Canmore, Alberta - April 19, 2017 (Day 6)

I woke up this morning feeling refreshed from a solid night of rest and very excited to start my day and go… CAVING! From my hotel in Banff I had a 25 minute drive to the Canmore Cave Office where I would meet Brent, my tour guide for the day. Slowly more people began to join and the fun would soon begin.

We signed a waiver basically forfeiting our lives to the cave and whatever Mother Nature had in store for us. We then got fitted for coveralls, and equipped with knee pads, gloves, ropes, carabiners, harnesses, hard hats, a light, just enough water to keep you hydrated but not needing to pee and a… CLIFBAR. Last, we were encouraged to use the rest rooms before leaving as we would not have access to a bathroom, for the next 4 hours a Nalgene bottle would be all we have, and SheWees would be available for the ladies.

              Nalgene Bottle                                                                 SheWee

We packed up our caving gear and drove up to the cave parking lot. Once arrived we would hike approximately 30 minutes up a mountain to the Rat’s Nest Cave entrance. As we hiked up Brent explained the geology of the surrounding area, described how caves are formed and enlightened us about how human presence impacts the environment even on a microscopic level. Throughout the trip he provided us with many interesting perspectives, which make you realize that we are but a spec in time and how the human lifespan pales in comparison to many organisms and their life span. 

Once inside the cave, we rappelled 6 stories down. I offered to go first which was an added bonus, for one I didn’t have time to get nervous, and secondly it was extra dark as no one was behind me to light my way adding a bit more adrenaline and excitement to the experience. Once the entire team made it down to the bottom, we would try our first practice squeeze, which wasn’t any more of a squeeze than getting an MRI at the hospital. 

When we first got to the base of the rappel all kinds of animal bones would be there to greet us along with some daddy long leg spiders, a nest of them to be precise, a nest exactly where I chose to stop and rest my head... Thank goodness spiders don't bother me.... 

We would later move on to more extreme squeezes, some that definitely made your heart race when you felt stuck or when it was so dark you were not sure where you were going. Our group was pretty strong and accepted all challenges Brent placed before us, and for that reason we got to explore one area of the cave in complete darkness and played a sort of Marco Polo game. During our caving we went into the “Five Way Chamber”, “Laundry Chute”, “Grand Gallery” and lastly, the “Grotto” an area bursting with stalagmites and stalactites with a beautiful pool of clear water once we arrived to our end destination. Before making our way back up, Brent asked us all to get comfy, turn off our lights and sit in silence for a few moments. Here we would experience absolute darkness, the beautiful sounds and atmosphere of the cave as they were meant to be. This was truly a beautiful experience.  

Finally we would make our way back up to the surface via “the box” a man-made area in the cave to allow for quick access and exit of the cave. Once we reached the surface, the day light was blinding and even the cold fresh air was much appreciated (the views surrounding us would be a site for sore eyes). Once we made it back to town, we did the only sane thing left to do… head to the Tavern for drinks.

Below is a 19 minute video of clips and snips of my 4 hour caving experience underground, I know it is lengthy but if you have time, it’s very cool to see. Shortly after the 9 minute mark is a typical “Sandra” moment that I think will make you all giggle. 

Thanks again for following along, and I apologize for the delay, for one my internet access was not good enough to be blogging these past few days, and the video took me longer than anticipated since my laptop is not state of the art technology (not even close).

- San