A mere fifteen minutes drive from our office here in Knoxville, Tennessee. I never thought such a nice cave can be so accessible from the city. Under what seems like a small hill with a good measure of trees, is the Cherokee Caverns. We were greeted near the entrance by Cheryl and James, our guides to my very first visit to a cave. Helmet and flashlight in tow, and together with my fellow spelunkers Mabel and Bill, we headed to the mouth of the cave.

The first thing we noticed was the decrease in temperature. Cheryl told us that the cave maintains a temperature of 56F (13.3C) all year round. And I thought, that’s why this was such a great place for the ancient people to live in – a naturally occurring place with air-conditioning built in. As we walk deeper in the cave, we came across beautiful stalactite and stalagmite formations, some even resembling something in real life. We encountered what looks like a gorilla, face of a  man, and the very cool formation resembling the Capitol. While we were marveling at the beauty of it all, James gave us the background history of the cave. From how the cave was formed eons ago, up to the last dwellers of the cave.

The cave has many chambers that can only be accessed by crawling and climbing. We explored the chambers crawling our way into different muddy passages. After a while, I became all muddy but my spirit was never let down. In fact, it all adds up to the thrill of it. I can’t help but feel a sense of fulfillment whenever I see myself all dirty.

We stopped for a rest in one of the chambers big enough for us to stand upright. Cheryl told us to turn off our lights so as to help our eyes get acclimatized with the ambient light. Little did we know that we’re in for a surprise, it was pitch black. In that unlit place, the world opened up. We talked about how the bats make this cave their  home, different species of bats and how to deal with them in this kind of place. Hearing these things, I became more at ease in this cold and dark place. I took comfort in the fact that in the darkness I knew I have friends.  We turned on our flashlights and crawled and walk back to the entrance of the cave, our spelunking is complete.

Looking back at the cave, I thought to myself. From a distance  the cave constitutes a simple concrete entrance. Up close, the cave inspires geological stories so profound that you’ll be temporarily rendered speechless.