Well TNnet Folks,
I am sorry for the delay in posting! After the long drive, I had to recharge the batteries per see after I got back home and unloaded the truck. After that, I did some editing of some of the pics to enlarge and brighten them up and to sharpen the images.
First off, I want to say thanks to Brad for inviting me on this adventure and thank him and his' family for all of the hospitality that they afforded me, for the friendship and for the great food! Although I am not very partial to crawling around caves due to things that have happened in the past, Brad and Chelsea let me take my time to warm up to the idea of venturing beyond the entrance. To say the least it has been a learning experience and one that I will never forget!
I like most of who have read the Thread starter and followed all of the posts, was in awe of the possibility of a grand score (i.e. buried treasure) but under the misconception that the cave was/is much larger due to the pics posted. This misconception of the size of the cave was due to not really picking up on some of Brad's postings about what little space (i.e. roof to floor and wall to wall) there is to move around while duck walking in the first 40 yards or so, then crawling into and through what Brad appropiately calls the dugout (spot where someone dug out a portion of a mud wall a very long time ago to accomodate crawling through)(he also refers to it in the post with the latest pics as the mud wall). From viewing the pics, I never dreamed that crawling through to just beyond the dugout, would my' butt be scraping the roof of the cave! This is the area where I could go no further due to my' pelvis being out of place which causes extreme pain in my' left butt area and lower back. I could not draw my' left leg up to help push me along without severe pain. Although it took awhile, I was able to skirm and roll around and get back through the dugout to where I could sit bent over on a rock shelf along the stream.
After the long ride on the four wheeler, a treacherous downhill walk, slip and slide down one ridge to the bottom of the hollow, we then pawed and clawed our way up another ridge to the cave. After standing and sitting around discussing the cave, the many little holes (some of which contained frogs and lizards), the other possible entrance to a cave and them (Brad and Chelsea) giving me time to aclimate myself to the environment and to the thoughts of going any further, we finally pressed on after about 10 minutes had passed. We made our way into the recess of the cave at a slow stooping walk, then the duck walking started at about 30 yards or so into the cave. Just after this, at about 40 yards or so into the cave, is where we saw the first evidence that someone had been in the cave recently. They had used an entrenching tool or small mattock like digger to dig into the whitish covered mounds of dirt (actually dried mud) that almost had the appearance of whitish colored rock masses. Once I saw the diggings, it was pretty clear to me that whoever had entered the cave since Brad's last visit two weeks prior, had dug into the dirt mounds to see what their' true composition was and found that they were not whitish in color all the way through. Based on what I had seen in the pics that Brad had posted and others that Brad showed me Sunday morning before we traveled to the cave, I would have done the exact same thing! Due to the darkness in the cave, I could not see the expression on Brad's face when we discovered this but I could tell by the sound in his' voice and words, that the wind had been knocked out of him! To think that only a very few folks even knew that the cave even existed or it's whereabouts, then to find out that someone had not only found and entered it but also had been digging in it's interior, must have felt like a betrayal and also desecration of the cave to Brad. At least, whoever it was that had entered the cave recently, they did not tamper with or destroy the etchings in the hardened mud (*)! Now this is where I differ with Brad's statement in his last post "
Whoever it was did NOT TOUCH THE ETCHING and/or make it that far."! The etchings are just past the dugout area in the mud wall and before Chelsea crawled though this spot, I could clearly see where someone's shoes had left skid marks due to slipping as they tried to get through and across this dug out spot in the wall which has a slight rise in it. Therefore, I trully believe that the person or persons did make it through the dugout in the mud wall but how far past, we don't know. I am sure that Brad, in spite of my warnings, will venture back into the cave beyond this point and may discover evidence of how far this person or these persons made it back into the cave. Well, after Brad and Chelsea took quite a few pics of the etchings, Brad went back for the metal detector, shovel and small mattock. We metal detected the depression before and the area around the dug out in the wall and quite a few areas on our way back to the entrance of the cave but found nothing. It was very disheartening to say the least!
I don't plant to re-enter the cave as I know quite a bit about geology and rock formations and advised both Brad and Chelsea that the cave is pretty much a Limestone cave with possibly an underlament of Granite. Also, I advised them that the mud walls were formed from mud and water flowing heavily through the cave and the mud was pushed up almost to the cave walls, then it dried and was somewhat hardened and covered by Lime calcification drippings from the ceilings which colored it the whitish color. Considering that besides the stream flowing through the cave, another stream spills off and over the entrance of the cave, it is highly likely that the stream above the cave itself, may be flowing through rock formations only inches or a foot above portions of the cave's ceiling thus the drippage and Lime calcifications in some areas but dry in other areas. I advised Brad, that although the cave may have been around a long time in it's current state, eventually the water from above will erode enough of the ceilings to cause them to collapse. God forbid if Brad, Chelsea or even the trespassers are in the cave when this happens and I am sure it will happen! Maybe not anytime soon but someday it will!
Now, as far as the etchings are concerned and as Brad has already asked for help with. We could sure use some help in decipering the etchings! We both believe that they have a significant meaning but what that meaning is, we don't know! Besides the etching of what may be a tree or the branches of a creek and what almost looks like the letters "H", "L" and "R" which may or may not be letters at all, it appears that there are several more etchings less identifiable scattered amongst the etchings we noted. When all of these are deciphered and put together, they may paint a picture of some going-ons by early Native American Indians or maybe even a map per see to a hidden treasure. So, if anyone has any ideas or knowledge to the meanings of the noted and less identifiable etchings, please chime in as we need your help! I have posted some of the edited pics (enlarged, brightened and sharpened images) below, so please check them out carefully, especially
CavePic#7 through
Cavepic#11 (just move the cursor over the pics with your' mouse and it will show you the number), then left click on it to enlargen it, then click it again and it will open in another window even larger.
Thanks!
Frank
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