Where I was this past weekend
Several readers have asked in the comments for a report on what I did this past weekend.
I went caving. The photo to the right, taken on a previous trip several years ago, will give you an idea. The cave is amazingly beautiful. The trip was to designed to give a bunch of people a chance to see it.
I won’t say much more than this, mostly because it is unwise to reveal too much about the caves one visits because this then attracts people to them who are often either inexperienced (and thus a risk to themselves) or untrustworthy in terms of protecting the cave’s beauty. I am totally willing and open to bring anyone who wants to go to the caves I visit, but a newbie should go the first time with someone experienced, for the reasons already outlined.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Several readers have asked in the comments for a report on what I did this past weekend.
I went caving. The photo to the right, taken on a previous trip several years ago, will give you an idea. The cave is amazingly beautiful. The trip was to designed to give a bunch of people a chance to see it.
I won’t say much more than this, mostly because it is unwise to reveal too much about the caves one visits because this then attracts people to them who are often either inexperienced (and thus a risk to themselves) or untrustworthy in terms of protecting the cave’s beauty. I am totally willing and open to bring anyone who wants to go to the caves I visit, but a newbie should go the first time with someone experienced, for the reasons already outlined.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Looks like a rubble pile. Gently moving away from it, would be my reaction.
LocalFluff: Nope, quite wrong. Those crystals are quite solidly placed.
Looks awesome.
I’d love to take you up on that, but I don’t get out west very often. Plus, it has been 20 years and 50 pounds ago.
Our group mostly looked into wild caves in KY and TN. They were typically quite wet, and care needed to be taken.
Amateurs with carbide lamps. Got some great photos, though.
LocalFluff–
here you go..
“Zimmerman Finds Promising Future Ground…..”
Gold Rush season 10 snippet
https://youtu.be/j6i7YK4gAlQ
3:06
“Sampling the rubble-pile, and backing away slowly….”
https://youtu.be/q09NXQd2ERA?t=12
I have only been through a few tourist caverns, Cascade Caverns, Natural Bridge Caverns, and Carlsbad Caverns. Plus two private caves close by with a local geologist and spelunker.
The local caves had some indigenous artifacts in them. We left those alone.
As claustrophobic as I am, I love spelunking (as a firefighter, we trained in the “entanglement box,” in full turnout gear with a blacked-out faceshield, and that gives me the shakes thinking about it.) That photo reminds me of a cave I visited as a kid outside Las Vegas, since filled in with concrete, “for safety,” last I heard. Your article on carbide lamps also brought a smile to my face, as I recall difficulty with using those. A dream would be to visit the Giant Crystal Cave one day.
I must point out that experienced cavers do NOT use the term “spelunkers.” For us, a spelunker is someone a caver rescues. :)
Sorry but I am no place close to a pro caver.
Looks like your standing inside a geode.
clay: You are literally correct. Many sections of this particular cave formed as very large geodes which were later broken into when the cave around them formed.