Trip Date: day trip on Saturday 28th February. Itinerary - Drive from Aragon to Moaning Caverns (near Vallecito) and back. Departed 10 am, drove in very wet weather. Arrived back San Mateo 9: 30 p.m. Stopped for lunch and dinner at fast-food outlets. This trip was done instead of the previously scheduled Klondike Derby.

Trip Leader = A. Hitchings, Assistant = Dave Roybal

Attendance: 4 adults and 15 scouts. Accommodations: Not required.

Activities: Split group in two groups of 9, for each of the 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. tours.

Thanks: Mr. Abel for driving. Special Thanks:- Mr. Levin for rearranging his schedule at the last minute to drive, and Mr. Roybal who drove but did not go on the tour.

Mustering: Trip assembled in pouring rain, and signed release forms before departure. A significant number of parents did NOT initial all the places required on the release form.

.Nature of the Trip: The trip had two parts. The first part was a rappel down a fixed rope, most of it in the main cavern, total rappel about 160 ft. This was done using a j-bar (brake-bar), a fail-safe method of descending, invented by cavers. Some of the scouts had used this method on the Castle Rock trip last fall (1997). The second part of the trip was a squirming, squiggling, belly crawling, butt-wiggling route through a series of rather confined twisty-turny muddy wet passages off to one side of the main cavern.

Problems: One scout1 was badly scared on the rappel, once he saw the main cavern below him, but was assisted down by a guide and continued on the second part of the trip. Another scout backed out after beginning the second part, after realizing that he was very uncomfortable with the narrow confines of the passage. One adult also turned back after realizing that the tortuous nature of the passage would cause him much knee and back pain.

Successes: scouts seemed to agree it was a fun trip. All scouts finished muddy and wet, despite having coveralls and gloves supplied by the cave operator. Cave was extra wet due to the rains - but this added to the fun element. A good winter trip.

Recommendations: perhaps screen scouts for fear of heights more closely, or require a prequalifying trip (Goat Rock in Castle Rock State Park, or a commercial climbing wall). Do this trip every four years, as it is rather expensive. Cavern-tours also runs similar tours in other caves, I will look into these.

Money: This trip is regularly $75, scout troops get it for $55 per head, the troop subsidized each participant $25.

Drivers: Getting drivers was a problem, as the late return clashed with previously scheduled evening activities for some parents. Next time, if we do this as a day trip, we should choose earlier tours.

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