Kentucky Voyages
by Roberto Juarez
1 Our family spends almost all summer
vacation spelunking. It's practically my
birthright to spelunk in caves and caverns. I
find that people think caves and caverns are
synonymous. While a cave is an opening
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in the earth caused by a natural event, such
as a volcano, a cavern is formed slowly over
time by water running through cracks in
rock, eroding rooms and passageways deep
under the earth.
 Kentucky Voyages

2 Because I live in Kentucky, we explore wound in a crazy pattern, and I saw Dad
many slippery, dark limestone caverns. We using his compass to chart our direction.
don't go to the well-known ones anymore, Whenever we came to a fork, Dad marked
because we like to explore caverns we're our route with red plastic markers.
not familiar with. Sometimes we go with a
8 We came to a high wall of smooth rock.
spelunking club, but now that my brother,
Dad got out the climbing gear, and Len
Len, and I are older, we often go as a family.
roped up and scaled it first.
3 On a cloudy day in June, Dad decided that
9 "Another room is above here," yelled Len
we should go spelunking. "If it's going to be
as I secured the belay rope and began
dark anyway, why not be in a cave?" he said.
climbing. I dug the rubber in my boots into
Mom agreed, and we helped her pack
wet cracks in the rock and climbed to the
lunch. Dad and Len loaded our equipment
top. Mom followed, and then she belayed
into the car, and soon we were in the
Dad from the top. We were getting deeper
backcountry, choosing a mouth to a cavern
into the cavern.
we hadn't explored before.
10 The room above the wall was bigger and
4 Due to all the water, caverns are damp
more beautiful than the first room. It even
and slippery places. We wore boots, water-
had a pool of water. We tiptoed through
resistant clothing, and helmets with
mud as we explored the crystal-like
headlamps attached, like miners. Dad
stalactites and stalagmites.
carried a climbing rope and other
spelunking gear. 11 Len found another passageway on the
other side, and we followed it, our helmet
5 We squeezed through a small tunnel and
lamps lighting the way. My boots were still
found ourselves inside a large, beautiful
muddy, and I slipped and fell twice, but in
underground room. Long, thin, colorful
the excitement of adventure, I hardly even
formations called stalactites hung from its
noticed. Suddenly I heard Len's yelp and the
ceiling. Others, called stalagmites, seemed
sound of nylon sliding down a slippery rock.
to grow out of the cavern floor. These
interesting fingers are formed when lime- 12 "Len fell into a sideshaft," Mom yelled
based water drips from the roof and then back to me. A sideshaft is a small, dark,
evaporates. In its wake it leaves behind thin unexpected hole along the passageway. We
stacks of lime. shined our lights into the shaft to see if Len
was all right. Fortunately, the sideshaft
6 "I see three passages," yelled Len, who
wasn't deep. Len was fine but embarrassed
has a habit of charging ahead of us. "Let's
to find himself twenty feet below the rest of
take the middle one."
us.
7 This particular cavern was unknown to us.
13 Sideshafts are one of the most
Dad decided to take the lead, using his
dangerous parts of spelunking. Darkness
helmet lamp and a flashlight. The smooth
prevents spelunkers from seeing too far in
rocks were wet and slick. The passage
the distance as well as to the sides. It's not

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unusual for spelunkers to break bones 20 "We'll sure have some great stories to
during such falls. Deep sideshafts can be tell at school about our summer vacation,"
unclimbable, and sometimes rescue teams Len finally said as our car pulled into the
need to be brought in. driveway. Then we headed into the house to
shower and to put on some dry clothes.
14 Dad said nothing but simply snaked the
climbing rope down to Len. Len tied the
rope around his waist and tried to climb,
but the wall was too slippery.

15 "Keep climbing as I try to pull you out,"

Dad said to Len. Dad looped the rope
around his shoulder and his chest and
walked back in the direction we'd come. Len
scrambled up as best he could, sometimes
losing his footing until the rope jerked him a
little higher. Finally Mom got on her knees,
reached down, and helped him to the top.
16 Len emerged from the sideshaft tired
and wet. Mom checked him for injuries, but
aside from a few bruises, he was all right.
17 "Let's head back to the room with the
pool," said Moni. "We can eat our lunch
there." The adventure of the sideshaft had
exhausted all of us, and we were ready to
turn around.
18 "Stay close by," Dad admonished Len,
but we had no trouble finding our way. We
ate sandwiches, chips, and apples as we
watched water drip occasionally onto the
fragile stalagmites. I stared at their surreal
beauty, knowing it was time to go home.
19 We followed our markers, removing
them as we left the cave. Outside, the sun
had come out, and we enjoyed its warm
rays as we hiked to our car. Len didn't say
much, and everyone knew he had learned
an important lesson.

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