INDIAN CAVE

Today I woke up and went home in my pajamas to eat something and change to go on a hike with my dad. We decided to head to Sweetwater to explore the Indian cave that is hidden there. It is a gorgeous area with a great name that was made all the better by the feeling of summer that was lingering about. We had stopped to get vegetarian subs at Chomps:

Provolone
Avocado spread
Sun dried tomatoes
Mozzarella
Sprouts
Toppings (I got tomato, onion and mustard)

They were tasty and consumed at the trail head. It was a nice mellow trail that cut through a lot of good forest, including a gorgeous patch of Aspen trees that had just popped. Needless to say I had my Diana mini and finished off a roll of film and started another. The cave was tucked into a mountain side up a little incline that took you over most of the trees. There was a info sheet tacked onto a box that contained a guest book. The cave was used by Ute Indians for storage or religious purposes ("such as births" my dad pitched in) and there are still remnants of cave drawings on the wall. There was also a lot of vandalism by people who wanted to leave their names on the cave wall as well, which is a shame but it was also interesting due to the fact that some dated back to the 1880s. We had brought headlamps so we could see how far back the cave went and set about exploring it. Coco did not like being in there and started to whimper a bit once we left natural light behind. There was one point where we had to clamor over some boulders that she could not and she was forced to wait for us on the other side. Directly after there was a hole that led to a short drop into another cavern. There was a rock climbing rope tied leading down that you could use to repel. My dad went first and I followed holding on to the rope and slowly making my way down by finding foot holds. The drop ended up being much shorter than we anticipated and once we were in the next room it seemed to be a dead end. We looked around for a bit before climbing back up and reuniting with Coco who couldn't wait to get out of there. It was a open cave that wasn't to intense or scary. Caves are interesting and amazing but completely terrifying and foreign at the same time. If you stop and be quiet in a cave there will be no sound. Its like how I imagine space would sound. There is also complete darkness if you turn off your light, it is like being in a vast expanse of nothing. Christine and I went to the fairy caves while she was here and I recognized the wet smell and had a bit of a desire to explore a bit more and slide through some things. Nothing too small and intense, just something a bit more off the beaten track. Its just good to experience things like that sometimes. After we headed down and stopped a few times to look out over the lake and the trees. We had dinner at the Brewpub and my dad got some Hanging Lake Honey Ale that I rather liked. Now I am at the dog house for the last night. I'm excited to see how my photos come out. (I may post photos from my dad's camera in the meantime when I have access to them.)