that the last bowl shaped cavern might have 75-100 feet of overburden if a cross section 3D was available, mabe less, and it goes to reason that there must be at least a couple cracks or fissures on the small outcroppings or gullies here that allow the source of the breeze and dripping we felt at times. So this hill behind the opening, and then flattness of the terain above ground could well contain all this underground lybrinth of passages, chasims and caverns. Since we all feel the cave safe now, we feel that we can disclose a bit more about the area. Above and to the north of the cave entrance there is a four lane highway, and further past, a cliff face with a sort of small plateau that gradually slopes uphill to a foothill of a bench area against the mountains. We feel this accounts for the vibrations and sounds that come and go, as truckers pass above. B and I have now been at my house for three days trying to access the info on the video camera, and at were unsucessful. We used new batteries, but the canera would nor turn on fully. It would go into startup mode, the record light come on and flash several times and the whole thing would shut down. This week I have taken the camera to the camera shop in town and asked them to have a look at it to see if they could get it functioning again. After a couple calls, the woman at the shop said that she had found the problem and had gotten the camera operational. I called B and around four in the afternoon we went to go pick it up before it became dark. We had to get it done before sunset because B had been experiancing problems with his van. The battery and charging system had been on the fritz, and driving for any length of time would drain the battery. For that reason, we carried a charged spare battery, along with cables. Since we were in town, we decided to go over to my sisters, but since she was having guests I hardly knew, and B knew nothing of, we decided to go back to B's place. There in the living room we tried to see what was on the video camera, The first try, it seemed to have the same exact problem we took it in for, the camera would go into start mode, the record light flash, then it would shut back off. After several tries, we got it to come on fully and since I knew the control of the buttons, and B was unframilliar with it, I tried and was able to acess the images. Imediatly there was a jumbly image as though the camera was being rolled around and faint light intermittantly, then a very long pause of just blackness. The date seemed to still be in the top right of the screen, so we asumed it was still recording, but all that was there was blackness, and a scratchy noise on the audio. A little further into the video, there was the light of a glowstick clearly vissable and a sudden woosh sound. This went on in blackness for the remaining 12 minuates before the batteries obviously died. All B and I can surmise out of this is, that the woosh sound must have been the rope wizzing past the camera and that since we found the camera pointing towards the sides of the chamber instead of towards the way out, the green glow surely had to be the glow stick B had droped when we hauled butt out of the cave up to the entrance, and the woosh, the rope sailing past on its way deep into the passage. We'v still yet to find evidence of the rope though. So we are no closer to finding out what if anything is down there in the cave with us. One question puzzels me though. Since I'm sure the glow stick went down the hole with the round boulder, it should have vanished, yet if the glowstick and B's rope were sucked into the cave and through floyds tomb, into the chamber and out to who knows where, why is the green glow in the picture? It lasted for several minuates, only once did it dissapear then reapear moments later? We have no answers, The best we can come up with is that the first glowstick somehow resurfaced out of the round boulder hole and lit the interior.. But how? And it seems the second glowstick must have been swept in with the rope.

For the time being B, Joe and I are content to leave this cave alone. Next time if there is a next time We want to explore the caverns and see if they hold any secrets. The more I think of returning, the less I am enclined to do so. The nerviousness has surfaced somewhat, though Joe and B seem for the most part unaffected. I have no practical reason to return, except curiosity. B, Joe and I don't know if we will maintain the secrecy of the cave, even my sister knows only of the exploration, and nothing of the location other than the aproximate area, so we feel our discovery is safe for now, but have decided not to even drive to the entrance again as the tire prints may lead sombody out exploring on dirt bikes or four wheelers to the location, and if they follow our footprints, might learn the location. We have used busted off branches of juniper to broom and erase our prints, but that might be only partly sucessful as the tree has rope burns on it and evidence of being tied to. So this may be the last report on the mystery cave, we feel that our secret is secure for now. We all need time to unwind from all of this and sort everything out. We have decided to wait untill spring to renew any exploration and get our affairs in order. ***Ted, B & Joe*** http://www.nps/archive/tica/RMweb/MapGallery/...

Unrest..........

A new age is on the horizon, It's not the Mayan prophecies, nor the Antichrist, no..... it's not that subtle. It's as though spring had come early, catastrophe not far behind, a time of reconing, of alarm. It's not yet visable, but it's there..... A stand, a facing of it, the Reconing What your whole life has amounted to is going to be called to task. Survival may depend on your wit.

Kristin Kreuk look-alikes

I'v seen a bunch, and no-one looks the least like her really.....b but wait, I have found her doubles and I promice their not obscure pictures of her that havn't been published, they ar really other girls.

Chilean Miner rescue LIVE

While we slept, there were thirty three miners trapped 2,000 feet below the ground we all tread. The time passed as preperations were made, these men would not be lost, how could they be ignored when the whole world looked on and waited for news, anything that would lead to their reuniting with loved ones above, and a new sence of the beauty the Lord has given all of us when He created this Sphere in the blackness of space and blessed us with a beautiful New Earth. Generations uncounted, father to son, father to son, a seemingly endless taking up the standard, exibiting their nobility of charactor, some would be led astray, but through seer numbers, honesty would prevail. (more to come)
(back to the live feed)

A mosque at ground zero...?

HELL NO.................. not (no), but a highly charged HELL NO. These Muslums had better get a clue as to who their dealing with damit ! To even suggest that the ones responsable for the loss of over 3,000 lives and the towers would be allowed to build such a shitpile on the same ground where so many died is leudacrous. Any polition who supports this fiasco should be imediatly booted from office, and I mean right now. Their sole goal is to cause apathy and to destroy from within. Let me tell you this, as long as there's just one VET left alive, this will not get built, I promice you. At every turn of construction, it will be met with resistance, freedom loving citizens will see the danger of it being completed. An with my blessings to I might add. You can be sure I'm not the ONLY one thinking this the solution. Why did all of us Vets fight and die to defend this great nation just to let some invaders come to try to destroy out culture and values. This ain't over, not by a long way........guarranfukinteeeeeeed.

It's likely to meet with groups or individuals determined to see it never be completed, and at this point, I think if our polititions had any balls, they'd see it not be built either, shame on those allowing it. We dont need a 'Victory Shrine to islum' on sacred ground, because as many people as were vaporized, their remains fell to the ground in all dirrections around the towers.

Not no,......... but HELL NO......!!!