Somewhere in my things I have an old book from the 50's about
Floyd Collins, who got lost in some caves in Kentucky. It's a neat old book... never been spelunking. I have been to Ruby Falls in Chattanooga though, fun but touristy and very controlled.
Wait, that's not the book I read... damn, that's how the cave got it's name... what was the name of that book?????
I'll be back....
EDIT:
Found it.
The book is called "The Caves Beyond: The Story of the Collins Crystal Cave Expedition by Joe Lawrence, Jr."
It's the story of how they figured out how the Crystal Cave system was actually connected to
Mammoth Cave.
They "figured it out" by getting busted ass lost. They finally came out somewhere around the equivalent of the underground food court of Mammoth Cave.... pretty strange I'm sure to wander up to some benches and little buildings when you're underground. See if you can find that book on Alibris and get one, pretty interesting story of exploration.
whew.
.