18- SPELUNKING II...Lost?

Rockbridge County and Lexington, Virginia are two early and historic areas of the Shenandoah Valley, nestled up next to the Alleghanies. Outside of town, home to V.M.I. and W&L University, a most unique theatre opens during the summer months...not in an old mill or renovated barn, though. Theatre at Lime Kiln displays its plays and musical groups in a large hole in the ground! This educator and sociologist was introduced to Zydeco (Cajun) music, straight from New Orleans, in that lime kiln quarry a summer or three before.
Tumbled down walls to an abandoned lime kiln quarry provide the setting, with a stage in back and, uh, natural air conditioning. But wait a minute, where does this spelunking adventure fit in to this scene?
Three of us drove past the quarry theatre on a Rockbridge country road one morning early, headed for another adventurous spelunking trip into a "wild" cave that we were told wound its way for several miles deep underground, past a "lost" stream that disappeared in a nearby meadow.
We forgot two ingredients, though.
Struggling into the entrance, we climbed straight down the rocky sides of the first stretch of the cave. It flattened out into a series of rooms. That was the easy part for quite a ways, until we came to a 5-foot wide chasm. The deep fissure in front of us had to be crossed to proceed. So, I took off running and jumped for the only path and landed on the far side. The others did, too, being a bit scared. This meandering cave path, unlike the first mountain cave, was sticky and damp.
This cave, like others, was so quiet that one could hear a drop of water splattering far behind us or in front of us. Oh, we had plenty of carbon for the headlamps.
We were searching for the underground stream, for some time, but never heard it deep inside the cave. At that moment, the ball of twine gave out, meaning we could go no further, safely. The twine would lead us back to that entrance above. Can you imagine someone lost in a cave?...no!
Just as we began to wrap up the ball and head back? Someone whispered a 'shhhhhhh'...water, moving in a stream, way off in front of us...in the pitch dark. What a temptation! But we turned back and headed along the dark underground path. The fissure was easier this time to jump across, all three of us more secure.
And what did we forget? Plenty of twine...and to tell anyone back home where we were going and the projected time to be come back. A good spelunker always does that!!
Love III is soon.