The weather was wonderful in Colorado. The crisp, cool morning had started off with a light rain, and had left the meadow I was hiking shimmering in the sunshine. It was warm enough to peel out of my jacket so long as I kept moving at a good pace. All of the scenery was postcard worthy. My destination was a small cave system I had discovered on my last outing. I hadn't had time to explore it then, but this time I made sure to set aside an extra day for it.
I was still a couple miles away from the entrance, so I chilled out on a log and sipped on the straw of my camelbak. I was going to be spelunking this cave by myself so naturally I was nervous, though I've done it before and it didn't seem that dangerous after all of my experience. The plan was to get to the entrance by noon and setup camp, spend some time scouting the first few chambers, then start the real adventure after a good nights sleep. Sounded good to me anyway. I tied my hair back, adjusted my bra and pressed onward.
I always think about random things when I hike. This time I was thinking about why men are so dumb. They never know what a women wants out of a relationship. You can have the biggest cock in the world but it amounts to nothing more than an orgasm if you don't stick around. Men always run when things get complicated or difficult. Probably why I do things myself these days. I love myself, I fuck myself, and I take care of myself. I certainly wouldn't trust a man with any of those areas anymore. Yes my twenties are finally gone and I'm ushering in my thirties by spending the weekend in a dark hole by myself. Don't hate, at least I not a crazy cat lady, I only have three cats.
It was a good thing I'd hiked this trail many times before because I was completely lost in thought. So much so that I nearly walked right past the cave entrance. Looking at my watch I realized I had made really good time. It wasn't even 11:30 yet. I dropped my pack off my shoulders and took a very much enjoyed rest complete with granola bar and cranberry juice.
It didn't take long to get everything set up and by 1:00 I was disappearing into the darkness of the unknown. I had nearly 3000 ft of paracord on a reel attached to my belt and tied off to a tree by my tent. So if all else fails I can follow it back out. I moved cautiously through the first few chambers, hoping not to find any large furry animals dwelling in them. In fact I hadn't even considered that possibility until I started into the cave, but then what would be the point in turning back now.
Light on the other hand was something I was not concerned about. I had a headlight, 2 medium sized mag lights, packs of extra batteries and glow sticks. You can never have too much backup in the light department. Your lights go out, your fucked.
The third chamber was stunning. It was roughly the size of a racquetball court, and in the very center was an enormous stalactite jutting down from the ceiling. I shined my light on it and discovered it was covered in strange markings.
"Holy shit, what have you discovered Meg?" I said to myself as I zoomed in with my phone to take a few pictures. Some of the markings resembled people, some looked like different beasts, but one in particular caught my eye. It looked like... a demon of some kind, more detailed than the other figures. I could see it had horns and long curved claws for fingers. And a short fat something at its crotch that I could only assume was a penis.
I froze.
There was something in here. I could hear it breathing. Surely there wasn't anyone down here, but whatever I was hearing was moving off to my right slowly and almost silently... Almost.
I whirled around , knife in hand, but my light fell on nothing but the stone wall of the chamber. I looked all around and saw nothing, whatever id heard was either gone or probably just my imagination. I forced myself to calm down. It didn't make sense for anything to be living this far into the system. But then... who carved all this? I spotted a small tunnel. that likely lead to the next chamber, it looked like I was going to have to crawl through it. Fortunately I'm a skinny girl so it wasn't much trouble for me to squeeze into the narrow opening.
It was uncomfortable crawling through the jagged rocky tunnel and I repeatedly hit my knees and back against a them as I progressed. Frustrating me further was mydimming headlight, so I stopped to change the batteries. As I did so I suddenly realized that there was enough light for me to see what I was doing without turning on my other lights.
I was confused. How in the world could there be light down here?
The end of the tunnel was in sight, and the light at the end of it continued to get brighter the closer I got. My mind was reeling as the possibilities spilled through my mind. Was it miners? Explorers in the same cave system? This damn tunnel seemed to be closing in on me as I neared discovery, but I couldn't turn back.