U.S. Cavers Forum - Going underground in Missouri

« Going underground in Missouri »

Welcome Guest. Please Login or Register.
May 24, 2013, 3:11pm

[Home] [New Topics] [Help] [Search] [Calendar] [Login] [Register]

U.S. Cavers Forum :: The Society :: Internal Organizations :: Going underground in Missouri

Author

Topic: Going underground in Missouri (Read 751 times)

L Roebuck
Caving
member is offline

[avatar]

^V^ Just a caver

Joined: Aug 2005
Gender: Female

Posts: 2,023
Location: U.S.

Going underground in Missouri
« Thread Started on Aug 13, 2007, 8:18am »

Going underground
By Chris Harris ~ Southeast Missourian

The water is muddy and frigid. The only light comes from flashlights or headgear. And sometimes you have to empty all the air from your lungs in order to squeeze through the tighter spots of a cramped underground passage. These hardships just make the discovery of another rock formation or a 50-foot tall subsurface cavern all the more gratifying to the men and women who belong to the Southeast Missouri Grotto.
The group, now based out of Perryville, Mo., spends every weekend exploring or mapping caves in Southeast Missouri. Most of the caves they explore are in Perry County, where roughly 700 caves dwell under the farmlands and rolling hills.

The Missouri Speleological Survey Inc. estimates there are more than 5,000 caves in Missouri, and some put the number closer to 6,000. Missouri is second only to Tennessee in number of underground exploration experiences.

"Less than one percent of people gets to see what we get to see," said Kris Hartman, SEMO Grotto's president. "It's beautiful."

Cavers often find underground streams, giant rooms and large passageways. Sometimes they crawl in water with less than two feet of room to squeeze through; other times they could be walking upright in a passageway where the ceiling is completely out of reach.

Full Article

Link to Post - Back to Top IP:

Logged

Caver, NSS 34627

"The human spirit needs places where nature has not been rearranged by the hands of man"
--------------------------
My Flickr Photos
Flickr: Cavers, Caves and Caving Photos

Azurerana
U.S. Caver
member is offline

Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 844

Re: Going underground in Missouri
« Reply #1 on Aug 13, 2007, 9:04am »

There were 6200 caves as of April.

Link to Post - Back to Top IP:

Logged

L Roebuck
Caving
member is offline

[avatar]

^V^ Just a caver

Joined: Aug 2005
Gender: Female

Posts: 2,023
Location: U.S.

Re: Going underground in Missouri
« Reply #2 on Aug 13, 2007, 9:26am »

Last count for Tennessee Caves was at 9050.

Link to Post - Back to Top IP:

Logged

Caver, NSS 34627

"The human spirit needs places where nature has not been rearranged by the hands of man"
--------------------------
My Flickr Photos
Flickr: Cavers, Caves and Caving Photos

Click Here To Make This Board Ad-Free