wildflowerenthusiast5's Journal

I know I have not been very active on here lately but I promise it is not because I have not been out photographing I have just been very lazy about adding the copious number of pics I have taken these past few months. Growing season is over and with 391 native wildflower species for the year I am happy. But rather than post any of my pics I am going to continue to be lazy and write this instead. This past Tuesday myself and a fellow co-worker got the opportunity to take a group of kids caving near Lenoir City, TN. I have not been caving in quite a few years so I was looking forward to it. The kids had a great time and so did I. I did not bring my camera due to the fact that some of the cave was very muddy (we all got absolutely filthy) and having to crawl through several VERY small squeezes. However, I still got to see some very impressive displays of the underground world. Numerous stalactites, stalagmites, and columns were just the beginning. We saw a small underground stream and some luminescent rocks. We stopped talking and doused our lights to experience what complete silence and complete darkness were like. I saw several cave centipedes and my first cave salamander (Eurycea lucifuga). What a great time. On the unfortunate side there was much evidence that we were not the only people to visit this cave. Much of the outer sections were heavily vandalized with graffiti and there were several sections where stalactites and stalagmites were broken in ways that did not seem like they happened naturally. Overall, it was a great time. Caves are some of the least explored terrestrial ecosystems that boast some very unique species. Would love to go again someday.