TWO, ALMOST 3 CAVE VISITS—
While poking around my hometown of Altoona, PA with my cousin Bob Wolf recently we did a bit of speleology.
Near his home we chugged up through a massive notch in Brush Mountain called the “Kettle” and headed out Sinking Valley Rd., about 6 or 7 miles to the Tytoona Cave Nature Preserve; one of only 13 such preserves in the US owned by the National Speleological Society. Click here.
In the above photo that’s Cousin Bob dwarfed by the gaping opening to what is described as one of the most significant caves in the state which traces its history to accounts published in 1788.
This cave is not open commercially and contains a trunk passage of about one mile divided by water sumps. These are sections that are completely under water and require highly trained and certified divers before exploration will be allowed.
I am shooting this picture while standing just 100 feet or so inside the cave mouth which extends nearly 1,000 feet under the rocky surface until the first sump is encountered. The roar of an underground stream was clearly audible at the cave entrance.
In the photo below Cousin Bob has discovered the Indian Caverns, our second stop of the day, was only open weekends after Labor Day, so, we moved on to a very interesting visit to the Lincoln Caverns which is featured Saturday.
While poking around my hometown of Altoona, PA with my cousin Bob Wolf recently we did a bit of speleology.
Near his home we chugged up through a massive notch in Brush Mountain called the “Kettle” and headed out Sinking Valley Rd., about 6 or 7 miles to the Tytoona Cave Nature Preserve; one of only 13 such preserves in the US owned by the National Speleological Society. Click here.
In the above photo that’s Cousin Bob dwarfed by the gaping opening to what is described as one of the most significant caves in the state which traces its history to accounts published in 1788.
This cave is not open commercially and contains a trunk passage of about one mile divided by water sumps. These are sections that are completely under water and require highly trained and certified divers before exploration will be allowed.
I am shooting this picture while standing just 100 feet or so inside the cave mouth which extends nearly 1,000 feet under the rocky surface until the first sump is encountered. The roar of an underground stream was clearly audible at the cave entrance.
In the photo below Cousin Bob has discovered the Indian Caverns, our second stop of the day, was only open weekends after Labor Day, so, we moved on to a very interesting visit to the Lincoln Caverns which is featured Saturday.
Please stop by!
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