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UER Forum > Journal Index > Wretch in Beggar's Clothing > "The stirrup, the harness/The whipping mane/The pickled eye/The shrinking brain" (Viewed 2612 times)
"The stirrup, the harness/The whipping mane/The pickled eye/The shrinking brain"
entry by EatsTooMuchJam 
7/22/2004 5:42 AM

We took another trip to Trout Brook tonight and this time we came armed with over 200 tealights and a goodly number of floating candles. The plan was to photograph some of the highlights. We made our entrance quickly and were a bit dismayed to find that it was a very foggy night in the drain. We took the limestone brick tunnel this time, completely bypassing the less interesting RCP. We decided to wait to photograph it until the way back hoping that some of the fog would be gone by then.
By the time we hit the big room my fingers were going very numb from carrying so many candles in a shopping bag, my arm was tired from hauling in the heavy tripod, and my backpack was really starting to cut into my shoulders (it had the RB in it as well as a bottle of water).
I switched the RB to the color back and set it up on the tripod and went to light up the neat arch area with some candles. I waddled up to the first arch (it's quite steep there and one must place one's feet pretty far apart to keep them on the less slippery dry area). I lit the first candle and set it on the incline about a foot from the water... and I watched it slip down inch by inch until it was completely underwater. It had gone out before getting that far anyway from the spray. Krenta came to see how it was going and I demonstrated with another candle which didn't fall as quickly, but which also sputtered out quickly from the spray.
I decided to call it a lost cause for the night and we walked back to where Krazy was shooting madly away with his new 10D. We decided to head back up the limestone tunnel and take pictures anyway. Fog be damned! Krenta was kind enough to take the candles so that my poor fingers could recover a bit.
As we cleared the dripping part of the tunnel Krazy pointed out the drastic increase in cigarette butts floating down the tunnel - never a good sign. He asked if either of us had seen the forecast. Krenta and I agreed that it had called for thunderstorms at midnight. We'd entered the drain at about 7:30 and had been there for maybe 40-45 minutes at that point. Regardless, we decided it would probably be for the best to go back.
It's a damn good thing we started back when we did. The following walk back was unpleasant, difficult, and wet. The water in the drain is usually around 6-10" deep and flows pretty quickly. Now it was more like 10-20" deep and flowing rapidly. There were a few points where it was difficult to keep moving my feet and the foot that was still on the ground would be slipping backward. My boots filled with water and I managed to soak the front half of my body with all of the splashing (I hunched forward to protect the camera in my backpack). At some point something large, round, and hard smashed into my ankles and stuck there. I yelped in pain when it hit and the current was strong enough at that point that I was paranoid to move at all (it was difficult to keep my footing at all with that thing pushing against my ankles). Krazy steadied me for a second while I moved a foot back and the thing was washed away (to hit Krenta in the leg moments later, I believe).
Finally, I saw the beam of light shining through the manhole that we'd left open when we went in and I was thrilled. A hedgehog was trapped near the entrance and Krenta tried to help it out, but when he set it on the ledge that would lead it to freedom it jumped back into the rushing water and was washed away. At least he tried! Hopefully it's washed safely out to the river and doesn't drown on the way.
Krazy, being the ninja climber that he is gave us both legs up and then climbed out himself.

Whatever is bothering you in life, there's nothing like a near-death experience to make you feel better about things. While in this case, we weren't actually in any real danger of dying, had the water come up another 2 feet it's unlikely that we could have made it out. We would have had to climb up into one of the bigger side tunnels and wait things out (assuming we could make it to one safely).

Trips to Trout Brook so far: 2
Trips where I've carried the RB through TB: 2
Weight of the RB: Estimated 8-9 pounds with both backs
Trips where I've carried the heavy tripod: 1
Weight of the heavy tripod: ~13 pounds
Total number of pictures taken of TB: 0

Dammit. Next time I'm taking a picture. I don't care if it's of my fucking shoe.


[last edit 7/22/2004 5:44 AM by EatsTooMuchJam - edited 2 times]
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Macsbug 

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Location: St. Paul, MN
Gender: Male
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Safety First!

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Re: "The stirrup, the harness/The whipping mane/The pickled eye/The shrinking brain"
< Reply # 1 on 7/22/2004 6:40 AM >
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Posted on Forum: UER Forum
Hmmm. Good thing you guys made it out, it would be a horrible loss of camera gear... oh, and lives. So it was through a manhole, I was under the impression that it was through a tight squeeze K8 found, or did you discover a good exit after first taking a trip via the squeeze? I meddle too much, don't I?




"Believe those who are seeking the truth; doubt those who find it."
EatsTooMuchJam 


Location: Minneapolis, MN
Gender: Male
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Squirty "Stickybuns" von Cherrypants

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Re: "The stirrup, the harness/The whipping mane/The pickled eye/The shrinking brain"
< Reply # 2 on 7/22/2004 2:32 PM >
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Posted on Forum: UER Forum
There are many ways into every drain.




"The large print giveth and the small print taketh away."
-Tom Waits
katwoman 


Location: Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN
Gender: Female
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Re: "The stirrup, the harness/The whipping mane/The pickled eye/The shrinking brain"
< Reply # 3 on 7/22/2004 10:32 PM >
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Poor Macsbug.

He is disappointed at every turn lately!








UER Forum > Journal Index > Wretch in Beggar's Clothing > "The stirrup, the harness/The whipping mane/The pickled eye/The shrinking brain" (Viewed 2612 times)


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