The Cave
The Sierra Nevada is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Basin and Range Province. The part of this mountain range we are focusing on today is in California. In this range there is magical cave. Only a handful of people have ever found the cave but many have tried. It is a very treacherous journey to find the snow, but if found, brings anyone enormous wealth.
Tom Rank was the first person ever recorded to come across the substance. Instantly stories of its greatness spread. Tom Rank was a eighteenth century explorer and opportunist. He was part of an expedition exploring mountain ranges in search of new wealth. This particular expedition was made of twenty men. All the men in the expedition were specialists in surviving rugged terrains. The expedition was supposed to last eight months.
Tom and his crew were passing through the mountains during the sixth month of the journey. They had just passed a very large river that divided the peaks of the mountains. As far as their eyes could see all they could see was a white snowcapped mountain. Exhausted, low supplies, and disease plagued this particular expedition. Half were divided in wanting to return home and pushing forward. On May 18th, after a long day of trekking through the snow, a storm began to brew in the distance. Tom began to realize if the storm came their way, the expedition would be lost as well as their lives. Shelter became the only plausible way to survive.
In this region there are not a lot of places to flee from the weather. The only chance would be to keep going and hope for a miracle. Tom decided to lead the group through a narrow passage between the river and the largest mountain. Many believed this route would lead to death but Tom had a vision and in that vision he saw life. 10 hours later the storm hit. It was the strongest storm any of the men had seen before. With nowhere to escape, Tom urged them to keep going. With ten feet of visibility around each person, they continued forward. Right before the point of giving up, a light led tom into a cave. It is not known if it was a real light or maybe just a figment of his imagination but the light led them into a cave in the side of the mountain. They were going to survive.
This cave was not any normal cave. It was full of warmth and food. The light that led them to this cave had been a blessing from god. No one could survive a storm like that. Not even the best.
The cave was so magical that no one from the expedition was ever seen again. They all decided to stay in the cave and the light for the rest of their lives. The cave has also never been found again. Many have searched for it and turned around right before the point of exhaustion and made it back.