The impact with the wall almost caused Lewis to lose his grip on the rope, which was now tight between he and Craig back in the mouth of the cave. Lewis was comforted that they wouldn’t follow the large slab down to their deaths, but still dreaded the swinging impact with the other wall. He tightened his grip just in time; instead of swinging downward, he was jerked back across the gap.
Like Lewis, Craig had also been quick to react, taking the rope and running towards the back of the cave the moment Lewis and Pierre collided. He moved with such speed that he pulled the pair directly into the cave behind him, saving them from another beating against the wall. Lewis landed on his back with his arms extended, Pierre still gripping him around the rib cage. Craig dragged them both across the floor for a few feet before Lewis’s brain could tell his hands to let go of the rope.
“Thanks,” Lewis said, looking up to Craig. “Both for pulling us in and for not ripping my arms completely off.” He smiled as he rubbed his shoulders. “Reminds me of a time I lassoed a big bull on my grandfather’s farm, and then got my arm tangled in the rope as he took off.”
Craig laughed as Lewis extended his arms and shook his body like he was being dragged across the bumpy prairie. “I’m glad you two are all right,” he said, helping Pierre to his feet.
Pierre dusted himself off before saying, “I have fallen thousands of times, but never anything like that.” He shook his head as he looked from Craig to where Lewis still lay on the ground. His expression was plain and serious when he added, “Thank you both for saving my life.”
Samantha and Gonzalez joined the boys for a round of awkward embraces and high-fives, before they all moved to the mouth of the cave to marvel at the slice of rock that now lay below them in a pile of rubble. Lewis followed Pierre’s gaze back up to where it had broken loose. He could see the Frenchman’s eyes already probing for a new route to the top. The lower cam was still anchored in the corner across from them, but the hole where the other had been placed was gone, having been part of the wall that gave way. After examining the walls of the shaft for an hour, Pierre delivered the bad news. “There is no longer a route.”
The news was a blow to morale, but everyone remained calm and turned to look at Lewis. He shrugged as he looked into their expectant faces. “I did catch a glimpse of something that might help us,” he said. Lewis went on to describe the trunk of a ponderosa pine tree he had spotted just after he and Pierre collided with the opposing wall. The tree was directly above their heads.
Samantha was clearly hoping for something more. “I don’t see how that is going to help us,” she said dryly before a spark of excitement suddenly lit up her eyes as she guessed at Lewis’s intentions. “Do you think you can lasso one of the branches?”
Lewis smiled at her enthusiasm. “Unfortunately: no, there aren’t any branches that are even close to within range.” He then patted the scuba tank he had packed along and said, “But, I do have an idea for this.”
Samantha shook her head. “Not another rocket ride I hope.”
Lewis’s smile widened. “It is your turn,” he joked before explaining his real idea. “Actually, nobody is going to ride the tank this time. I think we can use the pressure in the tank to shoot a homemade spear into the tree. If we tie the rope to the spear, I think I can climb the rope then haul everyone up.”
Lewis got right to work. First, he opened the knife blade of his Leatherman and sliced through the regulator hose from the scuba tank. Next, he removed the thick straw from one of the water bottles, confirming that it slid almost perfectly into the open end of the regulator hose. “Time for our first test,” Lewis said as he taped off the exposed end of the straw with a piece of athletic tape from the first-aid kit. Pointing the hose down the passage, he gave the tank’s valve a quick twist. Even Lewis was shocked when the straw flew all the way back to the rock pile and shattered on impact.
“You must have been a true neighborhood terror growing up,” Gonzalez said with a large smile.
Lewis smiled back. “I must admit, more than one parent banned their child from playing with me.” He waved the hose around like a cowboy in a shoot-out. “If we loaded this thing up with firecrackers, we’d really have something!”
Lewis retrieved a new straw and taped his open Leatherman to the end, choosing the serrated blade to form a sharp spearhead he hoped would grip the tree. Gonzalez found a pack of dental floss in the first-aid kit. She handed it to Lewis, who looped the entire 100 feet of floss through the keychain loop on the end of his favorite multi-tool. The titanium keychain had seemed like a gimmick when he purchased the knife, but its added strength was about to be put to the test. Conceptually, this would be similar to the log-spearing endeavor at the beginning of their expedition: the floss would be light enough to leave the spear’s trajectory unaffected, but strong enough to pull the climbing rope through after the spear was lodged in the tree. Lewis looked over the strange contraption then asked Pierre, “Are you up for one more climb?”
As he rubbed his hands together, Pierre said, “As I believe you once said, ‘Easy squeezy cheese!’”
Laughter erupted from everyone but the confused Frenchman. Lewis gave him a hard pat on the back. “I don’t think that’s quite what I said, but I like it! I think you just discovered yourself a catchphrase.”
Lewis took up his position at the cave mouth while Pierre clipped back into the rope and moved to the start of his runway. Once again, the others helped by organizing the rope as they got out of the way. With renewed focus, Pierre counted himself down then ran towards Lewis at top speed, his eyes constantly focused on his target on the other side of the approaching shaft. Lewis mentally willed the leap to work as Pierre passed him and rocketed skyward. As on the previous attempt, Pierre soared across the gap and latched his strong fingers into the small crack. It was now only a matter of a few seemingly easy moves to get back up to the remaining cam, locking in the rope once again.
Less than a minute after he jumped from the mouth of the cave, Pierre was back by Lewis’s side, the rope now ready for the next phase of the operation. Pierre removed his climbing harness and passed it to Lewis, who had to lengthen the straps but eventually got it on. He tucked his new spear launcher under his arm before asking, “Everyone ready?”
“All we have to do is hold the rope,” Gonzalez replied.
The next part of the plan required the others to hold the end of the rope while Lewis swung across to the other side, where he would attempt to harpoon the trunk of the pine tree. Seeing that everything was ready, he stepped to the edge, pausing for a couple of seconds before gingerly stepping into the void.
Everyone held the rope tightly as Lewis swung towards the other wall, raising his legs in preparation for the upcoming collision. He bent his knees as he reached the other side, smoothly decelerating from the swing as he came to an easy landing. Lewis then leaned forward, grabbing the narrow crack to climb upward as best he could, relying heavily on help from the others. “How in the heck did you climb this?” Lewis asked Pierre through gritted teeth, knowing this was the easy part for the amazing climber.
Once he was high enough, Lewis clipped his harness directly to Pierre’s cam. Gripping the tank between his legs, he pointed the homemade spear launcher at the tree above, being careful to let the attached dental floss hang freely where it wouldn’t get tangled. He held still, waiting for the swaying to stop. A quick turn of the tank’s valve sent the spear flying towards the tree, miraculously remaining right on target despite its poor aerodynamics. The spear hit the tree trunk dead on, but the knife simply bounced off, flying a few feet higher before the floss got tight.