"I know this cave," Brian said,.... "if I can find it. It's got some really cool winding passage and a couple of drops, kind of technical but not too bad. Want to see if we can find it? I was there a few years ago and didn't get to see the whole thing." This was greeted with affirmative replies all around, so after a morning of pit-popping at Cagles Chasm, Woody, Matt, Andy, Brian and Becky stopped for a bite to eat then headed down the road to find Orme,TN, Waterworks cave, and another epic adventure.

In retrospect, it could have been any cave. The cave didn't cause the injury, it probably would have happened anywhere, but it did make for an interestingly strenuous self-rescue and a trip to the hospital in Chattanooga by the time it was all over.

Down one winding mountain road and up the next as we headed off to find the elusive cave in question. Finally, after back-tracking, stopping for directions, and generally getting lost, it all started to look familiar. But then, everything up in these mountains all starts to look the same after a while doesn't it? Brian finally decided we were in Orme and the cave has got to be just up this road here that looks like a driveway. And so it was. To our surprise, we stopped the trucks at the edge of a large sinkhole, hidden from the main road. As we piled out of the trucks, we could hear the sounds of water crashing down. Walking up to the sink, a gorgeous waterfall came into view, cascading down into the ground near the mouth of the cave. Woody spent several minutes taking photographs while Matt, Brian, Becky and Andy brought the necessary gear down. Since Brian had been here before, he knew we would need a couple of ropes for the various drops.

Just inside the entrance we came to the first drop. It was only about 10' but would be challenging without rope. Matt and Woody went first and on into the cave to rig the second drop. Meandering down the water worn passage, it reminded us of "Kelly's Sandstone Monument" we did last year. The second drop, Brian called a "40' nuisance drop". Wrong, it was every bit of 60'. It was an easy rappel though and the boys and I lay on the floor watching Brian and Becky rappel down. It looked awesome to see them dropping out of a hole in the wall with only their lights on. Lying there, I said "I wish I'd brought my rope walker" Matt assured me I could use his "Frog system" to leave. Everyone else had opted for "Frog's" on these short drops also.

After we all hit the floor, we did a free climb up a 12', unstable boulder pile, up to the top of a large room, across some breakdown and then back down into a Florida like squeeze. We did a short crawl then into another short squeeze. Just past there a short 6' drop to stoop-walking passage. After that it got technical again with a flowstone pool to squeeze around, careful not to step on the rimstone dams, then some fissure passage that required a bit of "technical" negotiation.

We debated turning back so we could go see the lighting of the bonfire back at the Cave In site, but Matt and I wanted to go a little further. We stopped after about 50' of chimneying in a nice little room of formations. After a few photos there we all agreed it was worth the extra time and effort to get to the back of this nice little cave. We packed up and headed out. Matt first, Woody next, with Andy, Becky and Brian bringing up the rear. Here's what happened next.

Woody : "I looked down and below me was a pool of water with what looked like cave pearls. So I dropped on down to look. At the edge of the pool I could see some formations real low down. I propped myself with each arm on the walls of the fissure and poked my head down quickly to peek. As soon as I got my head down, I felt my shoulder "Pop" out. I couldn't believe it. It happened about 6 moths ago for the first time when I was wrestling (OK, OK, getting beat for the first time by) Andy. The Dr. told me at my age, it would probably never happen again. Wrong! I yelled up to Matt what happened. He thought I was kidding at first. When he saw me, he could tell it was true.

Brian: "Hey get up you sissy, you're blocking the passage," When the word was passed back that Woody had dislocated his shoulder I thought…uh oh, this is going to be bad. It's tuff enough getting back here with all good appendages, we'll never get him out without more help. I squeezed my way to the front of the line and saw Woody lying on the muddy floor and very obviously in great pain. I had hoped it was just a strain, but then I saw his shoulder, sticking out a very unnatural angle. This was not good."

Woody: "Brian jumped down and started planning a rescue scenario. He wanted to get my arm strapped to my chest first to immobilize it. I tried several times, but it just wouldn't go that way. Brian gave me 3 ibuprofen and then told Matt to exit the cave and call Walker County Rescue on the cell phone. I told Brian I wanted to try to leave myself. I knew as cold as it was in the cave, my shoulder would atrophy and I would be in horrible pain and freezing by the time they got there. With my adrenaline still pumping decided to go ahead and go for it. I suggested to Brian that he and Matt roll up a foam mat and put it under my arm. They did and wrapped some webbing around me to immobilize my shoulder.

Matt and I started out. It was slow going. Matt kept checking on me. He stayed right with me. Andy and Brian were behind along with Becky dragging the extra packs. Matt would pull me up the small jumps I couldn't do by myself. Anything more than a little step hurt terribly. At the 6' drop, I was scared of falling. I climbed up a few feet and Brian and Andy got under me. They lifted me to where Matt pulled me into the squeeze. Scooting on my back made me make a lot more noise than a man wants to admit he'd make, but I did. Fortunately it was only a few feet. Eventually I made it through and then went into the next one. I crawled on my side an inch at a time. I tried "Birth breathing" to control the nauseating pain. Brian and Matt kept on encouraging me. Matt and I got back to our feet and were at the climb down on the boulders. Matt went just ahead to secure me incase I had difficulty climbing down with only one arm. He kept his hands on me the whole time making me feel secure of not falling.

Brian: Woody was in tremendous pain, anyone could see it. It hurt just looking at him. We packaged his arm with a foam seat pad and then secured it with a 15 ft. webbing strap. We couldn't get it to lay across his chest, too painful, so it ended up sticking out at a bad angle. This was going to make it incredibly difficult to maneuver through the crawls and squeezes waiting ahead. I was glad Woody wanted to try the self rescue but I wanted him to make that decision. The passage out was tough and at the top of the 6 ft climb up, one has to make a 90 degree bend immediately to get through the next squeeze. I still can't believe we got him through that one.

Wood: "When Andy, Brian and Becky got to the big room, Matt and I were already on the floor. Matt put on his frog and scampered up the rope to go get my rope walker from the truck. Andy and Brian (the jerks) decided they had to take my picture while I leaned on the rocks waiting for Matt. Andy had my harness on me by the time Matt got back. Matt then slid the ropewalker down and waited at the top to help me. Brian put my ascending gear on and helped me get hooked on the rope. My shoulder was hurting so much I wanted to puke. I started climbing. I spun some and used my helmet to keep my shoulder off the rock face. Brian pulled me away from the wall and held the rope as I climbed. After resting several times, Matt helped me get to the ledge and unhook me from the rope. He and I headed on as Brian and Becky brought up the rear and de-rigged the cave.

Matt and I got to the 10' drop. He hooked my rope walker up again and I climbed up. It took awhile for me to figure how to get off rope so he could come up too. Again, Matt scampered up and helped me get my gear off. He stowed it in his bag and we climbed out of the sink. I waited in the truck while Matt went back to help the rest of the team out of the cave.

Becky came out and looked for emergency info or hospital info in the TAG book, but there wasn't any. So we drove to where we could get a cell phone signal. Brian called someone who gave him directions to the hospital in Chattanooga . Matt drove me to the hospital about 30 miles away. Brian and Becky met us there. After checking in and (only) about a half hour wait, I was admitted. 20 minutes later, most of my throbbing shoulder pain was put to sleep with the help of Lidocane and Demerol. Then the doc put me back together. I don't remember his face, but I remember what he did. He twisted and turned my arm until it dropped back in. The next thing I knew I was trying to figure out how to get into a wheel chair. I didn't recall them being so incredibly complicated. Maybe it was just the drugs. The boys loaded me up in the truck and drove me all night back to Lakeland .

Epilogue:

Brian: After Woody was admitted, Becky and I headed back to the campground. We stopped in Trenton for an incredibly awful meal at Huddle House. Most everyone was still up and hanging around the campfire when we returned. Everyone inquired about Team Vinzant and was happy to hear about a successful self-rescue. The next morning, everyone pitched in and helped break down " Camp Vinzant " and crammed it all into my van. Especially helpful was Bill Birdsall, thanks Bill. Woody's shoulder is still sore but he's healing up. Woody submitted an accident report to the ACS. It was a highly successful end to a difficult situation. I already knew how competent and solid Team Vinzant was, (why do you think I cave with them all the time ?), but this incident reinforced what I already knew. Matt and Andy are outstanding cavers and performed like rescue professionals throughout the entire ordeal. We all worked together to get Woody out and back home safely. When possible, small party self rescue is generally the best way to avoid problems associated with cave rescues. It's a lot easier though when you cave with a great Team !!! Many thanks to all involved.