On Sunday Robert went back to Cooters Last Stand to work, he had a video crew for the day. The rest of us had a lazy morning at the cabin and then I decided to brave driving down the rut filled mountain to take us to Luray Caverns.
The caverns are located in the Shenadoah Valley. The cavern was discovered in 1878. Andrew Campbell felt cold air rushing out of a limestone sinkhole atop a big hill West of Luray. The hole was a size of a quarter and the air blew out a candle! Campbell and a few friends and his 13 yr old nephew spent a couple hours digging away loose rock and had the discovery of the caverns. The cave is still active, developing deposits that accumulate at the rate of one cubic inch in 120 years.
Stalactites (hold tight from the ceiling), and stalagmites (grow up from the floor) often come together and form columns or pillars.
We walked the 1.5 mile trail they have made in the caverns.
The Great Stalacpipe Organ is in the cathedral section of the cavern. It is the worlds largest musical instrument covering 3 1/2 acres of the caverns. It took 3 years to select the right
stalacties to precisely match a musical scale. Electronic mallets were wired throughout the caverns and connected to a large four manual console. When a key is depressed a tone is played as the rubber tipped plunger strikes the stalactite. The organ can be played manually, but also plays automatically every hour (or every tour)
This is a wishing well in the cave. Once a year the coins are removed, cleaned and deposited. They still do count the coins by hand as tradition dictates. This wishing well raises $100-200,000 each year. They also have the Counties Veterans memorial in the caverns as it is the most visited place in the area.
It is super hard to get good pictures (with an iPhone) in a cave, so I recommend you go experience this for yourselves. It was amazing.
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