Hey y'all, Welcome to my Website
Courtesy of the University of North Florida
and Jack Woodward
Just in case we did have a rainy day or two, we had backup plans on things to do and places to see. This was one of them. I can't believe I didn't get a picture of the front sign. On the other hand I can believe it because it was raining.
This place is called Ruby Falls. The actual falls are in a cavern 200 feet below the surface. Since this place is on top of Lookout Mountain, that would place the falls inside the mountain itself. The cavern was found by accident. Back in the Civil War days, there was another cavern entrance at the base of the mountain. That cavern was used by the military as a hospital and for storage. After the war the mouth to the cave was sealed. Some time after, a man named Lambert decided to bore a tunnel from the top of the mountain straight down to the old cavern and turn it into a tourist attraction. During the boring, his team broke into the cavern where Ruby Falls is located. That cavern was a few hundred feet above the original cavern. Lambert used three teams working 24/7. They advanced at the rate of 5 feet a day through solid limestone. Around the 200 foot level a blast of air rose up when they punched into the new cavern. As I recall, I think Lambert and a friend had to crawl for about 500 feet until they could find a place high enough to stand up. On the first exploration he and his friend were 'gone' for 17 hours. Nowadays it's hard to imagine exploring the way they did using carbide lamps and no flashlights. On another expedition he took his wife along with him. They eventually discovered the water fall. Lambert named it after his wife, Ruby. The water fall was also the source of the blast of air that hit them when they first punched through into the cavern. At the base of the waterfall, it is indeed very windy and is caused by the falling water. The waterfall is probably around 60 feet high. Quite a drop. As a side note, the guide advised everyone not to drink the water. Not that it isn't pure, it is. The problem is, it is full of magnesium. As he pointed out, Milk of Magnesia has something like 1% magnesium content. The cave water is around 15% magnesium. I'm sure you get the drift. The cave has been opened to the public since 1932 I think. Initially, people were allowed to roam around on their own. As you will see a lot of people decided to take home a souvenir of a stalactite or two.
As another side note, stalactites grow from the ceiling down and stalagmites grow from the floor up. A simple way to remember the difference between the names is stalactite has a 'c' in it (for ceiling) and stalagmite has a 'g' in it (for ground).
As you can see, on Monday the weather went sour. As a matter of fact the only sunshine we had was when we first arrived on Sunday and on Wednesday afternoon. Other than that it was either raining or heavy fog. I'm sure most of you already know that fog is nothing more than a ground hugging cloud. In the distance is Chattanooga.
Inside the caverns. We took an elevator down to the cavern level. The groups are led by a guide now. Judging from the number of cars in the parking lot, business here is quite good. We passed two other groups coming and going to the falls and each group has around 50 people in it. The first 600 feet or so, a new passage was dug out to allow people to stand up. On either side of the passage are the original cavern that Lambert and friends crawled through. Pretty ballsy.
As in all of the other caverns I've been in, names are given to some of the rock formations. This is a stalactite.
And this is a stalagmite. Obviously stalactites are created by mineral laden water dripping down from the ceiling and form just like water icicles. With stalactites, instead of water, minerals precipitate out of the cave water and leave between the stony stalactites. Stalagmites form where dripping water hits the cave floor. Over thousands of years, some of the stalagmites grow quite large. Stalagmites also appear to have more of a crystalline appearance.
Looking up into the crevasse that forms the main cave. By the way, I must give my brother Bruce credit here. A couple years ago, he gave me a high end Canon flash attachment for a Christmas present. The flash unit measures the light coming back from the flash and turns off the flash after enough light has been given off to make a good exposure. That's why you can still see the cave lighting in the photos, because the flash unit 'read' that light into the final exposure as well as the light from the flash itself. Pretty cool, huh? Thanks Bro.
And where there was insufficient cave lighting, the flash unit did all the 'work'.
As the guide pointed out, this is the south end of a north bound donkey.
Some of the areas were pretty stunning.
Like a waterfall made of stone.
This picture didn't 'translate' well. The 'bacon' was backlit so the cave lighting shone through the translucent rock and it really did have the appearance of bacon.
Good name for this one.
Unfortunately the waterfall itself didn't come out well on 'film'. It definitely wasn't lit up like they show in the brochures. For lighting all they had was the two wall units throwing colored lights up into the air. So if you want to see the falls better, you'll have to go there yourself.
And there was a lot more water coming over than this photo would indicate.
On the way back out of the cave.
Another thing that didn't 'translate' well. The white looking minerals in the ceiling fluoresce under black light. Like wearing a white T-shirt under black lights. So without a flash unit really lighting it up, it did look pretty neat. I should have used the tripod and taken a natural light picture. That would have worked.
The rain had stopped by the time we exited the falls, but the clouds were still hanging low. We spent the rest of the day driving around the mountain top finding out where the incline and Rock City were located so we could visit them on another day. Hopefully on a clearer day.
That's the Tennessee River that flows through Chattanooga.
And so the saga continues.
Enjoy !
P.S.
If you want me to ADD your name/email address to my emaillist when I add new photos to this website, email me at the address below and I will gladly add your name and address. If your name is already on the list, no problem.
Email to Jack Woodward mailto: jackwoodward66@hotmail.com
Link to Previous Page Sunday 15th Cloudland Canyon vacation
Link to Next Page Tuesday 17th Cloudland Canyon Vacation
Link to Page Wednesday 18th Cloudland Canyon vacation
Link to Page Thursday 19th Cloudland Canyon vacation
Link to HomePage Welcome to my website
Visitors to this page