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Published: December 21st 2007
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Day 115 - Obfuscator writes: We packed up our small camp in outside Chattanooga, and started heading north. Incidentally, as a note that probably only one person reading this might get, we were actually camped by Hixon, TN, where I noticed that we passed a Zaxby's restaurant, but as we had already eaten enough for the day, we did not stop there. We were on our way north on 75, heading ultimately toward Great Smokey Mountains National Park. In a motel the previous night, we had picked up some local attraction brochures though, and one among them had caught our eye.
If something called the Lost Sea Adventure, which has tons of pictures of an underground lake isn't enough to make you want to stop there in the first place, the picture of the cutish blond tour guide with what could be among the strangest expressions I've ever seen on the cover probably would be. Between the two, we couldn't not stop, if only to catch a glimpse of this tour guide making such a weird face. The Lost Sea is about halfway between Chattanooga and Knoxville, and is just a bit off I-75, easily found. I guess they have
some other things there too, but really it's the cave and the lake that are the attractions.
We didn't get to see the alien-girl, but we did get into the cave, which in the end was a bit more important to us. Now to be fair to them, they did warn us that the water levels were very low in the lake and that consequently they've had to cut the boat tour, and they did give us a discount on the ticket, but they did still tell us that we would see most of what we would have seen on the boat tour anyway. Though the cave was pretty cool, you should be careful if you visit to make sure that either you are getting the boat tour, or that failing that, you're at least getting right up to lake. We figured we were, and were sorely disappointed when our tour guide wouldn't let us closer than probably 150 or 200 feet. I guess their walkway was built to float on the lake, and when the water level plunged, it was damaged, so while I don't exactly blame them for not letting us closer, it still kind of blew.
The cave is pretty nifty even aside from the lake, but the lake is pretty much the biggest reason to go there, if you've seen a lot of other caves. It's the biggest one in America, or at least it is when it's full I guess, being almost the size of three football fields. Right now, it's 26 feet down, and it's still 50 feet deep in parts. Being a privately owned cave, they also get to do crazy things with their lake, like stock it with rainbow trout. Normally the lake wouldn't have them, but hey, if you're going to bring in tourists and put them in glass bottomed boats, why not give them something to look at? Of course, after a while the rainbow trout lose all their color and most of their eyesight, and they can't reproduce in the cave because there's not enough current or something, so they have to continually restock the lake, but hey! Rainbow trout! Big ones! It was also amusing that they actually still don't know where the lake lets out. They know it lets out, since there's water coming in, and it hasn't just filled up, but trying to track
fish and dying the water haven't helped figure out where the water goes.
Needless to say, we were not pleased that we could not only not take the boat tour, but would only get a poor little glimpse of this semi-natural wonder. Of course, that wasn't the only thing the cave had going for it. It also had the only cave waterfall we've seen so far on our trip. It wasn't huge or anything, but it was still nice. It was also the only cave I think I've seen recently that had plants growing in it. We're not talking about mold or moss or anything either. We're talking about regular ferns. Apparently the seeds or spores or whatever get carried in on people, and the bulbs they use in their lighting give off enough UV light for the plants. Lastly, the cave was home to many Anthodites, or Cave Flowers, which I guess are quite rare. I certainly don't remember seeing them before, but they were neat looking, almost like rocky Sea Urchins. The tour guide kept moving too fast for us to get many good pictures though, so that was sort of annoying.
From there, we cruised
on up to the Great Smokies. It was getting a bit late by the time we got there, so we dropped into the visitor's center to talk to some Rangers about our camping options. After one of them explained to us just how little of the park was actually open in December, we quickly came to the conclusion that we'd be better off back-country camping than going to one of the car-camping spots. Another Ranger recommended a site about four miles in that would still be doable in the remaining daylight, and was a pretty hike, so we settled on that, filled out the pass, and got moving.
It took us a while to repack our gear, since we haven't used it in quite a while, but once we were underway, we made good time, even with some photo stops. The trail paralleled a river, with beautiful clear mountain water, and a lot of neat ice formations, which were a bit incongruous with all the warm weather trees we also saw. It was getting dark before we even got to the campsite, but luckily when we hit the four streams we had to cross, it was still a little
bit light. That was really fortunate, since the rocks were icy and mossy, and there really weren't any other ways to get to our site.
Since all the backcountry camping had a fire ban in place, we were forced to Sterno our dinner, but it worked out well enough, and we had a good dinner before turning in for the night. Of course, this was probably only about 8:30 PM, but our water had already largely frozen.
Lessons Learned: Onaxthiel needs to either pack heavier sleeping gear, or at least double check his gear before he gets in the bag for the night. Down one sock, and with one fewer sleeping bag layers than I had, he had a rather unpleasant night. I meanwhile, was toasty warm and slept for probably 10 or 11 hours. Wonderful!
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Mom
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river
Lovely pictures of the river. I can see why you think it would be a nice place to spend more time.