In 1987 we set out on a journey to rappel and climb Sontano de las Golondrinas. The Cave of the Swallows. It was primarily an all student trip from the Virginia Tech Cave Club, led by myself. I had visited this region the year before on another Christmas expedition. I was hooked.
Today Golondrinas represents many things as it has become highly commercialized. However, it was relatively virgin in 1987 as it had only been discovered by non-indigenous explorers in 1966. The local town, Tamapaz, had only just got power in 1981. The road and sign here in this photo were major additions just since my trip the year before. Progress... It was still a good half mile hike through the jungle, with gear, to reach this amazing wonder of karst development.
At the time the third deepest pit in the world, Golondrinas is over 1,200 feet deep. Slightly deeper than the Empire State Building is tall. An amazing feature with a very small surface footprint that bells out to over 8 acres at the floor. There is actually another 400 feet of vertical passage deeper to even that. However, it is more complex passage to traverse. Yes, we did it. Like many things in those days, it was a right of passage. It is not something I would repeat.
All the crew in Blacksburg, Virginia. I'm far right.
Alejandro, a very experienced Mexican caver, joined our trip to ensure its success. He was an amazing person. Alec passed away far before his time in 2000. He will always be remembered and missed.
Camping and caving is not glamorous. Here we are set up on a coffee bean drying hut near Hoya de Guaguas. A "warm up" pit of 700 foot depth on the road to Golondrinas.
I set a rope pad at the lip for Alec at Hoya de Guaguas.
Alec setting a bolt at Golondrinas. His well intended effort was to set a permanent rigging point to avoid safety concerns at the lip, where the rope could rub dangerously without this tool to redirect its position. Unfortunately, it became quite a controversy in the caving community soon after its placement. At the time, permanent fixtures were frowned upon in such pristine caves. Due to commercialization, I think we would likely all vomit at what this region looks like today in comparison...
On the way to Golondrinas. At times my Chevy K-5 Blazer (with a "3 in the tree" transmission) was required to pull the cars through the rougher ascents.
Locals watch us descend into another local cave near Tamapatz. Cave explorers were still a novelty to this region in these days. It was an outstanding immersion into third world culture, the poverty, ingenuity and above all the simplicity.
There are many lessons in growth that this trip delivered. I have too many memories and learned values to discuss to do them justice in a short format such as this. As such, I'll focus on the most important.
Right when I was starting to think I was a bad ass for helping organize this trip, Alec told me a story of his first trips to Golondrinas in the late-70s. The dirt road did not even get close to Tamapaz in those days. He told me that he and his friend would take the bus up the highway from Mexico City and get dropped off at the base of the trail. This is about 12 miles and several thousand feet in elevation from Golondrinas. They would then either hitch hike with 4x4s from the local coffee bean growers, or hike, up the mountain.
In those days, a single 1,300 foot long rope was unheard of. Instead, they would tie 8 climbing ropes together in order to have the length. Climbing ropes have tremendous stretch for the safety of catching a falling climber. Cavers use static ropes for caving with very little stretch to avoid these issues. Using climbing ropes over such a long distance would have made this nothing less than a rubber band ride both down and back up. Add to this by going across knots splicing this concoction together, a technique called a change over. It's a technical event. To do this 7 times on the way down and again on the way up is unbelievable! He told me this story very matter of fact while we drank a Corona and discussed tomorrows caving plans. Our trip, in comparison, was a tourist trip. We were just touristas.
Respect. Respect is what I learned more on that trip than in many other experiences in my life. Respect, not because I learned it like you learn to say please and thank you, but because I experienced what it meant, and what it took to deserve it.
Alec doing push ups during a rest stop on the "highway" in Mexico while watching for traffic.
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