Brian Williams
You know how it is when you are a caver. You just keep dragging
new people into it all the time. "Come-on, let's go caving,
lets go rappelling. No, it's a cheap hobby, really! All you need
is a hard hat and some knee pads. That is unless you want to do
some vertical, but a few ascenders and some rope really isn't
that much…really" That's the life of someone who is
hooked on caving.
Well "Team Vinzant" is an amazing family that is hooked
on caving. Anything from cave diving to dropping pits, or just
dragging bloody knees through Warrens, this family does it all.
They also will jump at any chance to bring in new cavers or just
reintroduce the hobby to those who have not been caving in a while.
It's kind of like a fun, bad habit I guess. You want to do it
all the time and it's even better if you can drag someone else
along. Well "TV" have been great ambassadors for the
FSS, and great trip leaders, so when they call and want a little
help with a group going to the Speedway Quarry to rappel, how
can I turn them down. (I'm a fun junkie too and will use any excuse
to get out and play).
The original plan was to lead a group from Diverite (the same
ones that Woody and the boys had beat up in Warrens cave) down
to the wall for some climbing and rappelling practice. Can you
believe they were ready for more abuse? True cavers! Let me just
say that it is always a pleasure to take people who already have
their own gear. It was a pleasant surprise to see the president
of Diverite, Inc., Lamar Hires, and his family there as well.
So Sunday morning found a group of 15 fun junkies down at the
bottom of the big wall at speedway, gearing up to play. Team Vinzant
had gotten there early and Matt and Andy had expertly rigged the
wall and were ready to go. When I arrived, we added another rope
to the wall and now we had 4 ropes hanging, 2 for climbing and
2 for rappelling. To our surprise a couple of other FSSers were
already out there for some practice also. Danny and Annette Brinton
were climbing and rapping with their shiny new rope-walkers.
Let's see if I can name everyone who was there. Team Vinzant (Woody,
Leigh Ann, Matt and Andy) Brian And Patty Williams, Danny and
Annette Brinton, Carey Inderbitzin and his son Greg, Debbie, Dan
Lins, and Lamar, Leigh Ann and Jared Hires. We all got a chance
to climb and rappel as much as we could stand on a hot Sunday
afternoon. Trying to get in shape for the TAG Fall Cave-In we
told ourselves. Later that day Team Vinzant took Carey and Greg
down into Chalk cave for a little exploration and a lot of crawling.
I tried to talk Patty into going into her "favorite"
cave, "Temple of Doom", but she reminded me that once
was enough for that cave and she didn't feel like tromping around
in bat guano and having roaches drop off the ceiling on her today.
Some people just don't know how to have fun do they?
It was a great time as always and we hope to see everyone at TAG
this fall.
Danny and Annette Brinton descend the wall.
Group shot
Lamar, Jared and Leann Hires, (Patty in the background
with tongue stuck out)
Lamar and Dan assure Debbie that the climbing gear will
hold her
Patty and Brian on the wall
Brian rigs Patty
You know him, you love him, Woody Vinzant
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