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grim_dark_hedgehog t1_j9r9pvl wrote

Cool photo, but I can’t tell if I’m looking up at a cave ceiling, down a shaft, or down a lateral tunnel.

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kgd6578 OP t1_j9rgrut wrote

I’m actually looking up from the floor of the cave!

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Purlofur t1_j9sl11h wrote

Honestly thought I was looking at r/lsd

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jarofasheesh t1_j9uorgg wrote

I read this as a sex joke and the the picture looks like a (kinda gross) vagina

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XYZZY_1002 t1_j9rmanf wrote

See Ruby Falls

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AstroStrat89 t1_j9t9ocp wrote

Don't forget Rock City!

When I was a kid in the late 70s early 80s we took many trips from South GA to Chicago. For me it was always fireworks and wanting to see Ruby Falls and Rock City. Never went to either but always came home with a haul of fireworks.

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XYZZY_1002 t1_j9tcefv wrote

Yeah, we'd beg my parents to let us stop at Chattanooga but no time. Finally, as an adult, my wife planned a trip for us to Chattanooga and I got to see Ruby Falls, Lookout Mountain, Rock City, and I finally got to Ride the Incline!

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mdchaney t1_j9u0o02 wrote

I recommend you visit them some day. Ruby Falls is a bit overdone - they have lights and all that to spice up the waterfall, but it's still one of those things that is just amazing to look at. Rock City is just a really nice garden with great views. There's also the Incline Railway, railroad museum, and a bunch of nice stuff in downtown Chattanooga. It's an old-school tourist trap, but the touristy stuff tends to be classy. We went there on vacation 45 years ago when I was a kid, and my wife and I still go there some since we're a couple of hours away (living in another tourist trap).

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dobeast442200 t1_j9r5zar wrote

Caves are weird. Imagine how many we haven’t even found

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InnovativeFarmer t1_j9resjv wrote

Caves are crazy. Humans have discovered caves so large that we dont even know how much of the cave system is unexplored. Caves are also scary. Like easy peasy death.

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CyberNinja23 t1_j9sn8dy wrote

And bats with undiscovered super diseases

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InnovativeFarmer t1_j9suw8h wrote

Bats are dangerous. Rabies is bad. You may not even know you got bite by a bat. Their bites don't normally hurt. Unless its one of those bigger bats.

There is probably just the normal diseases like Legionnaires disease and parasite like Giardia. But also just getting lost or stuck. I would probably get lost and die. Contracting a super disease would be cool if I made it out of the cave because af least I would be infamous for being the idiot that cause the new pandemic. History books eitjer way. Spelunking is dangerous for experts. I realized that their are quite a few activities that have a mortality rate for experts that makes it unacceptable for beginners.

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CleverDuck t1_j9tiq8b wrote

Most mammals can carry rabies, including those cute little stray kittens someone has rescued from the dumpster and is on the front page of reddit.

Bats get blamed, but they're also the second most numerous branch of mammals... so that's a pretty obviously numbers game. 🤷 Emergent diseases are typically out of tropical areas, too... and that's just "welcome to the tropics."

In North America, you're faaaar more likely to get permanently fucked up from a tick bite.

In the current era, Cavers are rarely interacting with bats when they're caving... because it's shitty to disturb wildlife. We know where they roost, and when they roost in given areas-- it's not rocket science. Not all caves have large colonies of bats.

Caving has far fewer injuries than most other "adventure sports," and faaaar fewer fatalities. You know what kills plenty of people? Skiing and scuba diving and whitewater.

Yes, caves can be extremely dangerous to people with zero basic experience (especially the drunk/high ones who only have handheld flashlights). But in my experience, it takes all of a year or so for the average person to become baseline competent at the activity in a recreational capacity.

Slip / trips are the single biggest cause of injuries in caves. We know because we thoroughly document these things in annual accident reports.

(:

Hope that helps clear up things. It's nice to not spread misinformation.

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mdchaney t1_j9u1jpe wrote

When I used to cave, it was amazing how far back in a cave bats would go. We'd hear those little wings flapping and they'd fly right by your head and do a little doppler effect thing as they went the other way.

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InnovativeFarmer t1_j9wg7wg wrote

We were talking about caves. Rabies came up. We werent talking facts at that point. Just talking some shit. But feral dogs and bats are the big ones to watch out for when it comes to rabies. Thats a fact for the whole world. Feral dogs are number 1 and bats are number 2 last time I checked. I know because I came in contact with a bat in an apartment in Worcester. It was the second time it happened at that address but I wasnt there the first time. One of my housemates was and she said animals control told them to check for small bites and if they had anything that looked like a bite to go to the hospital ASAP.

I also knew someone who took in a racoon thinking it would make a good pet and everyone at that house had to get rabies shots. Not fun and not cheap.

Just to be clear, we were just talking shit having fun on reddit (the most serious site on the internet) not spreading misinformation.

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CleverDuck t1_j9thdmv wrote

People very very rarely die in caves (at least in western countries, where caving is done recreationally).

And yes-- plenty of caves are unexplored because we don't know what we haven't discovered. 🙃 It's not like a mountain that can be seen in it's entirety from a distance.

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InnovativeFarmer t1_j9whpl3 wrote

We talking shit. The fact that people have died in caves and caves arent really were humans live means too many people have died in caves. If we still lived in caves than it wouldnt be a big deal for us to die in caves but we dont live in caves anymore.

There is someone in a skyscrapers somewhere in the world all the time. You would think with all the people who goes to skyscrapers there would be many famous instances of skyscraper deaths but its not a thing. There are famous cave deaths.

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mdchaney t1_j9u18x4 wrote

There's a story here. Ruby Falls is inside Lookout Mountain, and at the base of the mountain there's a big cave by the Tennessee River. Right now, it's beside the railroad tracks that run between I-24 and the mountain. The original plan was to build a shaft from up on the mountain to that lower cave so they could open it for tourism. They started drilling the shaft and barely nicked the cave where Ruby Falls is. I think the hole was about a foot in diameter. But air pressure differences made air blow out of it so they realized it was a sizable cave system. After exploring that cave and finding the waterfall they realized that was going to be the cave to tour. I think the elevator actually goes all the way to the other cave.

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phayke2 t1_j9qxvsc wrote

Well hey, hope you enjoy your time in Chattanooga!

I recommend Main St Meats for amazing burgers, Niedlovs for great affordable breakfast or lunch, the cat cafe and scooter tours.

Also check out the pinball museum and soda shop next door, both by the aquarium

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TheDeftEft t1_j9r326j wrote

How dare you neglect to mention Rock City and the Moon Pie General Store?

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phayke2 t1_j9r8w9e wrote

Ahhh as a native I forget about some of the more touristy options. I don't think I've been to rock city yet!

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TheDeftEft t1_j9r8z88 wrote

THE AQUARIUM?

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phayke2 t1_j9rb83u wrote

I mean yes I could recommend all the same 4 things everyone does.

I was more trying to share some lesser known favorites. Locals go to the touristy stuff maybe 1 or 2 times in their life and forget until they have kids or something.

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KarmaticIrony t1_j9sjgq5 wrote

Nah, the aquarium is a great way to relax when you're downtown. You're missing out if you only go once or twice and you're doing others a disservice by not mentioning it imo.

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phayke2 t1_j9xmxt5 wrote

That's like getting upset someone recommended some of their favorite local spots to person visiting NYC instead of talking more about the statue of liberty or time square.

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Panda_Kabob t1_j9qy8jn wrote

What about the Chattanooga Choo Choo?

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phayke2 t1_j9r09va wrote

Oh yeah, the hotel rooms in the trains sound fun, never really stayed there, they do have a Norman Reedus owned restaurant connected to the choochoo now that's pretty good the couple times I went. Pricey though

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Panda_Kabob t1_j9r0f65 wrote

I dunno man. My only knowledge of Chattanooga is the song. But man I sure love that song.

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pepitosde t1_j9scwcq wrote

Wait... You like burgers and you didn't mention tremont tavern? That makes me sad

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phayke2 t1_j9v04kg wrote

I was going to but I wasn't sure how many burger restaurants to recommend someone at the same time so I picked my favorite

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kgd6578 OP t1_j9qy1kk wrote

Actually visited last weekend but next time I’m in town I will definitely check those out! Thanks!

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XYZZY_1002 t1_j9rmj1m wrote

My brother and I would get yelled at by my mom every time we went through Chattanooga because we would sing “See Ruby Falls” to the tune of Carol of the Bells.

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galacticsugarhigh t1_j9ruj5u wrote

This made me laugh out loud! 😂 I’m imagining this and it’s pretty hilarious.

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mdchaney t1_j9u1ocv wrote

Bless you. And pray for my wife as you now know what every trip through Chattanooga will be like for her.

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XYZZY_1002 t1_j9u1uyo wrote

LOL, great. Another thing to answer for when my time cometh.

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mdchaney t1_j9uu5ln wrote

Just make sure you're in line behind me, it'll buy you some time.

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Lenel_Devel t1_j9sgc5l wrote

This is MY HOLE it was made for ME!

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concussive t1_j9tk0mf wrote

I’m surprised no one is mentioning that the falls is mostly dried up now and they use a pipe to pump water to the top for a tiny trickle of a waterfall. The pipe used to be covered by some fake rock wall but has begun falling off in recent years and no one cares enough to repair it.

It’s a real shame because it used to be such a cool experience as a kid but now when you get to the end you see the fake walls dangling off and an expose pipe. It’s turned into a really bad tourist trap in recent years.

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randomguide t1_j9uxflo wrote

It's a shame because it's such a neat place to make beautiful caves and a natural underground waterfall reasonably accessible* for people who aren't able or willing to go full on spelunking.

The pipes are there as backup for when there hasn't been much rain. (Or at least they were when they were first installed.) When we're in drought, they don't want to tell the tourists "the falls are dried up today, but the caves are still really cool!"

But when we've had tons of rain they have to close due to flooding. I've been there when we've had a lot of rain and the falls are absolutely gushing and the floor is getting quite wet and you start remembering just how far the walk back to the elevator is...

Also the caves really are cool.

*not disability accessible. Lots of uneven steps and wet ground.

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TheRootofSomeEvil t1_j9s2obl wrote

SEE RUBY FALLS. All along the interstate on family road trips I'd see this billboard. That and Stuckey's. We never went to see Ruby Falls.

Now, decades later, I have seen it!!

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AV_Neanderthal t1_j9sbitb wrote

“I’m ready to find a nice guy and settle down”

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itssampson t1_j9t9pjk wrote

Everything reminds me of her

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NBD_Pearen t1_j9s4np7 wrote

Yoooooo this cave thing better chill tf out

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oro12345 t1_j9s7yxo wrote

2 most interesting things to me were learning how long they crawled through a narrow space before it opened up to a big cabe with a waterfall within the mountain... something like 14 hours.

Then, learning how full of magnesium was. The tour guide said even a little bit would make you shit yourself

Then i started to think about the fact that if i had just found an underground waterfall, i would probably jump in if i didn't know any better..... then would've had to crawl out 14 hours the same way i came in....

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wdaloz t1_j9r5tq8 wrote

Nice! My friends family owns the nearby lost sea

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ljcrabtree t1_j9rsmbx wrote

I liked there as a kid and thought the falls really were red 😂 it’s such a cool area to grow up in and explore! All so beautiful!

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ChickenLongjumping56 t1_j9s0s4b wrote

Interesting cave reminds me of a my elementary school field trip in the 90's to mammoth cave in Colorado Springs Colorado so how deep is it and how many stalagmites and stalagtites have been found in this cave?

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dearmax t1_j9s629p wrote

I was there about 50 years ago.

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Aspy17 t1_j9siexw wrote

We're on the west end of a coast to coast RV trip. On our way across we saw Carlsbad Caverns. I am going to see if I can make Ruby Falls a stop on our return trip.

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lopedopenope t1_j9sjp2h wrote

It looks like mining equipment was going and just hit this open cavern and stopped.

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edgy_Juno t1_j9skbep wrote

I remember going here back in the summer of 2014. I was 8 years old at the time.

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toastibot t1_j9snf4r wrote

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Diffabuh t1_j9tbxsw wrote

Alternate title: Dwayne Johnson’s Ear

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NadaKlew t1_j9to3ea wrote

Everywhere I go, I see things that make me think of her.

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TheRealNap0le0n t1_j9tv1qu wrote

That place is cool, I went last year.

It was much busier than I anticipated and they had several large tours going at once. I would go again though

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james5011 t1_j9tywjq wrote

So my picture I took when I visited definitely didn’t look this good!

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PerfektNova t1_j9tzaft wrote

This pic is pretty great.

But if you're a earth porn enthusiasts, I recommend against Ruby Falls. It if full of stop here and watch a video, colored lights to make things look more exciting, and "once everyone is in to the falls room we'll start the light and music show". It is like going into a fake cave at Disney Land at this point.

A couple days before I was at Tuckaleechee Caverns and thoroughly enjoyed it. Maybe that tainted my trip to Ruby. But I'll definitely go back to Tuckaleechee and will never be returning to Ruby.

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Dudemancy t1_j9u95n8 wrote

Where’d you get this picture of my ex wife??

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Ampliphy t1_j9ucoxm wrote

Crazy, the only way to recognize this is if you’ve been there. It’s unforgettable.

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WallabyNo6033 t1_j9uib8l wrote

Fake falls... They pump it just like Rick City...

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mdave52 t1_j9uu7v7 wrote

THANK YOU! After countless years of seeing "see Ruby Falls" signs on the highway, I've finally seen it... or at least a pic of it.

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chrisacip t1_j9uw8rr wrote

r/dontputyourdickinthat

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mrcockboi69 t1_j9uxozp wrote

They used to do a haunted ‘cavern’ here and it was so fucking scary. Wish they would bring it back.

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olivefreak t1_j9v0nkj wrote

Are the guides still making the rock music joke? Like twenty years ago the guide asked everyone to place one ear against the rock and everyone did and then he asked if we could anything and then said it was rock music. I remember one lady pulled away from the wall laughing and yelling at him that she would get him for that one. 😆😆😆

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patbygeorge t1_j9v8fe0 wrote

I was sure this was going to be in r/slightlyvagina

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TheNumberMuncher t1_j9vb3w5 wrote

This looks like a sculpture of that pink cloud

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ceateddy t1_j9sfyi1 wrote

Someone took the name earth porn too seriously.

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MrFerry20 t1_j9sr567 wrote

....that's what she said

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bilowski t1_j9tadti wrote

Maude Lebowski:Does the female form make you uncomfortable, Mr. Lebowski? The Dude:Uh, is that what this is a picture of? Maude Lebowski:In a sense, yes. My art has been commended as being strongly vaginal which bothers some men. The word itself makes some men uncomfortable. Vagina.

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Shades228 t1_j9sjzlf wrote

r/dontputyourdickinthat

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The_Booz t1_j9sxoom wrote

You found mother earths vagina

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Potatosquid2330 t1_j9soxms wrote

Looks like a footprint of your mom.

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