#Mammoth Cave
9 messages in this thread
I just got back [to Michigan] from a five day trip to Nashville, TN.
I drove down to attend a convention for prosthetics. My family has a
business manufacturing a small prosthetic device and they asked to to
help run the booth. It was a blast. The Opryland Hotel was awesome
— especially the atrium.
The really great part was when we stopped at Mammoth Cave National
Park in Kentucky on the way down. We saw the sign on the highway and
decided to take a look. We guessed it was some sort of chinsy
tourist trap. WRONG! This cave was amazing. It stretches on for
miles and miles. We went through the Frozen Niagra tour which was
about a two hour hike. I have never seen anything like it. Squeezing
through tight fissures into large caverns was a blast. The tour
guide gave us the "lights out" treatment — very dark — very, very
dark.
I thought about modeling something like it in 3DS. No way. All those
bumps, rubble, stalactights, stalagmights, soda straws, draperies,
and flowstone formations would take so many polygons it would kill
your average PC. This cave has over 300 miles of caverns. Simply
overwhelming. Go there. Be happy.
Thanks for the interesting description, James. I haven't visited a
large cave yet, but would really like to.
>> I haven't visited a large cave yet, but would really like to.
Here in the northeast, we have Howe Caverns in New York, long and
narrow with a stream running through and Luray Caverns in Virginia, a
lot broader and drier. They're really fascinating to tour!
Sounds like something I should have done before moving out here to SoCal. Maybe
there are some caves in this area to explore…
-Alan
>> Maybe there are some caves in this area to explore…
Then DO see Lava Tubes National Monument at the north border of your state! The
caves were formed as the molten lava flowed away. Hot in the center and cooler
at the surface, it left the tubes. Then additional lava flowed, leaving some
of the caves looking like carefully crafted highway tunnels: smooth, flat
"roadways," and even curbings and "sidewalks!"
There's something like a hundred of them, some thoroughly mapped, some looong
and straight, and some intricate, crawl-on-your-belly-claustrophobic and
labyrinthine.
A wonderful project for lofted mapping!
Thanks for the information and nice description, Carl!
Am saving your message for future "cave" reference.
-Alan
I never knew we had such awesome treasures in the US. It makes me wonder what
else I am missing. After Mammoth Cave, I now want to see things like the Grand
Canyon, Redwood Trees, Monument Valley, the Mississippi River, etc.
— James — MAP —
Yup. Me too. I'll eventually experience ALL these things, (and more) I hope…
-Alan
>>caves and such…
Hello James. Are you about to turn spelunker? That's a bug that runs
deep – I got hooked years ago. I've been to Mammoth a few times (far
nicer than the tourist traps along I-85 in Virginia.) It's fun to go
there in the summer when it is about 100 degs outside, and walk down
the hill into the natural air conditioning. (Not so fun comming back
out.)
Here in (East) Tennessee, there are caves all over the place. Multiple
levels, pits and drop-offs, thru & under water, miles of get-lost-in
passageways, huge caverns, mud mud mud! One cave near here (Virgin
Falls) has an underground river that comes out of the ground to form
the top of a waterfall which disappears again into another cave at
the bottom. No line, no tour, no ticket, no waiting – just a 5-mile
hike to get there.
Most of the fun comes from private, uncommercialized, and relatively
unexplored caves. I just got a line on one on private land that the
owner just recently poked his nose into for the fist time – he found
a human skeleton! Who knows what you'll see in a cave like that.
J K J