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Rusty's Cave

This page consists of a trip report and photographs by Jason Record, the 2003/2004 Vice-Chair of the Upper Cumberland Grotto. The events depicted occurred during the weekend of the TAG festival, October, 2003. All text copyright Jason Record 2003 and photographs copyright Brian Gindling 2003, except photo captions.

Jason's Trip Report:

Saturday night at around 10:30 pm, as the fire was burning at the Cave-In, I and my two friends, Brian Gindling, and Nathan Dolye, got restless and decided to take a short trip to Rusty’s Cave a couple of miles away, and continue partying later. When we dropped the 30 foot entrance pit, we noticed a strange sound coming from a ledge near the bottom of the drop. My first impression was that one of my companions was relieving himself, or that water had begun trickling from somewhere above. A split second later, I knew exactly what the sound was, and just as I processed the thought, I saw a 4 foot something rattlesnake with a body as big around as a grown man’s forearm sitting on a ledge 15 feet above me. It came as quite a surprise, and after a bit of discussion, I was able to convince my friends that the rattlesnake should be removed from the cave. We did, however, also agree that we should first tour the cave, as it was what we had come there to do. So, we quickly shot to the back, and routed, anxious to get the rescue under way. When we got back, the rattlesnake had moved, and no one heard anything, so I began to scout the ledge that he had been on. I quickly located him in a hard to reach pocket of break-down, and he was not at all a happy camper. By his reactions, there is no way he could have been in there very long; he was far more aggressive than I expected him to be at that temperature. Due to his locale, I could not get the proper positioning make the capture, but he then slid through the break-down, and out into the open at stream level. I told Brian to empty everything out of my Petzl bag, and bring it over to where I was. He attached the bag to the end of a stick as I used another stick to gently coax the snake into the bag. This was done with surprising efficiency, and the snake calmed down immediately upon entering the bag. I carefully sealed the bag with some cord and a carabiner as Nathan ascended the drop. Once he had reached the top, I attached the bag to the bottom of the rope, which he then pulled up to the surface. He then binered the snake to a tree and waited for our arrival. When we got to the top, we all carried the snake far off the trail, and, with our camera in hand, we set him free and got some pictures. He thankfully went in the opposite direction of the cave, and in quite a hurry I might add. He was truly a fine specimen, and I was very thankful that he had not incurred any noticeable injuries during his experience. Feeling satisfied, we returned to the camp grounds, and continued partying. It was one of the hi-lights of my weekend.

Jason Record, October, 2003

Photos Follow. All photos copyright Jason Record, 2003.