Chuck Sutherland

For the purpose of this blog post, secret is somewhat subjective. All the below places have been visited and documented well before my time. For one reason or another, they all remain less than well known. In the near future, I suspect that this may change. My publication of photos here is not an invitation to trespass either. Get permission before you go onto private property. In the meantime, here are some places that perhaps you didn't know about... Black Mountain Black Mountain is a state natural area managed by TDEC. It is a classic "rock town" formed of Rockcastle conglomerate, a sandstone with quartzite pebbles of up to 1cm in size locally. The overlooks are south to south-east facing and are a great place to catch a sunrise in the Winter. If you're lucky, fog will be sitting in the coves below like milk in a bowl. Little Cove is immediately south, and Grassy Cove is south-west. Both are sinkholes, and there is more about Grassy Cove below. Google Map ...

My previous blog post discussed the role of grottos in the caving community . It focused on the internal aspects of grottos as way of making better cavers. This post will focus on the external aspects of a grotto and ways they can make your city, county, or region a better place to live, work, and play. Landowner Relations I am frequently contacted by landowners, land developers, and land managers who wish to better understand caves, sinkholes, or karst on their property. Curious landowners will seek out experts and that may lead them to you, your local grotto, or people that you know. By being a known person in the community, you yourself can be the resource that people seek out. This is a wonderful opportunity to introduce them to the caving community and put our best foot foward. Some strategies I use to help myself and the caving community with landowners, land developers, and land managers includes: Keeping accurate and up-to-date contact information for la...

Grottos (caving clubs) are internal organizations of the National Speleological Society (NSS). When I first discovered caving, it was through the Upper Cumberland Grotto (UCG). Since then, I have been involved in caving and our community. I have seen the UCG's membership wax and wane a few times, and at low points I have at times struggled with what the role of a grotto is in the digital era. Below are my thoughts. Historically, a grotto was a place where cavers could meet other like-minded individuals. We are now well into the age of the Internet and few people have trouble identifying who other cavers are (it's easy, they are wearing a muddy helmet in all their social media avatars). The need to have aformalized group is not as important as it once was. This has created a crisis of identity for caving clubs across the United States. Aged leadership, full of institutional and historic knowledge, and perhaps not savy with social media is disconnected from the youth. ...

People often ask myself and other cavers to give them cave locations and cave information. I always reply, "I don't give out cave locations". Not knowing the history of reasons why I do this, I am often asked why. This is my response. We love to hang out with, and take new people caving. Some see us as stingy stodgy keepers of secrets (and some cavers are), but I see myself as a gate keeper. I am not all powerful, and I am fallible, but my knowledge extends far beyond what an inexperienced caver (or spelunker as they often call themselves) does. That is important because the conservation ethic we practice on the surface doesn't always work underground. Also the way we understand our environment to keep ourselves safe doesn't work the same way underground. These two key issues are the main reason why I won't give out cave locations. Conservation First, let's address the conservation issue. If you consider the combined historical, archaeologi...

Imperious surfaces (IS) are characterized as those which water cannot permeate. Pavements like roads, sidewalks, driveways, and parking lots are examples, as are rooftops, bricks, stone, and concrete. IS can be classified from aerial imagery and shown on a map revealing where urban areas have developed and are developing. IS can be used to gauge the growth and development of a city, but it's not all fun and strip malls when it comes to IS. IS is problematic for growing cities like Cookeville. Anyone who has driven on Jefferson or Willow after a hard rain knows that the water runs off quickly and turns the roads into rivers and pools. This is why the local, state, and federal governments regulate development and the runoff caused by them. What happens on private property doesn't stay on private property; it can wash down your driveway. To complicate matters, local geology causes 28% of Algood, and 36% of Cookeville (which are conservative estimates) to drain through sinkh...

For the purpose of this blog post, secret is somewhat subjective. All the below places have been visited and documented well before my time. For one reason or another, they all remain less than well known. In the near future, I suspect that this may change. My publication of photos here is not an invitation to trespass either. Get permission before you go onto private property. In the meantime, here are some places that perhaps you didn't know about... The Canal / Capshaw Woods Tucked behind some of the nicer homes on Maple Street is a stretch of an unnamed creek that rises from Capshaw Cave (More accurately, Capshaw Spring), travels about 1000 feet, and sinks into Tires to Spare Cave. It's a classic karst window , a window into an old cave system where the ceiling collapsed. The whole of The Canal (as TTU professors, and scientific literature call it) or the Capshaw Woods (as the locals call it) is privately owned, and has a simple trail that runs the edge of the creek tha...

I am available to create custom maps for projects, events, publications, and scientific journals. I have been making maps professionally since 2012, and have been awarded by my peers in recognition of my work. For a complete list of publications and awards, please see my unofficial CV at http://CV.ChuckSutherland.com . Please contact me via email at cjsuther21@gmail.com for more information. Examples of some of my maps are below. Follow individual links to learn more about each project.

I am available to shoot portraits in the region of middle Tennessee. Please contact me via email at cjsuther21@gmail.com. Examples below of my work are primarily natural light, however I have all appropriate strobist equipment for indoor, or low light photo shoots.