The Edge of the World

“The Edge of the World” tells a true story of a mapping expedition in the second longest cave in Texas.

When her survey group becomes lost inside the cave, the author uses the experience to propel questions of the duplicity of maps and the ambiguities of human perception, she questions if the blank spaces on maps should really be filled in with new discoveries, for perhaps something is being lost in the process...

...."down in the dark, in the black voids of caves, you can truly be the first to set foot in a place...Descending down into a cave is coming into contact with a primal part of your self...You can be caught up in miracles in this twilight zone. It’s easy. Sometimes the light outside penetrates the shadows in shafts, and dust motes float in the silence, flying like fairies . . . or miracles. If you rappel down through the zone you may find yourself suspended with no sensation of moving, and yet feeling strangely that the cave is coming up to meet you...What difference does a map make when you’re lost? Often, not much. It’s like looking up a word when you don’t know how to spell it. A map is just a half repre-sentation of a place, a half truth. It only reveals someone else’s interpretations of the place, not our own...imagine mapping your own bedroom. What would you include? ...What you leave out of a map tells just as much about yourself, and what you value, as what you include.

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cave maps, Boston Grotto Photo Gallery, more cave photos via coudal