Today we went to the Spook Cave in McGregor, Iowa. Spook Cave is a low clearance version of Pirates of the Caribbean from Disneyland without the cute animatronics and sparkly decorations, for all of you who have ridden the ride. Full of stalactites, brown bats, chimneys and frogs you take a small row boat into the cave that's also full of stories. The man who discovered and developed the cave did so in 1950's with a flashlight crawling in the inches deep water that runs through the cave. Now they have it damned up so the water is a few feet deep to allow boats to move through it. He used dynamite to open a cavern and found a cathedral of rock formations inside and began giving tours in 1956. One of the stories is about a rock formation called the Hairy Stalactite. It is said that it drips water on your head 9also known as a "cave kiss" you will go completely bald in one week! I was smart and wore my hoodie. Also there were columns where stalactite (spike coming down from the top which I remember as hanging "tite" to the ceiling) and stalagmites (spike rising up from the floor which I remember as "it might reach the top someday) fused making a rare "column". One formation was 2700 years old, they know this because it grows at a rate of one inch per year. There was also a see-through formation called Bacon (YUM!) that looked like a strip of bacon and a narrow passage called Lover's Lane because you wither love your neighbor or the wall when you squeeze through it.
To explain how low and narrow the cave was, Mom and I were in a row boat sitting down and bent over at the hip for the first 100 feet and our backs almost touched the ceiling. The passage was just bigger than the row boat except one spot used for turning it around. The cave is always at a steady 47 degrees and water is always 42 degrees. The formations are very sensitive and can actually die from a change in conditions or from oils on the skin of humans touching them. It was definitely spooky and creepy with the bats inches from our heads and the dark dampness of the cave itself. It was worth the trip though. It's interesting to see cliffs and mountains and know in many of them are caves and caverns full of things yet to be discovered or rarely seen until a brave person goes to investigate the spooky sounds or the black opening of a cave to see what's inside.
Remember, if there are any cool attractions you think I should explore or you want to see EMAIL ME at jack@stellarvista.com or comment here. THANKS and Happy Trails!
Jack
I like the idea of this, and would love to be able to go through it someday, but your Aunt Judi is very claustrophobic these days after 3 MRI's..
ReplyDeleteThat being said, the amazing natural wonders that lurk below us are worth seeing and trying to understand. It gives a sense of where life begins, and how the earth materializes over time.
Glad you got to have this experience.