17

The Mystique of Caves

There is an odd belief that stalactites and stalagmites are somehow deadlier than any other stones, and that even a slight blow from a piece of “drip rock” is generally fatal.

—VANCE RANDOLPH, Ozark Superstitions, 1947

Why is it that some people find caves absolutely irresistible, while others avoid caves entirely and would just as soon not even think about them?

When mountain climbers are asked why they climb mountains, they stereotypically reply, “Because they are there.” Some may think an interest in caves can be explained in the same way, but it is not that simple.

For most of history, humans not only feared the unknown but also shunned it. For thousands of years, humanity stood in awe of mountain peaks, glaciers, caves, and all remote places. The unknown and the forbidden were viewed as much the same thing. It was not until the 1700s that Europeans began to make a popular adventure out of scaling mountains. And it was not until the late 1800s that Americans began to explore caves as a recreational activity. The science of caves, or “speleology,” was not born until the twentieth century.

Humans were slow to explore the unknown underground because it was thought to be the realm of devils and death. An account of the discovery of Marvel Cave published in 1915 said the following:

 

Hunters and settlers visited Roark Peak before the Civil War. They crawled down the craterlike depression . . . and leaned over the edges of the long, narrow gap in the rock bottom of the crater. They looked down into a hole, which seemed at first to have neither sides nor bottom. It was without form and void. Strange noises came to strained ears. Imaginations helped eyes to see gleams of light and shadowy forms. “The Devil’s Den” these early settlers called it. A closer acquaintance with his satanic majesty was not sought by them.

 

In Innocents Abroad, published in 1869, Mark Twain wrote, “The memory of a cave I used to know at home was always in my mind, with its lofty passages, its silence and solitude, its shrouding gloom, its sepulchral echoes, its flitting lights, and more than all, its sudden revelations of branching crevices and corridors where we least expected them.”

Note the descriptive words: “without form and void,” “strange noises,” “gleams of light,” “silence and solitude,” and “shrouding gloom.” These are aspects of caves that stir the imagination, play upon human fears, tap into religious myths, bare unexpected human weaknesses, whet unsuspecting appetites, and make seductive promises or threats about the unseen and the unknown.

Wild caves, where there are no trails or electric lights and where nature reigns supreme, are more than just gloomy places shrouded in darkness. They are special places that harbor an unusual blend of natural elements capable of producing a unique underground experience. It is, above all else, the sensory aura of caves that repels many people yet proves irresistible to others.

The underground setting also promises the rewards of discovery, information, and knowledge to those brave enough to probe its dark hidden recesses and determined enough to overcome the obstacles it presents to challenge human endurance, competence, and innovation.

Caves do all of this under a cover of darkness. They reach out and touch all the human senses. Missouri cave air is heavy with moisture and penetrates clothing with a chill. The cave smells earthy, raw, primitive. It seems that you can almost taste a cave sometimes, because its atmosphere is so rich in earthy substances.

When you approach a cave in the summer, the first thing you sense is this earthy, basementlike smell and the chill of the cave air. In winter, these senses are not activated so quickly upon approaching the cave but are evident soon after entry. Many people find these two elements an uncomfortable combination. Both sensations are associated with the underground, darkness, and death.

In a cave you can easily hear things unseen, unknown, and imaginary because of heightened emotions and sensitivities. These sounds are generally caused by the movement of water, shifting sediments, airflow, and cave life. A cave seems to amplify some sounds and distort others. Out of that blackness comes muffled plops, titters and squeaks, rumbles, muted roars, faint moans, breathy whispering sounds, scraping sounds, and even voices. Your imagination sometimes makes it possible for you to hear distant human voices even in deep, remote underground passages where no human has ever been before. Spirits never seen but often heard seem to haunt some caves. Cave exploration is not for the faint of heart.

Caving is a contact activity, an adventure in constantly changing textures—rough, gritty, smooth, wet, slippery, and sticky. The waters of cave streams and underground pools slither about you like a snake. Mud sucks at your feet like a demon. Shifting wet sand and other sediments feel almost seductive if you have to crawl in them.

Cave exploration is a journey into the earth. It is a penetration of the severed limestone arteries that riddle the skin of the Ozarks. Caves are networks of natural veins that transport groundwater, the life-giving bloodstream of nature. In the underground there dwells an alien that can scare the living daylights out of anyone who is insecure in shadowy surroundings. That alien’s name is Total Darkness.

Total darkness fills every chamber, corridor, and cranny beyond the twilight zone of a cave entrance. It is not unlike a black liquid. It exhibits qualities that are as substantive as a living creature. It can be friendly or frightening, comforting or irritating, all depending upon your frame of mind and the circumstances. It can even be hostile and dangerous. It is a creature cavers flirt with constantly and it is kept at bay only by the artificial light a caver carries.

The lights cavers have to use are finite. While ocean divers are limited by the amount of air their tanks can carry, cavers are limited by the amount of light their equipment can store and discharge.

As you make your way through a wild cave, guided by your fragile light, the blackness shrinks away like a frightened animal. Your light stabs it, breaking it into lurking shadows. The darkness has a life of its own. It stalks you. It crawls and creeps around you as you move. At every opportunity it seems to sweep up and cling to your back. You actually feel it sometimes. It is there with you at all times, unrelenting and unforgiving. And it waits, patiently. Extinguish your light, and it descends like a blanket, so thick, so deep, it robs you of all sight and sense of reality.

These are the elements of the underground mystique. They are elements that cavers live and cope with every second they spend underground. It is the cavers’ ability to cope with these elements rationally that makes cavers different.

It has been said, “Forces at work since the founding of our nation have tempted us to give up our exploring, or leave it to marginal men and women.” For cavers, this margin is the edge of discovery. Modern science was born in the exploring spirit. It helps us determine how much of our world is yet unknown. For the caver, the search for the unknown and the unsolved mysteries of caves are the heart and soul of the underground mystique.