#spelunking

[whereifindsanity]

Ryan Deboodt

World’s largest cave, Hang Son Doong in Vietnam.

[snailfish-enthusiast]

Cave fish time!!

Cryptotora thamicola or the waterfall climbing cave fish are extremely rare, found in only eight caves on the border of Thailand and Myanmar. Like most cave fish they are blind and pigmentless but what makes them special is there ability to cling to walls and climb up flowing water.

[ted-the-caver]

hi Ouppy

[ayla-of-nevyn]

Onondaga

📷: @sjscoyote , 2010

📍: Onondaga Cave State Park, Missouri

[prokopetz]

Rationally, I know that an elevated rate of mysterious disappearances tends to correlate geographically with large cave systems because caves are absurdly dangerous all by themselves and people won’t stop trying to prove otherwise, and if you fuck up while caving they usually never find the body, but in my heart I know it’s because there’s Things™ down there.

[one-time-i-dreamt]

I was at a combination spelunking-trampoline course. All the instructors were evil and several of us died.

[thatsbelievable]

[knowledge-first]

Did You Know? The Cavernous Crystal Castles of Mexico!

Deep beneath the earth's surface in Mexico lie some of the most spectacular natural wonders - Naica Crystal Cave and Giant Crystal Cave! These caves boast giant selenite crystals, some reaching up to 36 feet tall and weighing over 55 tons! The crystals formed over millions of years as mineral-rich water seeped into the caves and slowly evaporated, leaving behind these breathtaking formations. #caves #crystalgrowth #selenite #naturalwonders @knowledge-first

[whiteladyofithilien]

Legolas' Cave Trauma

So it occurred to me that it seemed a bit weird that Legolas, who arguably has spent hundreds of years in a freaking cave palace, would be as anti-cave as he is in the books when Gimli goes off about the wonder of the Glittering Caves in Helm's Deep. So I had to reconcile these two facts. I consulted with the council of Elrond (aka my Tolkien friends) and one of them was like "just cause he lived in the caves doesn't mean he liked it. Thranduil had made the cave palace as a stronghold against the evils of the world outside his realm" while my thoughts was just "Legolas has cave trauma after Moria".

Because as we all know Legolas absolutely loses his shit when he sees the Balrog, like full on screaming Elvish meltdown.

So I combined the two theories to run along this line... Legolas was never a fan of caves, growing up on stories of the evil things that dwelt under the mountains he probably was not a huge fan when that's where his dad decided to repair to as the world grew more perilous. I picture little Leggy being especially scared of the Balrogs in stories told to him as a child. We gotta remember Balrogs are an extremely ancient and distant myth for even a lot of the elves, especially the "less wise" elves of Thranduil's folk. Most peoples are convinced that the last of the Balrogs perished in the War of Wrath, heck even people like Elrond may think this. So for Legolas this is his childhood monster under the bed, the Elvish Boogeyman. Balrogs shouldn't exist. They're just a scary story you tell kids to make them behave or to exemplify the valor of the elves of old who slew them. Some legends may say that some survived in deep places of the world but no one believes them any more, except maybe for little elven princelings but they grow up and grow out of it and after hundreds of years living in their dad's cave palace they're just an embarrassing memory of childhood fears.

But then Moria happens and it's his nightmares coming and standing before him more terrifying than he even imagined as a child and then striking down the most powerful being he's ever known. And it's just terrorizing and traumatizing and while the time in Lorien helps to settle his nerves he's none too eager to ever step foot underground again.

Especially to unknown caves.

Especially to a place underground that Gimli is a excited about.

The last time this happened he saw the terror of tales of long ago come to living reality in front of his eyes.

This may even be part of the reason why Legolas won't repeat the laments for Gandalf. "The grief is too near" and so is the terror. He doesn't wanna think about his living nightmare again, especially so soon. Of course he heals somewhat from his Cave Trauma and his friendship with Gimli helps I'm sure, after all they probably talked about it while they were hanging in Lorien becoming besties. And in turn seeing Legolas willingly go underground to take the Paths of the Dead encourages him to follow. He's just seen his bestie face his fears and now he must do the same.

[freefloydcollins]

A couple formations from Animal Farm Cave. This cave had poles all over the place, which I had never seen before. It was an extremely well decorated cave, and, once into the main area, was mostly walking. It felt like being in a long-abandoned temple. It's one of the most magical places I have ever been.

[whereifindsanity]

Brian Masney: Neversink Pit in Alabama.

[pennydykedaughter]

Excerpt from “Spelunking” by Wendy Caster in Bushfire: Stories of Lesbian Desire (1991) ed. Karen Barber

[ted-the-caver]

i found a melatonin gunmy in this here cavern

[lordgrimwing]

Friends and Family #09

[for Maedhros and Maglor week, hosted by @maedhrosmaglorweek]

“Everybody,” Maedhros’ voice echoed through the cave. “Be quiet.”

Maglor put a hand over Caranthir’s mouth to muffle his whimpering. Fingon hushed the cousins nearest him, scooping sobbing Utrass up in his arms. Celegorm, bleeding from several scrapes courtesy of tumbling down the cliff the rest of them climbed down, held the old mining helmet aloft and tried to ignite the carbide lamp again. Everyone heard the fruitless clicking of the sparker. 

“We’re going to be fine,” Maedhros continued now that he had their attention. 

Six sets of eyes blinked at him in the dark, waiting. Caranthir sniffled again.

“Uncle Fingolfin knows where we went. If we can’t get out, the adults will come looking for us in a few hours. But–” He said, knowing Celegorm and Turgon opened their mouths to object to waiting for rescue– “we’ll get ourselves out before that happens. We didn’t go very far, and Maglor, Fingon, and I’ve all been down here on our own. Celegorm and Turgon, you two need to help us keep the littluns safe so we all stay together.”

“I’m not little!” Curufin objected. This was quickly followed by a thud as he tripped over something and fell.

“I got him!” Eiliaduin assured everyone.

“Thanks,” Maglor said, reaching out blindly with his free hand until he felt someone’s head.

Aredhel screamed. Everyone flinched.

He grabbed her arm. “It’s just me.”

“Oh, sorry.”

Maedhros sighed, long-suffering and already weary. “We’re all going to hold hands and go back the way we came.”

“What about the ledge we came down?” Turgon asked. The darkness did nothing to hide his worry. “I can’t climb back up in the dark.”

“Me neither,” Maglor admitted. He was still horribly short in his mind. Even Fingon was taller than him now, and he was 2 years younger. 

“I’ll help everyone get up,” Maedhros said. “Now, come toward my voice and find a hand to grab.”

With a fair amount of shuffling and bumping and narrowly avoiding falls, they came together. Maglor, Fingon, Turgon, and Celegorm caught hold of the younger cousins’ hands, helping everyone join into a line behind the oldest. Maedhros called off everyone’s name to make sure they were all accounted for, then started shuffling slowly forward.

It was rough at first, but with a little trial and error (and Celegorm telling Caranthir to stop stepping on his feet, which the slightly younger boy insisted he was not doing on purpose) they fell into a rhythm. Maedhros described where they should be at regular intervals, warning when the passage sloped down or up again or the ceiling closed in low enough that they had to crawl awkwardly onward.

Before long—though it felt like an eternity to Maglor, blindly following everyone else from his spot in the back of the line—they arrived in the cavern with the dripping stalactites. Splashing through the shallow pool of mineral-rich water, they found the way forward blocked by a rough wall. 

Maedhros felt his way along the stone, fingers searching for the opening they all slipped through earlier. He found it, a smooth hole at shoulder height, just as he began to worry that he wouldn’t be able to or that he’d accidentally led them into a different part of the cave. Relieved, knowing that it was just a bit further now before they’d see daylight, he said, “We’re almost there everyone. This is the last hard part.”

A cheer went up as they all gathered around him, eager to get out.

“Fingon?” He asked when things quieted down. “You go first and help everyone get reconnected up there. There’s a couple side passages up there, and I don’t want anyone to wander off.”

“Right,” Fingon agreed. “Can someone take Utrass?”

After handing the slightly calmer five-year-old off to Turgon, Maedhros hoisted him up and he scrambled into the mouth of the tunnel. 

“I’m ready,” He said.

Maedhros called for another cousin. 

Soon, Maglor was the last one waiting. He reached out for his brother’s hands. They were rough and strong against his own, confident as they cupped together, forming a step for his muddy foot. Maedhros helped him get up into the trees for years like this when the branches were too high for him to reach on his own. If he was climbing the tree to look for fruits or nuts, he always made sure to find a few extra just for Maedhros. He laughed a little at the bright memory.

“What?” His brother asked.

“I just thought about climbing trees.”

Maedhros chuckled under his breath. A private sound, just for the two of them. “I wish there were plums at the end of this.”

“Aunt Anairë brought lots of jams. Maybe she has plum.” 

In the dark, Maedhros grinned. “We’ll have to ask when we get back.”

With that, he lifted him up.

Maglor climbed over the edge, surprised by the relief he suddenly felt at making it out of the deep dark in the cavern. While it wasn’t much, he could just make out the tracest, tiniest hit of light here. It wasn’t visible from below, but now he could see Fingon’s vague silhouette.

“Come on up, Mae,” His cousin said, gesturing Maglor a few feet up the tunnel so there was plenty of room.  

Maedhros reached over the ledge. There wasn’t anything for him to grab onto, and though he jumped and tried to find a purchase for his feet against the stone, he couldn’t get enough leverage to climb up. He landed in the puddle with a splash and frustrated grunt after every try.

“Is he stuck?” Eiliaduin asked, trying to look back at what was happening from her new spot between Celegorm and Caranthir.

“No,” Maedhros insisted. “I’m not stuck.”

He jumped again.

“Wait,” Maglor said after the inevitable splash. “Grab Fingon and my hands this time.”

“I don’t want to pull you back down,” Maedhros worried.

“You won’t!” Fingon quickly interjected. To Maglor he said, “Sit down and press your feet against the wall.”

When they were wedged tightly into place, they asked him to try one more time. He did, and, grunting and straining, they managed to pull him up. The children clapped and the three of them fell together in a pile of relief and exhaustion. Maedhros hugged them both.

After a moment’s reprieve, they stood up and started the last leg of the journey out of the caves.

[murderserpentine]

fuck surface dwellers

[modern-fairy]

A snowy hike and cave trip ❄️