I Like Tunnels and Caves

Holes have always fascinated me and I dug a lot of them growing up. But tunnels and caves draw me to them for some reason, and I always approach with a mixture of curiosity and fear. Some are much worse than others.

One of my first experiences with a real cave was a visit to Luray Cavers in Virginia. My family visited my uncle in Newport News each summer and we took a day trip to the huge cave on one of them when I was about eight years old. It was amazing to see in person the stalactites and stalagmites I had studied in school.

The water dripping from the ceiling and flowing under the walkways drew my interest. I was looking for fish in the pools and streams and wondering if they allowed fishing in the cave. The guide said there were some small blind fish in some of the pools but I couldn’t fish for them.

Another trip to Virginia when I was about 14 introduced me to man made tunnels. We crossed the newly completed Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, driving across it, turning around and coming back. We stopped at the visitor’s center on one of the islands and got information on it.

I have to admit, although the tunnels and bridges were amazing, my attention was mainly focused on the fishing boats around them. Uncle Mahue had taken us fishing in the bay for spots, crocker and flounder and I really wanted to be on a boat trying to catch something. I was just sure the bridge pilings and riprap around the tunnels would hold lots of fish I could catch.

Linda and I took a driving tour back in the 1990s, leaving Griffin and driving north to Wisconsin where we turned left and drove to Wyoming. We turned left again, drove to New Mexico then made another left back to Griffin. We saw some amazing sights from the badlands to Yellowstone Park.

In Yellowstone Park I caught some cutthroat trout in the Yellowstone River downstream of the lake. We through we would never make it back from what was supposed to be a five mile hike that turned out to be 11 miles round trip, but that is another story.

In Colorado we kept seeing holes in the sides of the mountains and we would stop at some we could get to and look at the old silver mines. I wanted to go into them, but danger signs posted all around them scared me too much.

I did get to go into a silver mine. Linda and I pulled up at a tourist trap that offered tours of a mine. We got there just in time to buy tickets for the tour that was leaving in a few minutes and went to the mouth of the mine where folks were loading on a mine train.
This “train” was a small engine ahead of cars that were nothing but wheels on a track with a bench type seat down the middle. We got on the last car, straddled the seats and were told to keep our knees and elbows tucked near our bodies and our heads down.

I had not really had time to look at the tunnel or think about what was about to happen. As the guide started moving I looked ahead to a small opening about five feet high and four feet wide. As our car entered I quickly realized why we were warned to keep tucked in. If our knees or elbows extended out they would hit the wall on either side and I could have reached a foot above my head and touched the ceiling!

We were told we would ride about a quarter mile into the mountain, which did not seem very far but quickly became a nightmare. Before we were 100 feet into the tunnel I had a panic attack. I had never felt claustrophobia before but I swear I could feel the weight of the mountain on me.

There were a couple of overhead bare light bulbs near the mouth, but after we passed the second one it got totally dark. I looked back and saw a small point of light behind us and I almost got off and ran toward it. I started talking to Linda and that calmed me down.

At the end of the tunnel the working area of the mine opened up and it was interesting to hear about how the silver ore was mined. And the bigger, lit cavern was great after the tiny tunnel.

At Clarks Hill there is a tunnel that amazes me. Up one of the creeks a high ridge runs out in a rocky finger into the creek. In the cove beside it near the back the ridge rises about 100 feet at a steep angle. Right at the water line is a round three foot tunnel opening. You can’t see the end of it with a strong flashlight.

I have no idea if it is natural or man made. I can imagine civil war soldiers tunneling in and making a hiding place in the ridge. Or it could be an old gold mine, there are many in the area but all I have seen are open pit type mines. I have often wanted to crawl into the tunnel but it is so small I could not turn around in it so would have to back out, and it scares me too much to try it.

I found the tunnel while fishing for crappie and bass in the cove and have caught a lot there. I probably would catch more if I paid more attention to fishing than to the tunnel.

I will never be a spelunker but I will always be attracted to tunnels and caves. Especially if there is good fishing around them!