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‘Your Wildest Adventure’ is a series featuring thrilling tales from travel writers while jaunting around the world. This week’s edition is a story from Jason Boehle at Golden Book Traveler who shares with us his nerve-wrecking and slightly amusing escape.

   Escaping Robbers Cave

Oklahoma is known for many things, from the Dust Bowl to tales of tumultuous twisters, Oklahoma is a state rich in nature. Growing up in the south, I had never ventured too far north of Interstate 30. Growing restless with the flat terrain of north Texas, my partner and I decided to take a weekend trip to Robbers Cave. Being brought up in a city, I admit that I thought caves were nothing more than a fictional fixture in childhood fairy tales. Needless to say, I was very excited at the thought of seeing a cave in real life. We loaded up the truck and smiled as we saw north Texas in our rear view mirror.

Camping in Robbers Cave

After a few hours of driving, we approached Robbers Cave. Like a school child on their first visit to NASA, I oohed and awed at the mini mountains and large rocks. “We should go for a hike!” suggested my partner. I may be a city person, but I have never been afraid of getting dirty. As long as I don’t see anything long that slithers, I am a happy camper.

We set up camp in one of the lodges and headed out to the rocks, mini mountains and canyons. Since it was the beginning of spring, the air was still crisp, but mountainside trees and plants had already begun waking from hibernation. We hiked up mountains and inside little caves. Each cave harnessed its own character and I was mesmerized every time.

Finally, we came to small, secluded cave with a single entrance. Just as I inhaled a deep breath of clean, wilderness cave air, my partner said, “Don’t move.” I am not one to ask questions when given strict orders, so I did as he said, almost. Keeping my feet planted and body still, I moved my eyeballs to get a better peripheral view. What I saw was the one thing I never wanted to see… a long, narrow, black slithering snake!

An Unwelcomed Visitor

I’m sure my body lost all signs of color. I was temporarily paralyzed. I had harbored an intense fear of these reptiles since I was a small child living next to a creek where it was almost an annual occurrence to uncover a small snake in the laundry room.

My partner, on the other hand, welcomed the challenge of outsmarting a reptile, which is exactly what he decided we would do. After all, the reptile had coiled itself to partially block our exit from the cave. Still not moving, my partner informed me that we were going to aggravate the snake and outrun it. I had seen enough Animal Planet to know that outsmarting a snake was not ever a good idea, but the inner Indiana Jones of my partner had been unleashed.

“I am going to throw this rock at the snake, and when I say ‘run’, run!” By this time I was nearly hyperventilating. I said my prayers and Hail Marys. I thought of my lovely parents and my unborn children. My life flashed before my eyes as I heard the rock hit and the spirited command, “Run!” We ran down the mountain at Olympic track star speed. I was so nervous that my heart did not have time to skip beats. ‘I’m sure Chuck Taylors were not built to sustain mountainside escapes’, I thought as I sprinted over one rock to the next. Out of breath, my partner gently grabbed my shoulder to let me know that we had escaped.

After the fear of the afternoon’s events began to subside, I felt like I had a new lease on life. Unfortunately, standing two yards from my arch nemesis was not enough to help me overcome my fear of snakes. But at least I can rest assured that I have access to my very own Indiana Jones.

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Golden Book traveler is a European travel blog that will log my adventures across Europe, with a golden book. Yes, the golden book is special and I’d love for  you to write something in it if I meet you. Visit http://www.goldenbooktraveler.com for European travel tips and information.

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