Un-named Saltpeter Cave #2
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This Cave is a small cave located on private property that is heavily posted. It consists primarily of an entrance breakdown room with a climbup at the rear that leads to a smaller room that contains large deposits of layered saltpeter dirt. A small waterfall runs over the entrance. There is no trail to this cave anymore as the land is rural and posted. It is located along the contact where several other caves can be found, although they are a good distance apart from each other and all are relatively small.
There is an old stone box, some rusted parts of a metal 55 gallon drum, a wood stove door, and various pieces of metal poles and straps. This setup was most likely the furnace box of a moonshine still, although the setup could have been used in saltpeter operations. See photos below.
The bedding plane ceiling contains some very nice fossils including a wonderful example of the calyx (top portion) of a crinoid. There is ample opportuniy to crawl around in tight squeezes although we did not find any "going" passages. There are also some interesting pieces of saltpeter dirt with signatures and dates from the 1880's. I am not sure if anyone was aware of them before our group found them. I photographed them for posterity and included two of them in this page. We also found remains of a small torch. There was a colony of 25 Northern long-eared bats hibernating in the cave when we visited in February, 2001.
The photos on this page were taken with Kodak DC210 Plus and DC215 digital cameras.
This is the entrance to the cave with the waterfall flowing over and a rainbow. This photo was not a set-up, we just got to the cave at a magical moment in time.
Looking out from just inside the steeply sloping entrance. A very clear, blue sky and a waterfall. How pretty.
This appears to be a furnace box for an old moonshine still. It is right in the entrance room.
Kristen Bobo holds a door to a moonshine furnace box.
Andrew Dickins of the Upper Cumberland Grotto squeezing under the ceiling looking for leads.
Jay, your web author, pulling himself out of a rather tight spot. No elbow pads, ouch!
Helectites, gypsum, and calcite crystals growing on the ceiling in the cave.
This a crinoid calyx. The stems are common fossils, referred to amongst children as "Indian Money." The calyx is a much more rare fossil.
This is the central axis of a Paleozoic bryzoan called Archimedes. It had a lacy exterior that resembled flower petals. This fossil dates from about 245 million years ago. Humans have been around for less than one million years. Think about that...
Remains of a small torch discovered in the cave.
I think it says "Morgan Lewis." The other dates are 1869 and 1885. This piece is undated.
I am not sure what the second letter is supposed to be. Maybe a backwards "N?" A higer resolution image of the same photo reveals the date to be 1869.
Hummmm....cavehenge perhaps?