Today we went to The Lost Sea, America's largest underground lake! It was a neat field trip! Jacob got to go this summer with a friend, but it was mine and Mattie's first time.
We started our 1 1/2 hour tour by walking down this long tunnel.
We went on a boat ride as well! The surface of the lake is 100 feet below the ground and the water is 70 feet at its deepest. Right now it's also 10 feet below its normal depth because of the drought we had a couple of years ago. The lake covers 4.5 acres!
They stocked the lake with rainbow trout to see if they would discover a way out. (See the fish in the middle of the picture?) They never did and are still there! A few random things we learned today... rainbow trout lose their color when they are not exposed to the sunlight! And they cannot reproduce in water that is not flowing (like a stream). I'm sure Robert already knew that, but it was new to me!
Mattie and Jacob enjoyed the boat ride!
Jacob told Mattie yesterday that The Lost Sea was dark, so she wanted to stay home. (She's pretty afraid of the dark.) But she had a great time! She even survived (albeit anxiously) when they turned out the lights and it was pitch black for a couple of minutes.
Did you know that if you are not exposed to light for two weeks you will go blind? Even if your eyes are closed! Another interesting fact we learned today!
A tried and true Tennessee moonshine still.
This is called Crystal Falls, if I remember right, though I'm not certain I do! Anyway, it is pure water that feeds the drinking fountain in their lobby! You can also see on the sides of the cave the green copper. This was in quite a few places on the walls of the cave.
These next four are no flash, non-edited photos I got.
I remembered to ask about the trick to remember the difference between stalactites and stalagmites. We learned two:
1) Stalactites hang TIGHT to the ceiling, leaving stalagmites to be the other ones. :)
2) "Stalagmites" has a G for GROUND and "stalactites" has a C for CEILING.
At least now I have them documented here so I can come back and find them when I forget!
We started our 1 1/2 hour tour by walking down this long tunnel.
We went on a boat ride as well! The surface of the lake is 100 feet below the ground and the water is 70 feet at its deepest. Right now it's also 10 feet below its normal depth because of the drought we had a couple of years ago. The lake covers 4.5 acres!
They stocked the lake with rainbow trout to see if they would discover a way out. (See the fish in the middle of the picture?) They never did and are still there! A few random things we learned today... rainbow trout lose their color when they are not exposed to the sunlight! And they cannot reproduce in water that is not flowing (like a stream). I'm sure Robert already knew that, but it was new to me!
Mattie and Jacob enjoyed the boat ride!
Jacob told Mattie yesterday that The Lost Sea was dark, so she wanted to stay home. (She's pretty afraid of the dark.) But she had a great time! She even survived (albeit anxiously) when they turned out the lights and it was pitch black for a couple of minutes.
Did you know that if you are not exposed to light for two weeks you will go blind? Even if your eyes are closed! Another interesting fact we learned today!
A tried and true Tennessee moonshine still.
This is called Crystal Falls, if I remember right, though I'm not certain I do! Anyway, it is pure water that feeds the drinking fountain in their lobby! You can also see on the sides of the cave the green copper. This was in quite a few places on the walls of the cave.
These next four are no flash, non-edited photos I got.
I remembered to ask about the trick to remember the difference between stalactites and stalagmites. We learned two:
1) Stalactites hang TIGHT to the ceiling, leaving stalagmites to be the other ones. :)
2) "Stalagmites" has a G for GROUND and "stalactites" has a C for CEILING.
At least now I have them documented here so I can come back and find them when I forget!
3 comments:
The pics came out great!
Looks like a really fun trip! And of course, I love the pics! mom
This looks like so much fun! I would love to take my kids there!
Blessings
Leslie
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