>>1944602>be me, 15>day hike with friends and their parents at state park>friends and i go our own way>hike to the top of a prominent rock feature>find a cave entrance>no gear, no light, no idea where it goes>if it even goes anywhere>follow me!>one friend goes back down to wait with his parents>other friend follows me>descend into a random fissure in the rocks and slip further into the darkness>only light is from the screen of my old nokia cell>leading my friend literally into the unknown>slip>fall>hit my head and my right elbow wedges into crack between two rocks>realize it's stuck and i have no leverage to free myself>too dark for friend to see>too narrow for friend to get around>he's also wearing birkenstocks>contemplate a slow somewhere inside of this huge granite batholith>grab my arm and somehow yank it out as hard as i can>play it cool>follow my instincts and lead us out into the backcountry of the park somehow>2 hour hike back to the car>feel guilty for being reckless with myself and my friend>but what an adventuredefinitely the trip that made me treat /out/ings with respect. geology is cool as fuck, but all the scars on that arm are a daily reminder that there are many opportunities for mistakes with very high ceilings.
t. geochemist caver
