Post by Brian Roebuck on Jan 28, 2007 9:10:57 GMT -5
This is a question all of us are asked or ask ourselves. The answer changes as time passes and we visit different caves and gain experience and skills. This kind of goes along with caving obsessions but it focuses on the cave itself.
My favorite cave is Higgenbotham Cave (aka Cumberland Caverns) in Tennessee. It was here that I became a caver during a Christmas Party Wild cave trip they used to offer into the bowels of the cave. This cave is over 26 miles long and is a generally dry and friendly cave throughout. It has been run commercially for many years but the wild sections continue far past the tourist trails. I was in my twenties and had the opportunity to go to the party and take the tour thanks to a friend at work. We progressed through the cave and eventually moved out of the lighted sections into total darkness only penetrated by our helmet lights (I had a used construction helmet with a rayovac headlamp taped to it and a 6 volt lantern battery on a belt loop). There began my introduction to wild caving. It was great! I could not believe the seemingly endless passages that lay ahead along with the formations, squeezes, climbs, slides, vast rooms, and amazing variety this cave showed me on only one trip! Surely this had to be one of the coolest activities in the world! When I got out of the cave I bought my first carbide light from Bob & Bob out of an old school bus he used to sell from. It was years before I ever found carbide to use in it! It took many years to eventually become an NSS member and "real caver" since I didn't know any cavers at that time. But I finally did meet a former tour guide and NSS member Don Lance who worked at Cumberland Caverns as a youth. He had so much enthusiasm for caving it became impossible not to be a caver. This enthusiasm even spilled over to Lynn and we started surveying caves with Don and others soon after. I've been back to Higgenbotham Cave several times for cave trips into the vast distant areas of the cave as well as for Christmas parties each year. Even now after finding many caves, visiting thousands of others, and even getting to see Lascaux Cave in France it still is my favorite cave.
What cave is your favorite?
My favorite cave is Higgenbotham Cave (aka Cumberland Caverns) in Tennessee. It was here that I became a caver during a Christmas Party Wild cave trip they used to offer into the bowels of the cave. This cave is over 26 miles long and is a generally dry and friendly cave throughout. It has been run commercially for many years but the wild sections continue far past the tourist trails. I was in my twenties and had the opportunity to go to the party and take the tour thanks to a friend at work. We progressed through the cave and eventually moved out of the lighted sections into total darkness only penetrated by our helmet lights (I had a used construction helmet with a rayovac headlamp taped to it and a 6 volt lantern battery on a belt loop). There began my introduction to wild caving. It was great! I could not believe the seemingly endless passages that lay ahead along with the formations, squeezes, climbs, slides, vast rooms, and amazing variety this cave showed me on only one trip! Surely this had to be one of the coolest activities in the world! When I got out of the cave I bought my first carbide light from Bob & Bob out of an old school bus he used to sell from. It was years before I ever found carbide to use in it! It took many years to eventually become an NSS member and "real caver" since I didn't know any cavers at that time. But I finally did meet a former tour guide and NSS member Don Lance who worked at Cumberland Caverns as a youth. He had so much enthusiasm for caving it became impossible not to be a caver. This enthusiasm even spilled over to Lynn and we started surveying caves with Don and others soon after. I've been back to Higgenbotham Cave several times for cave trips into the vast distant areas of the cave as well as for Christmas parties each year. Even now after finding many caves, visiting thousands of others, and even getting to see Lascaux Cave in France it still is my favorite cave.
What cave is your favorite?
