Chattanooga Choo Choo.
Mammoth Cave National Park is just above Nashville and their spring season starts today. Their cave tours are ranger lead and the one I really want to do is a spring tour during weekdays. So, I reserved a spot on the 9:45am Grand Avenue Tour for this coming Monday and have been killing time elsewhere ever since I left Nashville. I left Wednesday morning and headed for Chattanooga, TN. It's about two hours southeast of Nashville, but I figured I would come, see a little more of Tennessee and maybe take a hike or two. My overall experience of Chattanooga far outweighed my expectations.
I didn't know much about this city prior to arriving, just what my book told me; an outdoorsy place with a cool tourist spot called Lookout Mountain. By spending $50 you have access to the Incline Railroad, Ruby Falls, and Rock City. I questioned how touristy it really was. Driving down the highway I passed signs everywhere that said "see ruby falls" and "see rock city". Not just signs though, some were old barns with the words painted on the roof in giant, white, bold letters, like they wanted to make sure anyone flying overhead would see the advertisement and come running. I couldn't find a couch surfing host for Wednesday night so I grabbed a bed at the hostel. Which, by the way, if you ever come to Chattanooga you should stay in. It's the nicest hostel I've stayed at yet and incredibly popular so book in advance. The Crash Pad is situated downtown off Main Street, has a restaurant next door, and free parking out back. I was living like a queen with my own private cubby bunk bed and a full egg and toast breakfast waiting for me in the morning. I had to make it, but still. The last hostel I stayed at overcharged me, didn't have free parking, and only had tea and coffee. It's amazing the small luxuries you don't realize you miss until they're not there on a daily basis. I also learned that Chattanooga is a great place for bouldering. I don't know much about it, just the very basics, but one day I'd like to give it a shot. Before I headed out to meet up with my couch surfing host for the day, I met a couple from Philly. It was really refreshing to meet people from home. We talked about, no surprise here, the Eagles over our morning eggs.
After starting my day off right, I met up with Dax and we headed out for a caving adventure. I had literally no idea what I was walking into, what do I know about caving? Was this a great idea, going to a dark cave with a person I had just met with no cell phone service? Probably not. I trusted my gut and didn't have a bad feeling so I was cautiously optimistic, as I always am, and tucked my switchblade into the little pocket in the back of my workout pants, like I always do. After twenty minutes of driving we arrived in a residential neighborhood, pulled off the road, grabbed our gear, and headed for the rocky hillside marked "private property". I wasn't terribly worried, Dax had done this at least a dozen times. After an hour of searching and a little help from google, we found the entrance to Levi cave. Fun fact, if a cave is named then it's been explored and this particular cave was discovered in 1843. Caves like this typically have natural markers for where the openings are. In this case, we had to look for a rock formation with a hole in the center of it. Standing over the entryway, feeling the cool air whooshing up at me, I was surprised by how large the hole was. I pictured myself having to squeeze into a much smaller space and dropping down a lot farther. After getting dressed with helmets, headlights, gloves and kneepads, we descended into the darkness. The main entrance was a large room with stalactites (remember those?) hanging everywhere decorated with graffiti. Some people, I'm assuming teenagers not old enough to drink yet, come and hang in the entrance and tag it. Since they typically don't go much farther that was really where the bulk of the graffiti was. It's a shame to ruin such a beautiful environment. We spent about four hours exploring in that cave. It's very cold down there and at one point I could see my breath. I couldn't feel it though, my body was warm from climbing and I never needed to put my sweatshirt on. I brought my camera in for some of it until we got to the smallest hole I'd seen yet. I probably shouldn't have brought it since the best shot I got was of a salamander living down there, but oh well. Staring at what I thought had to be impossible, I wrapped my camera up in my sweatshirt, set it in a safe, dry place and attempted to fit through. I made it, it wasn't easy though. One arm outstretched above my head, I went in head first and turned to lay on my back, shimmying through while trying to keep my legs as straight as possible so I wouldn't get stuck. Mud covered everything, which helped in this situation, and the backdrop of dripping water filled the pure air. We were constantly sitting and sliding or crawling to keep our center of gravity lower. The "three points of contact" rule was always in effect. If you go too fast or aren't careful, it's easy to fall and slip to who knows where. The mud felt a lot like clay from pottery class after you've worked at it with wet hands for a while. Almost all of the formations were covered in it and a few were right under a constant drip so you could see what they really looked like. In the main room there was a coffee can at the top of a mountain of rocks with a small fireman's notebook and a pencil inside. The paper was old and in pretty good shape, signed by those who had come before. Dax said he once found a signature as far back as the 80s. I signed my name and dated it. Feeling accomplished, we headed back for the entrance/exit. Cavers who had come before had spray painted arrows throughout the tunnels to give you a sense of direction which was very much appreciated. Little tip - definitely don't try this at home and not without a buddy, it's easy to get lost in those caves if you're not careful. I thought we did for a moment and didn't go full on panic mode, but I did have to calm myself down at the thought.
Finally finding the exit into the hot sun and daylight, we stared down at how muddy we were. A restaurant was out of the question so we grabbed some Chick-fil-a and drove a few minutes farther to North Chickamauga Creek Gorge. Dax had been told that at the top of one of the trails was an old abandoned mine. Always up for another adventure, I was on board. My legs, however, were not. Note to self, don't go hiking after caving. We climbed and did some sightseeing up the side of the mountain. The waterfall cascaded all the way at the top where we were down to Montlake Blue Hole at the bottom, a popular swimming hole in the summer months. When we made it to the mine there wasn't much time to explore but we walked inside the entrance about thirthy feet only to find a few inches to a foot of water covering the rest of the paths. After snapping a few shots and admiring the view, we headed back to the car before nightfall.
With so much adventure in one day, I was happy to spend my second day here leisurely exploring downtown. The city is beautiful and incredibly bike friendly. I visited North Shore first, a small stretch of artist shops, boutiques, and a park along the river with a century old carousel for people to ride. The Walnut Street Bridge that connects North Shore to Riverfront is 2,376 feet across and Tennessee's longest pedestrian bridge. I strolled across it and discovered some breathtaking views. On the other side, Riverfront, is the aquarium, some small shops, and the Hunter Art Museum. The museum is a large, impressive building sitting atop the Bluff View Art District. Bluff View is one of the many neighborhoods in Chattanooga, this one is filled with sculptures in various places and overlooks of the city and bridges. I found so many interesting things while wandering around. Not just sculptures, but murals and street art are everywhere downtown as well. I also wandered into the Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel, a hotel dedicated to trains. Chattanooga's history is, after all, rooted in the railways. Old trains are on display and in use for dining behind the hotel. The original tracks still run through much of the property and the hotel was built in the original Terminal Station. The industrial city wasn't so much a destination as it was a connector to some of America's biggest cities. Railways are still a predominant part of the economy here today, even if they aren't the preferred method of travel.
What an awesome way to kill some time before Mammoth Cave National Park. I'm so glad I went a little out of the way for a lot of adventure.
- G.
The Photo:
The view from the North Shore.
Chattanooga, TN.
3/10/17.
