2007-5 Telico Lake, Tennessee
Hello All,
It was a wonderful summer last week in East Tennessee with temperatures in the mid 80's. We snapped some photos looking across Lotterdale Cove on Tellico Lake where we are camped. This one with a redbud tree in the foreground is featured as the photo of the week.
It was a wonderful summer last week in East Tennessee with temperatures in the mid 80's. We snapped some photos looking across Lotterdale Cove on Tellico Lake where we are camped. This one with a redbud tree in the foreground is featured as the photo of the week.
However, the redbud trees are
mostly finished blooming and winter has returned!! A cold north wind is
blowing. Daytime temperatures have dropped to the low 40s and nighttime
temperatures are in the 20s. Saturday night the weatherman is forecasting a low
of 18! That will be the lowest temperature on record in this area for April.
And to top it off, it snowed yesterday! Some areas got as much as an inch on
the ground. It was warmer in Anchorage, Alaska, than Knoxville, TN. The TV
weatherman is full of good news. He just announced that it will be colder on
Easter Sunday than it was last Christmas day! We're sure our Alaska family and
friends are really feeling sorry for us--not!!
In spite of the cold weather we did manage a couple of road trips this week. One was back to The Great Smoky Mountains National Park to check on the rhododendrons. They are budding but not in bloom yet.
Our other road trip was to Sweetwater, TN, to visit the Lost Sea. The Lost Sea is a 4½-acre lake that is in a cavern 140' below the earth's surface. It is the largest underground lake in the USA. Once you reach the lake on your walking tour through the caverns, the guide takes you on a boat ride. We were amazed to see big rainbow trout in the lake. Most all of them are over 30 inches. They are not native to the lake. The lake was stocked and the fish were used to explore the underwater caverns. We are not quite sure how that feat was accomplished.
This was one of the few caverns that didn't affect "claustrophobic Dave." The cavern itself is huge with many large rooms. It's not confining at all. One large room has been discovered that is twice the size of the one holding the Lost Sea; however, it is completely full of water. You can only get to it by diving down to its underwater entrance in the Lost Sea. They used to allow scuba divers to go into the room but had to stop them since their trapped exhaust bubbles were damaging the roof of the room.
We found the Lost Sea to be very interesting and would recommend it for visiting. The Cherokee Indians used the caverns for council meetings and you can see where Confederate soldiers burned their names and dates on the walls with torches. Also, there are active anthodites (a Greek word meaning cave flower) found in the cave. Anthodites are rare and only found in a few caves in the world. Their crystals kind of remind us of brightly colored sea urchins. We are told they are composed of calcium-carbonate and grow approximately one inch every 7000 years.
Until next time,
Dave & Barb
The Traveling Browns
In spite of the cold weather we did manage a couple of road trips this week. One was back to The Great Smoky Mountains National Park to check on the rhododendrons. They are budding but not in bloom yet.
Our other road trip was to Sweetwater, TN, to visit the Lost Sea. The Lost Sea is a 4½-acre lake that is in a cavern 140' below the earth's surface. It is the largest underground lake in the USA. Once you reach the lake on your walking tour through the caverns, the guide takes you on a boat ride. We were amazed to see big rainbow trout in the lake. Most all of them are over 30 inches. They are not native to the lake. The lake was stocked and the fish were used to explore the underwater caverns. We are not quite sure how that feat was accomplished.
This was one of the few caverns that didn't affect "claustrophobic Dave." The cavern itself is huge with many large rooms. It's not confining at all. One large room has been discovered that is twice the size of the one holding the Lost Sea; however, it is completely full of water. You can only get to it by diving down to its underwater entrance in the Lost Sea. They used to allow scuba divers to go into the room but had to stop them since their trapped exhaust bubbles were damaging the roof of the room.
We found the Lost Sea to be very interesting and would recommend it for visiting. The Cherokee Indians used the caverns for council meetings and you can see where Confederate soldiers burned their names and dates on the walls with torches. Also, there are active anthodites (a Greek word meaning cave flower) found in the cave. Anthodites are rare and only found in a few caves in the world. Their crystals kind of remind us of brightly colored sea urchins. We are told they are composed of calcium-carbonate and grow approximately one inch every 7000 years.
Until next time,
Dave & Barb
The Traveling Browns