After loading some snacks, Mr Inderpal Bakshi packed us in his luxary car to start the journey of two hours each way to Luray, Virginia. The journey at this time of the year was fantastic, the fall had started to show its color. Mr and Mrs Bakshi took a day off from their well established business and seemingly glad to accompany us to show us around. They have been here 4-5 times earlier. Our niece Neha Butta Pania had zeroed down on her opinion to recommend this sight seeing. Out of many sights under considerations, she was sure that we would love this the best. She proved it to be right.
Luray Caverns, that was originally called Luray Curve, is a large, celebrated commercial cave just west of Luray, Virginia, USA, which has drawn many visitors since its discovery in 1878. The underground cavern system is generously adorned with speleothems (columns, mud flows, stalactites,stalagmites, flowstone, mirrored pools, etc.). The caverns are perhaps best known for the Great Stalacpipe Organ, a lithophone made from solenoid fired strikers that tap stalactites of various sizes to produce tones similar to those of xylophones, tuning forks, or bells.
Hearty Laugh
Mr And Mrs Bakshi are such a great host, even brought so much from home
Luray Caverns was discovered on August 13, 1878 by five local men, including Andrew J. Campbell (a local tinsmith), his 13-year-old nephew Quint, and local photographer Benton Stebbins. Their attention had been attracted by a protruding limestone outcrop and by a nearby sinkhole noted to have cool air issuing from it. Seeking an underground cavern, the men started to dig and, about 4 hours later, a hole was created for the smallest men (Andrew and Quint) to squeeze through, slide down a rope and explore by candlelight. The first column they saw was named the Washington Column, in honor of the first United States President. Upon entering the area called Skeleton's Gorge, bone fragments (among other artifacts) were found embedded in calcite. Other traces of previous human occupation included pieces of charcoal, flint, and human bone fragments embedded in stalagmite. A skeleton, thought to be that of a Native American girl, found in one of the chasms, was estimated, from the current rate of stalagmitic growth, to be not more than 500 years old. Her remains may have slipped into the caverns after her burial hole collapsed due to a sinkhole, although the real cause is unknown.
Harvinder listening carefully to our guide
The path that goes through Luray Caverns starts at the entrance. Next it curves throughout the caverns until you reach Dream Lake. Then it goes in circles downwards until it reaches Saracen's Tent. It goes right to The Great Stalacpipe Organ where it goes next to some big stalactites and stalagmites. Last, it goes to the Wishing Well and goes to a sign where they honor veterans who come from Page County and it climbs out through a small passage where you see the "Fried Eggs" rock formation. At last, it goes out through a smaller passage to the entrance. The entire trek is 1.5 mi (2.4 km) long and takes around 45 minutes to 1 hour to finish the journey
Wish Well
List of Donations
statacities Stalagmites and columns
Clear ware water hardly visible, reflections make the difference.
Best Reflection, it was difficult to observe with naked eye
After the water had been mostly removed by a lowering in the water table, these eroded forms remained and growth began to take hold via stalactites, stalagmites, columns, etc. Some notable formations include the Leaning Column, undermined and tilting like the campanile of Pisa; the Organ, a large shield formation, that was used from very early on as an instrument to a variety of folk and religious songs (see The Great Stalacpipe Organ); and a vast bed of disintegrated carbonates left by the water in its retreat through the great space called the Elfin Ramble.
The cavern is yellow, brown or red because of water, chemicals and minerals. The new stalactites growing from the old, and made of hard carbonates that had already once been used, are usually white as snow though often pink or amber-colored. The Empress Column is a stalagmite 35 feet (11 m) high, rose-colored, and elaborately draped. The Double Column, named from Professors Henry and Baird, is made of two fluted pillars side by side, the one 25 ft (7.6 m) the other 60 feet (18 m) high, a mass of snowy alabaster. Several stalactites in Giant's Hall exceed 5 feet (1.5 m) in length. The Pluto's Ghost, a pillar, is a ghostly white.
The cascades are formations like foaming cataracts caught in mid-air and transformed into milk-white or amber alabaster. Brands Cascade, a particularly fine one, is 40 feet (12 m) high and 30 feet (9.1 m) wide, and is a wax-like white.
Draperies are abundant throughout the cavern and one of the best examples is Saracen's Tent. The drapery formation can be found in all major rooms and ring like bells when struck heavily by the hand. Their origin and also that of certain so-called scarfs and blankets is from carbonates deposited by water trickling down a sloping and corrugated surface. Sixteen of these alabaster scarfs hang side by side in Hoveys Balcony, three white and fine as crape shawls, thirteen striated like agate with every possible shade of brown.
Streams and true springs are absent, but there are hundreds of basins, varying from 1 to 50 feet (15 m) in diameter, and from 6 inches (150 mm) to 15 feet (4.6 m) in depth. The water in them contains carbonate oflime, which often forms concretions, called pearls, eggs, and snowballs, according to their size. On the fracture these spherical growths are found to be radiated in structure.
Calcite crystals line the sides and bottom of water-filled cavities. Variations of level at different periods are marked by rings, ridges and ruffled margins. These are strongly marked about Broaddus Lake and the curved ramparts of the Castles on the Rhine. Here also are polished stalagmites, a rich buff slashed with white, and others, like huge mushrooms, with a velvety coat of red, purple or olive-tinted crystals. In some of the smaller basins with an excess of carbonic acid, there is formed, besides the crystal bed below, a film above, shot like a sheet of ice across the surface. One pool 12 feet (3.7 m) wide is thus covered so as to show but a third of its surface.
The quantity of water in the cavern varies greatly at different seasons. Hence some stalactites have their tips under water long enough to allow tassels of crystals to grow on them, which, in a drier season, are again coated over with stalactitic matter; and thus singular distortions are occasioned. Contiguous stalactites are often inwrapped thus until they assume an almost globular form, through which by making a section the primary tubes appear. Contorted stalactites may be caused by lateral outgrowths of crystals growing from the side of an active stalactite, or to deflections caused by currents of air, or to the existence of a diminutive fungus peculiar to the locality and designated from its habitat Mucor Stalacities.
The dimensions of the chambers included in Luray Caverns cannot be easily stated, due to the great irregularity of their outlines. There are several tiers of galleries, and the vertical depth from the highest to the lowest is 260 feet (79 m).There is a spring of water called Dream Lake that has an almost mirror-like appearance. Stalactites are reflected in the water making them appear to be stalagmites. This illusion is often so convincing that people are unable to see the real bottom. It looks quite deep, as the stalactites are higher above the water, but at its deepest point the water is only around 20 inches deep.
We had excellent custom made local Pizza and Salad before making our journey back.
We enjoyed the trip. our thanks are due not only to Bakshis but to my niece Neha too who strongly recommended to visit this place
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