The exploration of that cave in Tennessee is described in great detail
in the new NSS book Blue Spring Cave. The book includes the first
couple of dives in the resurgence, but of course not most the recent
developments. paperback $38, with discounts for NSS members. Go to
nssbookstore.org.
My review of the book again:
Blue Spring Cave. Larry E. Matthews and Bill Walter. National
Speleological Society, Huntsville, Alabama; 2010. ISBN softbound
978-1-879961-36-4, hardbound 978-1-879961-37-1. 8.5 by 11 inches, 340
pages. Softbound $38 (NSS members $35), hardbound $55 (NSS members $50).
Blue Spring Cave, the longest in Tennessee with over thirty-five miles
of passages, is one of the few exciting finds in Tennessee since the
exploration of Cumberland Caverns back in the 1950s. Long known as
just a 500-foot cave, Blue Spring exploded after a tight, blowing
crawl was pushed and enlarged in 1989. Most of the major passages were
surveyed during the first half of the nineties, although work
continues, including making a new entrance in 2001. During all this
time, cavers enjoyed the hospitality and support of interested
landowner Lonnie Carr. The cave is mostly horizontal, although there's
a blind 150-foot pit located 4.7 miles from the entrance. Divers have
penetrated a significant distance into the resurgence spring, but have
not connected it to the cave so far.
As is the case with all the NSS books on the history of Tennessee
caves, the authors should really be considered editors, as most of the
text is quoted. In this case, there are some reports previously
published, but also a lot of new material written for the book by many
participants in the exploration. Sometimes more than one person has
written about the same trip, giving different perspectives. Almost
every page contains a large black-and-white photograph, generally well
printed. Most are very nice photos taken recently by Bob Biddix; some
by Elliot Stahl are also praiseworthy. There is a twenty-page section
of color photographs. I prefer the black-and-whites, because the color
balance in many of the color photos is suspicious. There is a small-
scale map of the cave spread over two pages, and a few detail maps. I
wish there'd been more of the latter and that more place names
mentioned in the text, including landmark station numbers, had been
put on them. The book ends with a glossary, a chronology, a gazetteer,
and an index.
It's nice to be able to recommend an NSS book without too many
reservations for a change.
—Bill Mixon
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A chicken is the egg's way of making another egg.
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