Alan Cressler, Myrna Attaway, John Attaway, Manuel Beers,

Attahike Shelter Cave, TN

The entrance to Attahike Shelter Cave is 70’ wide x 25’ high at an elevation of 1823’.  The cave formed in the Warren Point sandstone which often forms big cliffs in these parts.  The shale below is the raccoon mountain shale.  Inside the large shelter entrance, you go through another “entrance” 36’ wide x 4’ high.  You can also enter further to the left through breakdown.  Once inside, go left into 29’ wide passage paralleling the outside wall.  The passage continues for 64’ and widens to 30’.  The ceiling is very flat with a few formations (which is rather interesting since this is a sandstone cave). 

Attahike Cave, TN 

The cave is located on the west side of the ravine about 40 lower in elevation than the Big Buckeye tree.  Attahike cave’s  elevation is 1682’.  The entrance to Attahike Cave is 26’ wide x 14’ high which filters down to 13’ wide x 6’ high 10 feet into the cave.  The passage becomes crawling 30 from the entrance and you encounter a side passage to the right leading to a 14.5 dome to the right and a 12’ dome to the left.  Another 10’ down the main passage, you reach the breakdown squeeze.  You go below and to the right of the first slab you see and then squeeze up through a crack into a small room on top of a breakdown slab and then slide into a small hole into 6’ of pooled water crawl where the cave ends.  I could feel air and saw water trickling down rimstone from a 1.25’ wide x 6” high hole. 

Atta-Red-Green Cave, TN

The entrance to Atta-Red-Green Cave is 14’ wide x 6’ high.  The passage quickly becomes 16’ wide x 4’ high and becomes crawling only 22’ from the entrance.  You see formations and red cobbles after 30’ of crawling and the passage splits left and right.  Left goes 8’ and ends in shale below a to-tight hole.  In the right passage, you crawl ahead 30’ to a room 9’ wide x 18’ long.  It ends in a shale wall with a small hole 6” high x 1.5’ wide which continues for ~10.  Below the shale wall is a small pool of water.    The cave is named for the red and “green” clay cobbles strewn throughout the crawlway.  I didn’t really think the cobbles were that green (there is a hint of green though).  H: 135’;  V: 8’.

Dinner and the Drive Home

After caving Alan, Manuel, John, Myrna, and I ate at a Chinese Restaurant in Monteagle, GPS NAD27  351411.3  854937.8.  It was pretty good though not as good as the Number 1 China Buffet in Scottsboro.  This buffets selection of sushi was lacking.  Then I began my long drive home around 9:00 PM.  I made it to about 2:30 AM and pulled off of 65 somewhere in southern Indiana and slept for 1.25 – 1.5 hours.  I then drove the rest of the way home arriving at 5:00 AM.  I got another 3 hours of sleep and began the work week.