Saturday, April 13, 2013
Our family has visited more than a half dozen caves in the
Western United States and also one in Slovenia, and each time I think about
what it must have been like to have been one of the first explorers of the cave—a
real spelunker who isn’t just following a guide on a much-traveled trail. Now I
stand outside several caves unmarked on the maps and known to only a few local
residents—and I chicken out.
The caves are on a hillside opposite Eberhard and Dorothea’s
house in upper Pian di Mommio. Eberhard says the caves have only now become
visible from their house because a couple of large trees tumbled down the
hillside during a winter mudslide. Dorothea tells me she has seen the caves but
never gone inside. I take a 20-minute hike up the hillside and peer inside the
largest cave. I can see back about 30 feet, and then the cave takes a sharp
left turn. It is tall enough to walk in standing up, though only wide enough
for one person at a time. I look at the ground and think, this clay is going to
stick to my feet and make a layer two inches thick, which has already happened
to me during my gardening work today. As I debate whether to enter anyway, I
notice tracks in the clay—of a canine variety. Probably a dog, but then wouldn’t
the tracks of a fox or wolf be similar? And could it be a wild dog?
I back out and decide to walk over to a nearby stream to
think about this. Then I see more tracks in the trail, but these are cloven
hooves, quite possibly of cinghiali, wild boars. Whatever all these tracks are,
these little-known caves would surely make great dens for wild animals. The
only human prints I see are my own, so I decide not to enter the caves. It
would be thrilling to explore them, but maybe too thrilling for a sensible
person without a flashlight and baseball bat. Exploring an unmarked cave will
have to remain on my bucket list a little longer—or maybe it should just be
crossed off entirely.
 |
| Not something I want to see in a cave. Source: www.alessandrianews.it |
You need Woofy along to clear the way.
ReplyDelete