# Who Has Never Been in a Cave? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 17, 2008, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-never-been-in-a-cave/433923 "2008-01-17T20:06:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5daacb/32.png) [@Tikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tikki)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2008, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-never-been-in-a-cave/433923/1 "2008-01-17T20:06:12Z")
In keeping with the Who Has Never Seen the Desert/Prairie/Ocean threads, who has never been in a cave? I’ve seen a few in the high basaltic cliffs in eastern Washington but, alas, have never gotten the chance to explore one there (they’re inaccessible unless your _really_ into rock climbing) or elsewhere. I’d love to someday though. I think it would be a very exciting experience. ---
**Author:** ![Sal\_Ammoniac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2008, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-never-been-in-a-cave/433923/2 "2008-01-17T20:26:49Z")
All right, I seem to be committed to posting in all of these. So… not me. That is to say, yes, I have been in a cave – Mammoth Cave, plus a couple of others. ---
**Author:** ![Lionne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Lionne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lionne)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2008, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-never-been-in-a-cave/433923/3 "2008-01-17T20:35:07Z")
I’ve never been in a real cave. I’ve never gotten the opportunity, and the idea doesn’t really thrill me. ---
**Author:** ![Kumquat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f04885/32.png) [@Kumquat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kumquat)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2008, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-never-been-in-a-cave/433923/4 "2008-01-17T20:41:28Z")
I’ve never been in a cave, but would love to give spelunking a shot. I do have a slight fear of discovering a group of disfigured, flesh eating zombie humanoids, but I’ve never been one to back down from adventure. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2008, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-never-been-in-a-cave/433923/5 "2008-01-17T20:50:33Z")
[QUOTE=Kumquat] I’ve never been in a cave, but would love to give spelunking a shot. I do have a slight fear of discovering a group of disfigured, flesh eating zombie humanoids, but I’ve never been one to back down from adventure. 😉 [/QUOTE] Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico offers a couple 4 hour spelunking tours guided by park rangers. You get a helmet and do lots of crawling and scrambling and get very dirty. The formations are BEAUTIFUL! You also don’t need to be an experienced climber or anything, but you should be reasonably fit (say fit enough to be able to hike for a couple hours.) It’s only $20 per person. Mammoth Cave in Kentucky offers similar tours. As do a few places in Texas. Prices vary. National parks with caves usually have tours with boradwalks and paved trails so even folks with mobility issues can go on easy tours. I have yet to get a chance to fight with the disfigured, flesh-eating zombie humanoids though. I must go in the wrong season. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2008, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-never-been-in-a-cave/433923/6 "2008-01-17T20:52:46Z")
A number of dissolution type caves like Carlsbad and Longhorn, a couple in Arkansas and the Appalachians, a number of ore and salt mines, several caves (lava tubes) from volcanoes in Arizona and Hawaii, critter caves (bear) in Colorado and Alaska, snow and ice caves… ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2008, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-never-been-in-a-cave/433923/7 "2008-01-17T21:01:38Z")
I’ve been in several caves, I like caves. I live near and have swam in the Atlantic, I lived near and swam in the Pacific, I even swam in Lake Michigan, my boat went through the Indian Ocean. I have driven through the desert and the prairie. I have been in the Rockies. I have been in castles, many castles, mainly in Scotland. I have seen Loch Ness, I visited Findhorn. I was briefly in London. I have visited NYC, LA, Chicago, New Orleans, St Louis, Cincinnati, Minneapolis, Philly, San Francisco, San Diego, Vancouver, Indianapolis, DC, Baltimore, Orlando, Tampa, Denver & many other smaller cities. I have been to Hong Kong, Bangkok, Pusan, Honolulu and a few others. I have sailed large boats and small. I crewed on an Aircraft Carrier. I even landed on and flew off the carrier. I have also sunk in a boat. I was once underwater, but only for 20 minutes in 1986. I have been to the top of the Empire State Building, World Trade Centers, RCA building & Sears towers. I have also been far below Manhattan in a scary looking electrical room with leaking steam pipes and a raw sewage smell. I think I have anticipated most of the upcoming related threads, so I will be able to link back to here. 😉 Jim ETA: I have ridden a Bike and seen the sky. Hell, I even saw a purple haze once. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2008, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-never-been-in-a-cave/433923/8 "2008-01-17T21:08:10Z")
[QUOTE=Tikki] In keeping with the Who Has Never Seen the Desert/Prairie/Ocean threads, who has never been in a cave? I’ve seen a few in the high basaltic cliffs in eastern Washington but, alas, have never gotten the chance to explore one there (they’re inaccessible unless your _really_ into rock climbing) or elsewhere. I’d love to someday though. I think it would be a very exciting experience. [/QUOTE] You can stay in Western Washington and explore the [Ape Cave](http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/MSH/NatMonument/PointsInterest/ape_cave.html). I’ve been through it a couple times, back when I was a teenager and still lived in SW Washington. Bring a gas (Coleman, or similar) lantern along - a flashlight isn’t going to do you any good in there. > [@Kumquat](#): > > I do have a slight fear of discovering a group of disfigured, flesh eating zombie humanoids, but I’ve never been one to back down from adventure. It’s not the undead you need to worry about in caves. It’s the various oozes, such as the black pudding, the gelatinous cube, the gray ooze, and the ochre jelly. Also of concern are the assorted dangerous fungi. And don’t forget the drow and duergar. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![tremorviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@tremorviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tremorviolet)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2008, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-never-been-in-a-cave/433923/9 "2008-01-17T21:36:10Z")
Not only I have been in a cave, I saw a screening of the _Goonies_ in Longhorn Caverns (and met Corey Feldman). Envy me. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sal\_Ammoniac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2008, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-never-been-in-a-cave/433923/10 "2008-01-17T22:05:39Z")
[QUOTE=What Exit?] I have visited NYC, LA, Chicago, New Orleans, St Louis, Cincinnati, Minneapolis, Philly, San Francisco, San Diego, Vancouver, Indianapolis, DC, Baltimore, Orlando, Tampa, Denver & many other smaller cities. [/QUOTE] All right, so why have you never been to Boston? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2008, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-never-been-in-a-cave/433923/11 "2008-01-18T02:45:24Z")
[QUOTE=Sal Ammoniac] All right, so why have you never been to Boston? [/QUOTE] I know, its weird as I have been as close as Framingham & Wakefield just north of Boston. I’m suppose to be back up their in April, I might try to get to Fenway this time. ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Clanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@Small\_Clanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Clanger)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2008, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-never-been-in-a-cave/433923/12 "2008-01-18T11:04:49Z")
Not me either, been to [Chislehurst Caves](http://www.kentattractions.co.uk/Chislehurst_caves.htm) in Kent. Supplied the sound system for a gig by (as far as we could make out) a satanist\* rock band. As caves go they are pretty civilised, at least the bits they hire out for partys, no crawling around or wearing of hard hats. - They were much nicer people than the Nazis\*\*. \*\* The Nazis weren’t in the cave with the statanists, that was a different gig. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2008, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-never-been-in-a-cave/433923/13 "2008-01-18T12:07:50Z")
I have never been in any cave of any size or degree of fame. No desire to either. I have been into a _cove_, if that counts. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2008, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-never-been-in-a-cave/433923/14 "2008-01-18T12:35:21Z")
[QUOTE=What Exit?] I’ve been in several caves, I like caves. I live near and have swam in the Atlantic, I lived near and swam in the Pacific, I even swam in Lake Michigan, my boat went through the Indian Ocean. I have driven through the desert and the prairie. I have been in the Rockies. I have been in castles, many castles, mainly in Scotland. I have seen Loch Ness, I visited Findhorn. I was briefly in London. I have visited NYC, LA, Chicago, New Orleans, St Louis, Cincinnati, Minneapolis, Philly, San Francisco, San Diego, Vancouver, Indianapolis, DC, Baltimore, Orlando, Tampa, Denver & many other smaller cities. I have been to Hong Kong, Bangkok, Pusan, Honolulu and a few others. I have sailed large boats and small. I crewed on an Aircraft Carrier. I even landed on and flew off the carrier. I have also sunk in a boat. I was once underwater, but only for 20 minutes in 1986. I have been to the top of the Empire State Building, World Trade Centers, RCA building & Sears towers. I have also been far below Manhattan in a scary looking electrical room with leaking steam pipes and a raw sewage smell. I think I have anticipated most of the upcoming related threads, so I will be able to link back to here. 😉 Jim ETA: I have ridden a Bike and seen the sky. Hell, I even saw a purple haze once. [/QUOTE] Have you ever been to you, though? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2008, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-never-been-in-a-cave/433923/15 "2008-01-18T13:39:30Z")
[QUOTE=Struan] Have you ever been to you, though? [/QUOTE] I just don’t get the reference. Jim (Damn that whistling noise again, I must have a problem with my ears. ) ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2008, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-never-been-in-a-cave/433923/16 "2008-01-18T16:28:59Z")
I’ve been in dozens of caves, commercial and “wild”, in Virgina and West Virginia. [This](http://www.psc-cavers.org/gangsta-mappers/bgallery.htm) is one of my favorites. My advice to anyone considering spelunking, go with someone experienced, it’s amazingly easy to get lost in a 3D underground environment where there are passages leading up, down, left right, diagonally, any which way. ---
**Author:** ![butler1850](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@butler1850](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butler1850)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2008, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-never-been-in-a-cave/433923/17 "2008-01-18T18:14:01Z")
[QUOTE=Sal Ammoniac] All right, so why have you never been to Boston? [/QUOTE] Probably his only sane decision. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![tremorviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@tremorviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tremorviolet)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2008, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-never-been-in-a-cave/433923/18 "2008-01-18T18:19:46Z")
[QUOTE=What Exit?] I just don’t get the reference. Jim (Damn that whistling noise again, I must have a problem with my ears. ) [/QUOTE] Oh, you’ve heard it, it was [Charlene’s](http://users.cis.net/sammy/charln.htm) big hit in the 70’s and is a kinda catchy but drippy easy listening tune. > [@](#): > > Oh, I’ve been to Georgia and California and anywhere I could run > I took the hand of a preacher man and we made love in the sun > But I ran out of places and friendly faces because I had to be free > I’ve been to paradise but I’ve never been to me Here’s [youtube video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezBWBf36724) if you want to hear it. ---
**Author:** ![percypercy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8baadc/32.png) [@percypercy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/percypercy)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2008, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-never-been-in-a-cave/433923/19 "2008-01-18T18:34:52Z")
I’ve been to [Cumberland Caverns](http://www.cumberlandcaverns.com/) in east Tennessee. At one point, our guides wanted to make a big point about just how dark it gets in the interior of a cave. They cut the lights and… I’m wearing these sneakers with glow-in-the-dark patches on them. It killed the moment a little, but it was amazing how well the shoes displayed. -Lil ---
**Author:** ![krisolov](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/krisolov/32/3724_2.png) [@krisolov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/krisolov)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2008, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-never-been-in-a-cave/433923/20 "2008-01-19T00:02:56Z")
Upstate New York is peppered with limestone caves, for those who would like to experience them. I went through a brief phase as an amateur spelunker when I was in my late teens. I’d recommend [Clarksville Cave;](http://www.necaveconservancy.org/preserves/clarksville_preserve.php) if you can schedule a trip with someone with equipment it’s worth it. [Howe Caverns](http://www.howecaverns.com/) is good if you want a more tame cave experience. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-never-been-in-a-cave/433923.md?page=2)