Spelunking with My Nephew

I spent a day with my nephew Lukas and we went exploring two caves that are accessible to the public in upstate New York:  Howe Caverns and Secret Caverns .  Here are some pictures from our trip .  Howe Caverns is much more developed than Secret Caverns .  Howe Caverns has a brick path on the cave floor, while Secret Caverns has a much rougher floor .  In the pictures, most of the color comes from strategically placed colored lights .  The natural colors of the formations range from white to tan to black with rose hues in some places.

 

 The Tour Guide with my Nephew Lukas

 Stalagmites and Stalactites in Howe Caverns
Stalagmites grow from the ground;  stalactites grow from the ceiling.

 

 The Pipe Organ in Howe Caverns
The tour guide hummed into a formation on the cave wall opposite this formation and it sounded like a pipe organ playing!

 

The Bridal Altar in Howe Caverns
The heart is a piece of calcite cut in the shape of a heart and lit from below.
Quite a few couples have been married here.

 

 The Old Witch in Howe Caverns
See if you can see the face of a Witch in this rock.
The tour guide pointed out three different ways to see the witch.

 

Flowstone and Stalactites in Secret Caverns 

 

 The Elephant’s Foot in Secret Caverns
Lukas has just passed the Elephant’s Foot.