I took some young friends to another of the geological curiosities of SW Virginia, Sand Cave. White Rocks is impressive, too, but little odd along an escarpment that runs from SW Virginia to N Georgia. It is the reason the Cumberland Gap was so historically significant. A reasonable route for a wagon road was needed across to the Ohio Valley and Daniel Boone was the man to lead the building of it into Kentucky. On this day my four friends and I were at the NE end of the Cumberland Gap National Historic Park for a moderate climb up to ridgetop and the wonders of geology, forest, and weather. Check out my pictures at “Cliffs and Caves“.
Posts Tagged ‘Geology’
White Rocks and Sand Cave
Posted in Hike, Nature, Outdoors, Photo, tagged Cumberland Gap NHP, Geology, Hike, Outdoors, Sand Cave on February 19, 2024| Leave a Comment »
Coolest Cave
Posted in Family, General, Grandchildren, Hike, Nature, Outdoors, Photo, Travel, tagged Cave, Cave Tour, Geology, Nature, Travel, Underground on March 16, 2023| Leave a Comment »
It was in the low 20’s with a stiff little breeze. I was looking forward to going into a warm cave (usually 59 degrees at our latitude). From the moment I stepped inside I thought that it felt colder than outside. It turns out that among the many entrances are two large ones, one a collapsed chamber at the top of the hill and the other one where the creek exits, plenty large enough to walk in upright. This arrangement makes for a nice chimney with a good draw of very cold air on this particular morning. At one point the guide was saying that a narrowing in the passage has been measured to have lower barometric pressure and “they” don’t know why. It was too simple. I explained Bernoulli’s Principle and how the narrow section of passage acts as a venturi in a carburetor. The faster the wind, the lower the pressure. It is also interesting that the seven species of bats (five of which are endangered) in this cave are not being decimated by the White Nose Fungal outbreak among bats. The regular exchange of fresh air is probably the reason. The cave also sits at a transition zone where sedimentary and igneous rock are interlayered. Of the several dozen caves that I have been in, it seems to be the most geologically diverse. I enjoyed the tour with my daughter and two grandchildren. It was supposed to be a 45 minute tour, but between Mr. G’s* enthusiasm and knowledge of the cave and our curiosity and general knowledge, the tour was more like 1:45. We as well as he professed to having learned a lot. Check out my pictures at AC Underground and then check out the Appalachian Caverns Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/appalachian.caverns)
*If you want to ask for a tour guide whose name begins with G, then I would recommend him. I don’t name people on my blog.
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