Melrose Caverns, Harrisonburg, Virginia (part 1)

Melrose Caverns, located just north of Harrisonburg, VA is a former show cave (mid-1900s) that is being restored by cavers at the request of the owners.  It is a win-win, as cavers get to go caving and study an interesting cave while the owners get a lot of free labor to restore the cave (a mile of electrical cable has been removed from the cave, along with many bags of stuff left in the cave either from the former commercialization or just folks who littered the cave).

Having just been there this past weekend, it looks amazing.  The cave is getting into great shape, history is being documented, and the cavers are doing one awesome job of things.

But lots more to do, and for my part I took a few pictures.  Nothing amazing, I was mostly just mostly taking macro shots,

So this is part 1 of Melrose Caverns

The road in with the sun

The road in, in a more geometrically pleasing artistic sorta photo.

So let's look upstream from the bridge.

And now downstream from the bridge

And then you are at the lodge, which is awesome.

And then you go in the cave..

So, some fungus with some condensation. Really, this is interesting stuff, but pretty likely not something I will figure out.

This photo isn't so clear, so an explanation. These are all crystal needles in a bit of a mesh. Selenite? Aragonite? I have no clue. They are very modern as right on the main cave trail but a bit to the side.

Another look at the needles

Also near the entrance are a number of bones. Most seem like raccoon and opossum. A pic of a canine and and molar.

More bones, lots of bones.

Spider covered in condensation. Looks like something in the Meta genus, but really hard to tell.

And a spider with condensation on all the webs. No clue what this spider is, but might find out in the future.

A black rat snake was hibernating in the cave ceiling.

And finally for today, a tri-colored bat (Perimyotis subflavus), formerly known as the eastern Pipistrelle.

More to come...