Metal Detectiing TN. cave / Anybody done this?

[huntsman53]

No expert here but are the holes in the ceiling mostly around the charcoal/fire areas? Could be just from the heat of many fires over time that dried out and cracked the ceiling and pieces of it fell out leaving a hole?

The stacked rocks could have been put up as wind breaks to shelter someone behind them.

Docbeav,

It is doubtful that these were caused by fires as number one, according to Brad, this area is quite a ways into the cave and probably beyond the point to have good ventilation and two, if they are from fires, there would still be blackening on the ceiling surrounding the holes. I have been in caves that were occupied by Native American Indians and they always built their fires in the entrance-ways to the caves where there is an overhang! This not only allowed protection for the fire from rain and snow but also allowed for good ventilation. From the appearance of the charcoal, if that is what it is, it appears to have been carried to these points as there is no blackening of the dirt underneath or around them!


Frank

 

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[huntsman53]

Trapezoid? Trapeze? It's hard to tell. Just have to get in there and check it out. Get closeup pictures and document everything.

Clay

We will do! I am the holdup on this as I am waiting to make sure that my' middle sister, who is in the hospital, is going to be okay. She was in very grave health just days ago but now seems to be getting better by the hour. As I stated similarly in another post on another Thread, please don't let the problems with my sister's health, detract from this amazing Thread and what can be an adventure of a lifetime!


Frank

 

[Tnmountains]

Thank you very much for the advise and insight. I truly appreciate your experience. When I contacted a grotto in Nashville they sent a couple folks here. After GPS'ing cave entrance and comparing to their maps they said this was a "new" cave. There were none close to this one on their known map. Now, if that is right (if) it can't be already mapped... right? I would never and have not disturbed any formations. There are no off-shoots from the main cave's winding path through ridge. Some of the earlier posts by me describe some of the cave's interior. We're not using glow-sticks to light up the cave to get around... we're using them to light up area's we cannot get a light into and physically look directly. We'd like to attach a string to glow-stick, drop/throw over and then look with an adjustable mirrored stick over the mud/dirt mounds where accessible. Then pull back out, move on further and repeat. This is a small cave overall. The first 100+ yards are more easily navigated before having to crawl in the cold spring water. I'll try and post some more pictures today.

Right. Not mapped sounds like. Sounds fun so have fun be safe and enjoyed your pictures. You need to look at the albino blind creatures that lurk.Good idea to pan the creek a little for gems/gold/fossils/bone.
Cheers!

 

[DocBeav]

This picture right? #24?



Just kind of outlined the areas that stood out. Copied your picture, opened it with MS Paint and just messed around a bit, zooming in and out looking for things that stood out. All 6 of the darker, flatter areas stand out from the rest of the rock. Did my best to trace out or circle what I could see. On the right it came out looking like a sun almost. You can see it pretty clear if you look at a clean copy and zoom in on it. Not sure if the line i traced is in the rock or an artifact from the picture and flash. Almost looks like the letters "L O" left of the line. Left of the letters I circled the 2 shapes, one kinda looks like a bird. Not saying any of these things for sure what I just wrote, guesses on all of them. Won't even speculate on whether this location served some purpose or anything. I will ask though, what the HELL is the black thing I circled on the top left of the photo? Almost looks like a spider! Not exactly tiny either if it is! If it is, good luck! May wanna bring some bug spray along too! LOL One more item for the list of supplies....

 

[DocBeav]

Frank,
Good info on the fires and coals. Thanks. Wish your sister all the best man. Hope she continues to get better!

 

[JeromeAz]

We will do! I am the holdup on this as I am waiting to make sure that my' middle sister, who is in the hospital, is going to be okay. She was in very grave health just days ago but now seems to be getting better by the hour. As I stated similarly in another post on another Thread, please don't let the problems with my sister's health, detract from this amazing Thread and what can be an adventure of a lifetime!

Frank

That's good to hear! Hope she makes a full recovery!

Clay

 

[diggummup]

This picture right? #24?

View attachment 819678

what the HELL is the black thing I circled on the top left of the photo? Almost looks like a spider! Not exactly tiny either if it is! If it is, good luck! May wanna bring some bug spray along too! LOL One more item for the list of supplies....

It definitely looks like a spider if you zoom in on it. 99.5% sure. Good eyes!

 

[Limitool]

No expert here but are the holes in the ceiling mostly around the charcoal/fire areas? Could be just from the heat of many fires over time that dried out and cracked the ceiling and pieces of it fell out leaving a hole?

The stacked rocks could have been put up as wind breaks to shelter someone behind them.

Ok DocBeav... I gave wrong impression to you (maybe others) concerning "stacked rocks". Along the cave walls there are some holes or tunnels that go back into them. Some of these holes are anywhere from 6-18" wide and go back into walls 18" to a long ways...? Some are oblong in shape, some more circular while others are rectangular in shape. I believe most are natural especially when some go WAY back into wall and exit again from wall maybe 3-4' later (like of like Swiss cheese). But others appear maybe to have been dug out by a hand tool. One of these wall holes up by the main entrance (maybe 30 yards in) have some small rocks stacked into its opening. Somebody, for some reason put them there....? I spotted that spot 10 days ago. Frank and I will take a photo trip and retake photos concerning points of interest before we do ANYTHING. We'd like to video tape some also... We'll post more pictures and maybe a video later... but we both have some family obligations pending at moment before we can "hook-up" and Gooooooooooooooo.

 

[Limitool]

It definitely looks like a spider if you zoom in on it. 99.5% sure. Good eyes!

For what it's worth.... When I look at the far right side of dark items (in red outlined) I "see" an elephant facing left.... truck, ear, and legs. Even the next one going left from there. Just my imagination running WILD!!!!! Your circle could be a spider... but there are cave crickets around also.

 

[huntsman53]

First off, let me say thanks for the well wishes for my' sister!

I will try to answer the questions and insight posed in the latest posts!

Tnmountains...Thanks for the advice and info. And yes, I will be hauling in my' Gold pan and Classifiers to see what might be hidden on the streambed and in the stream. We are also planning to check a sample of the powder or whatever it is in the pile of white material and also what appears to be the same that can be seen hanging onto rocks in the stream. We can only conjecture as to what both are and was hoping for input from others on ideas as to what they might be. In any case, it seems that it would have to be heavy since it is able to stay in place on some of the rocks and is not washed away immediately upon entering the stream. This material appears to possibly be in parts of the floor and stream banks or shelves as evidenced in the pics and it also appears that in viewing the pic of the other access to the cave or entrance to another cave (i.e. the one Brad has not entered due to the Bobcat tracks), whichever be the case, may have this same material inside it! In the pic, it appears to have white rocks inside but it could just be the flash of the camera. Hopefully, we will know more upon investigation.

DocBeav and diggummup...According to Brad, the spot that you circled on the ceiling in the pic, may in fact just be a cave cricket! We discussed this previously when I noticed the same in this and some other pics and had thoughts of bats.

DocBeav...The rectangular blocked area of the wall is also an area of interest to us and has been discussed. Due to the debris on the floor, my theory is that the rock wall has been honed out by hand. For what reason, we can only conjecture at this time and we are not totally certain of this at this time! We plan to investigate this spot and others very closely when we finally make it into the cave for exploring, searching and documenting our finds with camera and video. However, from my investigation of the pics, the darker greyish/brown rocks as well as the bluish rocks in the pic, appear to be just different composition type rocks with greater density than the surrounding rocks. However, I have noticed that there are areas within this rock wall that appear to have shapes and patterns that need to be checked more closely.

Thanks everyone for the keen eyes, observations and help! We definitely need input from anyone with a theory, thought, observation and advice to help us plan out the specifics of the exploration and investigation of the cave and it's many mysteries!


Frank

 

[Limitool]

Ok folks I'll post some more pictures from when my daughter and I were just slowly walking, duck walking, crawling back to about the 1/2 way point. These photos again... were NOT taken to focus on anything in particular as Frank and I will attempt next week. The first photo today (Cave #25) is at what I coined the "crack" which I posted before. The difference here is the tunnel/hole that was right next to it. This tunnel/hole is about 6-8' to right from where I squeezed threw the narrow crack to enter 2nd half of cave. Now this tunnel was a "dead end" and appears to be filled with mud/dirt only. It goes back about 15-20' and ends. When I squeezed through crack shown (earlier photo shows me) and went back further I THINK I saw where this "tunnel" came out into the back half of cave a short while later. When I entered the back half of the cave through rock crack the cave's path took a right hand sweep and this is where this "tunnel" was heading before I squeezed through crack. I admit it is hard to tell where your at within this environment but I do believe I am right. And picture labeled "Cave #33" is another repost but blown up. This area really intrigues me also. Frank and I are going to go slow and REALLY LOOK. We'll look for artifacts, signs, paintings and then a hidden cache. We will not destroy any formations and we'll try and document everything that we do and share.

We'd like everyone to review ALL PHOTOS and chime in about the rock mineral layers and/or anything we should get samples of and/or further check out more closely from what you see from these "sight-seeing" photos. And/or pass on to someone WHO MIGHT. Sorry Cave #36 is upside down sorry.

 

[Limitool]

PLEASE... requesting any opinions... Cave #25 picture in above post.... Can anyone speculate why this tunnel is the "way it is"? It is hard to reach this point NOW with modern flashlights (due to low ceiling clearance). It's really hard to believe Ancient's and/or native Indians made it to this point. Maybe this tunnel (shown in Cave #25 pic) was the main water route forming the cave originally and it collapsed forcing the water to open the "crack" I went through shown. I still believe (hopefully believe) that their is another entrance on or around this ridge that has been closed off naturally... but is there slightly opened. I did find bats (3) long after crawling through "crack" shown. The large rock on left picture is the end of rock from right picture. Later... Brad

 

[cusedpjd]

I would make sure you bring a cell phone and let someone know where you will be in case you get hurt, trapped, or lost, especially given the remote and hard to find nature of the location.

 

[DocBeav]

Can you do up a rough overhead sketch marking all the areas you are describing? I think it would help everyone get an even better picture of how it is all laid out.

 

[Limitool]

I would make sure you bring a cell phone and let someone know where you will be in case you get hurt, trapped, or lost, especially given the remote and hard to find nature of the location.

Will do... I always let someone know this. I do have phone service at the mouth of cave (spotty / but works).

 

[doc-d]

Thank you for the story of this adventure.......very cool and am interesting in how it turns out.........

 

[Limitool]

Can you do up a rough overhead sketch marking all the areas you are describing? I think it would help everyone get an even better picture of how it is all laid out.

DocBeav. I'm assuming you mean concerning Cave # 25 picture and tunnel description. The drawing attempts to show top view of what I'm trying to figure out. After I squeezed through rock crack and continued back for just a short ways further I came upon to my right where "another" tunnel started to go back into wall. Then I though... that at one time this was a "complete" tunnel from one area of cave to another. And (I'm really guessing here)... it really looks manmade. But why would anyone be this far back... in this cramped environment... in a shallow COLD spring water bed... DOING WHAT!!!

Cave #34 I was hoping for a mineral expert that might be able to explain what all the layers are. And I'd like to know why while going around "horseshoe" bend the rock is so dark at the lower part below the shelf that is present. Cave #24 shows an example but others do also around "horseshoe bend".

 

[DocBeav]

Thanks for the sketch! I was actually talking about an overview of everything you have explored so far in the same sort of format. Great drawing, really does help to see it like that. Not sure either or purpose if it was excavated by humans. Could it be a cold storage place for food if people stayed in the cave for longer periods of time? Or would it just be to difficult to get to for that? Or difficult now but maybe not in the past....

 

[Limitool]

Thanks for the sketch! I was actually talking about an overview of everything you have explored so far in the same sort of format. Great drawing, really does help to see it like that. Not sure either or purpose if it was excavated by humans. Could it be a cold storage place for food if people stayed in the cave for longer periods of time? Or would it just be to difficult to get to for that? Or difficult now but maybe not in the past....

Cold storage?? Naw (so says I). Difficult to get to?... OH YEA. What this means is you don't just "walk on back" to this "frig" like at home. After, going around "horseshoe" bend which is not real far into the cave the ceiling starts to lower quickly. The cave stays wide here but low. The cave floor has gravel and cold spring water flowing out toward entrance. To get back to Cave #25 picture you have to belly crawl in spring water at times, or move on hands / knees and/or duck walk where you can at times.... but you will NOT stand again to get to this point (Cave #25). It's hard to imagine ancients or native Indians getting to this spot using torches. Though it would be possible... but why? I can't say. But squeezing through that rock crack with a torch... I don't see how. Now it's very obvious up front ancients/Indians utilized it, where you can stand, move all over, have a fire and sleep in many places. I could do a sketch but it won't be "real accurate" or scaled... I'll attempt today and post later. I'll try and put photo #'s on map. Mr. Huntsman53 (Frank) and I have plans to start Monday morning if everything works out. At that time we'll try and develop a more accurate map and pin new photo #'s at related spots then. Hopefully we can get a video worthy of posting but it is a hostile environment after going back a ways.

 

[Limitool]

Thanks for the sketch! I was actually talking about an overview of everything you have explored so far in the same sort of format. Great drawing, really does help to see it like that. Not sure either or purpose if it was excavated by humans. Could it be a cold storage place for food if people stayed in the cave for longer periods of time? Or would it just be to difficult to get to for that? Or difficult now but maybe not in the past....

Ok DocBeav... I tried to do the 1st 100 yards. I reviewed the pictures I posted earlier and did the best I could. Only the pictures I knew that were within this range (1st 100 yds.) were plotted on sketch. I believe I'm 95% correct. Remember some of these pictures were looking back toward entrance and some looking inward. I admit this is a very crude map and maybe hard to "follow". I never tried and/or thought about doing this before. Now I want to... when Frank and I go back next week (if plans hold up).