Rosie and Mr. Hawthorne Visit Skyline Caverns - Day 2.

Wednesday, after leaving Jamestown, we drove north to Front Royal, Virginia. On Thursday, we visited the Skyline Caverns. Walter Amos discovered the caverns in 1937. He was contracted by private and government agencies to locate caves and caverns in the area to open in conjunction with the opening of the Skyline Drive . Skyline Drive is a 105-mile road starting at Front Royal, Virginia, and ending at Rockfish Gap, the southern terminus. It runs the entire length of the National Park Service's Shenandoah National Park along the mountain ridges. Of course I'll be posting pictures taken from the Skyline Drive in a future post. Back to Amos, while searching for caves, he came across what is now the current parking lot of the caverns which was in the shape of a sinkhole. Generally, sinkholes are created when the roof of a cavern collapses, taking the ground above with it. Amos began searching for possible entries to the cave when he discovered camel crickets under a ledge. Camel crickets only live in damp, dark environments. Amos found an entry and dug out the first "room" of the cavern then found a system of connected rooms.

This is our knowledgeable guide who gave Mr. Hawthorne and me a private tour.

The temperature in the caverns remains at 54 degrees year round.

The deepest area is about 200 feet below ground.

This is the reflecting pool.

When Amos discovered the caverns, there was about 13 inches of mud on the floor which had to be cleaned up before opening the caverns to the public. During this cleaning, Amos discovered another area in the caverns which had been in a vacuum. After cleaning these new areas, Amos discovered Anthodites, a rare form of crystal not found in many other places since, and believed to grow in vacuums. Also known as "Orchids of the Mineral Kingdom," anthodites grow in clusters, about 1 inch every 7000 years. The largest deposit of anthodites is in Skyline caverns.

These are anthodites.

More anthodites protected by wire mesh.

This was the first time I had ever been in a cavern and it was impressive. If you ever get a chance to go, do it.