Exploring in the pitch black darkness of Bloomington Cave isn’t for the faint-of-heart or anyone who suffers from claustrophobia, but on Tuesday, March 17, nine youth and eight leaders in the ward’s Young Men /Young Women’s program planned a Spring Break adventure into Utah's fifth longest cave. The spelunkers left the church at approximately 5:30 p.m. but couldn’t find the cave, located about a half-hour from Bloomington, passing the unmarked entrance several times, according to YW President Trudy Oviatt. At 7:15 p.m., the cavers began descending
one-by-one into the darkness, each armed with a flashlight and a belief they would be back to their vehicles in about an hour!The cave has more than a mile of corridors, narrow passageways, highly valuable and unusual geologic formations and thousands of feet of unmapped terrain. It is also home to several bat species, reptiles, insects, and other unique and delicate cave-dwelling life forms (though none of our intrepid explorers report seeing anything more unusual than their friends and leaders). Leaders mistakenly determined it would be easier to go out a different way than they had come in, so after the 240-foot descent into the main room, they decided to continue on to
another exit. The climb out was very difficult. "Lots of prayers were offered and everyone helped everyone else," stated Sister Oviatt. "My heros were Brother (Neal) Cazier and Chase Evans who helped drag my poor, tired body to the surface. We were very happy to be greeted by a gorgeous night sky - a kind of 'welcoming committee' - after our marvelous adventure! We were also grateful that we had taken in 17 youth and leaders and 17 came back out!" The adventurers arrived home at near midnight where worried parents - who could not be called on cell phones from the depths of the cave - were glad to see their teenagers safe and sound . . . and, already talking about "the next time!"
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