Chuck Sutherland

On this trip, Anne Elmore and Bill Walters lead myself, Kristen Bobo, Greg King, Mike West, and members of the Sewanee Mountain Grotto into the N-trunk of Blue Spring Cave. At the time of the trip, this cave held the distinction of being Tennessee's largest and the 36th largest in the world. This was the first time I had seen the many delicate forms gypsum and other evaporites can assume in a pristine underground environment. Flowers, beards, fish scale, frosted flakes, snowballs, and needles adorning the passage for nearly a mile as we strolled deep below the surface. In other locations rugosa coral fossils sprang from the ceilings and walls with water worn weathering stripping the limestone from around them. It seemed unlike that anything could further "wow" me than the minerals and fossils mentioned above, but one last surprise lay in store: jaguar footprints from the Pleistocene epoch. The footprints of this massive cat, likely the species Panthera onca augusta, s...

From my earliest caving days, I've always been eager to introduce my friends to the underground world. One of these early excursions took us to Lost Creek Cave, which, at the time, was owned by the Rylander Family. Thankfully, they were very generous with granting access. The trip consisted of myself, Alexis Lienhart, Brian Herron, and Terry Steadman. It was a simple trip to the waterfall room, which Brian photographed. On this trip I also found and explored a tight side passage that was several hundred feet of tight crawling. This adventure also marked the first time I witnessed the fascinating steam plume emerging from the Ben White entrance. This natural phenomenon occurs as cold air sinks into the lower entrance, warms up, and then rises through the upper entrances in the form of warm, moist air spouts. Nature's surprises are always intriguing.

This was an Upper Cumberland Grotto sponsored outing. Met some cool people: Quentin Jones, Andy Lane, Vance Gentry, Ben and Richard Craven. We got a little bit wet, got a little bit dirty and ended up removing a ladder from the cave (to prevent liability issues with the city). Our destination was the Ice Cream Parlor, the room pictured with all the snazzy formations.

Alexis and I made the decision to bring Greg Rhinehart along for a camping trip at Virgin Falls. The original plan was to reach the falls and set up camp just above them. However, reality had other plans for us. Old man Chuck ended up injuring his back after just a mile of hiking, so we had to improvise and pitched our tents at the Big Branch Creek campground instead. Despite the change in plans, we decided to make the most of our adventure. We explored the area, stumbling upon an intriguing old logging trail or road that connects the campground with Martha's Pretty Point. During our exploration, we also stumbled upon some animal trails that led us up the backside of the bluff where Martha's Pretty Point was located. As we ventured further, we came across some fascinating karst features, and we even spotted what might be a couple of caves. Our unexpected detour turned out to be quite an adventure, filled with unique discoveries and unexpected encounters with the natural wor...

a=b a^2=ab a^2-b^2=ab-b^2 (a+b)(a-b)=b(a-b) (a+b)(a-b)/(a-b)=b(a-b)/(a-b) a+b=b Therefore, if a=1, then 1=2 When I was in 9th grade, my chemistry teacher, Dr. Fred Harding, wrote this onto the board. I loved it so very much I copied it down and put it into my wallet. For the longest time no one could tell me why it was wrong. I love to pull it out when people told me how smart they were and watch them squirm, or as I did, joyously exclaim that math was broken. Obviously math isn't broken, but it took me many more years to learn what was actually going on. The handwritten formula was transferred between one paper to the next several times through the years. When one would wear out, I would create another. Kept behind my driver's license for another 12 years it met its match when I showed it to my math professor in college. She didn't immedately know what was wrong about it, but her gut feeling told her it was wrong. A few days later she came back and told me the thing ...

I'm tired of not having a digital camera. I fixed that tonight. I have en route a Canon Powershot A520 , a snazzy carrying case, a 2GB SD card and a USB SD/Mini SD (for my cell phone) reader. I'm so excited!

The Demon of My Sleep requires me to list all the foods I've eaten in the last 24 hours. It requires this not in any spoken language, but a language of bodily shape. Namely my contorted, bloated, unconscious body, sprawled out, covers and intestines entangled into a new position for each psychotic word. I'm unsure if these hallucinations occur during REM or, as I suspect, in deep sleep, like all proper night terrors. Thank you Mike for making your Explosive Bean Dip. Task Coordinator for Chuck's Stomach : *Checks list* Nope, I didn't see four bites of Explosive Bean Dip. Chuck's Esophagus : You had better check that list again, cause you're getting it - right before the turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, collared greens, cookies, chocolate, caramel pie, ham, turkey, chocolate... (This list continues for quite sometime) Task Coordinator for Chuck's Stomach : Alright, alright, boys *he shouts to large intestine bacteria* we gotta break this stuff down fas...