I have a question on behalf of my cousin who occasionally goes caving but has a phobia of a very particular kind of space:
She can crawl through really tight, narrow spaces on her hands and knees, and she can do long, sustained belly-crawls under 12" ceilings no problem. She can not, however, deal with spaces that are both sustained belly-crawls and narrow. Remeber the scene in Aliens when Bishop has to belly-crawl through a long, narrow pipe? She would prefer to be eaten by the aliens.
On previous caving expeditions, I have seen her squeeze through a 9" high arch, that was just barely wide enough for my shoulders (the ranger had to help me). And that was okay for her because either side of the arch was more opened up. It was kind of like squeezing through a tight hole in a wall.
Even then, the last time we went caving, there was a long series of squeezes like that, and even though she is a real trooper and finished the route, you could tell it was starting to really get to her.
Her only real concern with the Mammoth Cave wild cave tour, is this one spot. She wants to know if it’s an arch or a tunnel. Even then she could probably manage a tunnel if it’s not longer than three or four feet.
I’ve tried to email the guy who had the linked photo on his website, and she’s going to call Mammoth Cave to see if she can get details. But if any Doper has every tried it, some beta would be appreaciated.
I’m curious about this too, since I have the same problem as your cousin. For me the deciding factor is whether I can see through to the other side. If there’s no “light at the end of the tunnel,” I’d rather be eaten by the aliens.
Fetchund and I did that for my 40th birthday, um, 9 years ago (yikes!). We had a marvelous time!
The hole in the picture is open on both sides, it’s just a particularly tight squeeze. Usually, the other tourists are behind and in front helping you through.
Fetchund remembers some tubes, but there are many, many ways around. Just have her tell the tour guide of her phobia and they’ll probably accomodate her. We had two guides - one actually guided us, the other always went a different route and would just appear in odd places along the route.
It’s a fun adventure and I recommend it with no reservations. Be prepared to be very sore after.
I didn’t take that tour, but I did just get back from Mammoth Cave. Please promise me you’ll stay at the Wigwam Village. It is a total hoot. I stayed there a few years ago.
Their actual web site appears to be down at the moment, but here’s the URL: www.wigwamvillage.com
