Last weekend marked my last in college and what could be a better way to spend it than to explore a new area of the Wichita Mountains? Madeline and Sean invited Aubrey, Mary and I to go in search of a cave we had recently heard about located on the side of Elk mountain. Though our sketchy directions to the spot seemed simple, getting there was no easy task. The first half involved a pretty easy hike up the north side of the mountain, but the second half had us scrambling through a dense boulder field and fighting through brush in a shallow valley on the other side of the mountain. This took a few hours, and pretty soon we had all become parched. Eventually we found the cave and its shade and cool rock were a glorious welcome (not to mention the bottle of water and leather treasure note stashed in the middle of it). This was my first taste of caving and I loved it. The whole thing was pretty small compared to the likes of Lechuguilla or Hang Son Doong, but it was still fun having to weasel our way through tiny spaces only to come upon large open rooms roofed by layers of giant round boulders which looked as if they could fall at any minute. Maneuvering through the cave was awkward at times and at one point my torso became wedged between two rocks as I tried to slide down between them. After a few minutes of pushing pulling and twisting I made it through and avoided a potential panicky moment.
