SOLVED. Children's chapter book: lost in cave system [s]

[Leela4]

I'd call it young adult, but it was classified as juvenile at the time. It's very firmly a boys' book. I think I found it because of one of those "other books published by us" ads in the back of a 1975 Archway paperback.

A teen is obsessed with spelunking and finding new caves to explore. He has a wealthier rival. And no doubt there's a girl.

The one thing that ISN'T cliched about this book is the characters generally are properly equipped for their explorations.

If I remember correctly the book starts with the main character trying to find a suspected cave. He sees a bird burst out of a crevice and is sure he's found it. He lets out a whoop then is appalled when his rival appears and asks him why he's so excited.

Soon he sneaks back to the cave but everything goes wrong and he's trapped for a time. The trauma and humiliation gives him a phobia of the dark.

For some reason he has to go back to the cave. He and his rival have to work together to get out of it. I'm afraid the only part of that I remember is the ol' cliche of having to swim underwater in an underground river.

[Melissa]

This sounds similar to a book that I just asked about here in this group (http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/5...). The book I remember had 3-4 boys around age 11, but otherwise details like spelunking and underground rivers are the same. I remember there being an incident with bats. I wonder if they might be the same since I heard the book in 1983 or so.

[Leela4]

I finally managed to find the old paperback. My book is definitely "Cave of Danger" by Bryce Walton.

The only new thing I've remembered is the main character has a friend who wears glasses.