I dunno, that stupid story has been eating at my brain all day, so I decided to play Sherlock Holmes for a bit. The writer's details were way too accurate, he had to be an actual caver to get the kind of detail he put into most of the story. Using this assumption, I went through the story looking for details that would lead me to his identity.
I think because of the items in the story that the cave is probably near the ocean or some major navigational channel.
Because of his spelling and use of american standard measurements, I assert he is an american.
He talks about caving when its freezing outside. I use this to exclude the west coast and look to the East. The 'Hodag' legend helps this assessment because I caved in the midwest and never heard of it. Searching around reveals its an east coast kind of thing.
He mentions a mountain above him. Where the appilacians meet the sea.
He says he buys a gun such and such way to avoid a permit, so I refine by states that required a permit before 2001 and it takes more than one day to get a permit. Florida North Carolina, Pennsylvania.
I recognize 'Bull pin' a colloquialism because I've used said tool and it wasn't called that. Searching for it finds a band of only a few hardware stores that call the object in question a 'bull pin' Wisconsin, Kentucky, New Jersey.
Now here's where I run into trouble. I find some very good leads on caves that very closely match this one up near the Maryland/Pennsylvania boarder, but I find a Florida-based caving group that seems to have no qualms about busting through a wall to find a 'virgin tunnel'. In the Florida group I also find a pair of suspects.
Here is the photo of 'B' in the story:
http://www.edaddyo.com/images/caver/b.jpgHere is his counterpart:
http://www.caves.com/fss/pages/trips/images/Tag2002/Brian/KellyCave003.jpghttp://www.caves.com/fss/pages/trips/images/Tag2002/Brian/Bonfire003.jpghttp://www.caves.com/fss/pages/trips/images/Tag2002/Brian/Sittons004.jpgNote not only the same ears, mustache, build, and age, but that they both have dark blue caving outfits (not a very common color) and that the helments seem to have the same wear pattern on them. (The lights are interchangable on most caving helmets but the lights are
similar in a few of the photos too)
Next I look at 'Ted' I have more photos of him to work with!
http://www.edaddyo.com/images/caver/squeeze.jpghttp://www.edaddyo.com/images/caver/buttshot.jpghttp://www.edaddyo.com/images/caver/shoes.jpghttp://www.edaddyo.com/images/caver/newpass.jpgHmmm... Letsee if there is anyone in this group with 'B' that looks similar...
http://www.caves.com/fss/pages/trips/images/southern_area/sa3.jpghttp://www.caves.com/fss/pages/trips/images/Tag2001/mc7.jpghttp://www.caves.com/fss/pages/trips/images/Gourdneck/GN_622_01.jpghttp://www.caves.com/fss/pages/trips/images/Gourdneck/PJ_622_01.jpgLetsee, maybe not a perfect match but... Same eyecolor, same hair color, same general brow shape, same bump in nose, same cheek structure, same chin and lips, ALWAYS wearing a TAG light, tee-shirt and jeans and in many of the other photos on the site, he is generally wearing a do-rag which seems to be a different one on every single trip. Finally... The 2001 shot of him has shoes of a similar color, design, and laces.
So are these the guys? No idea but I've entertained myself for most of the evening and it was fun. :)
*sigh* Now I wanna dust off my helmet and get back into caving.
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