Caching in the Cave: Lost River Traditional Geocache
Danbg: Taking these down---time for a change. New faces in a few minutes. Thanks to the hundreds and hundreds of caches that have looked for these caches and all those I have met over the years.
Caching in the Cave: Lost River
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Size: 
(regular)
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Lost River Cave is a very unique and natural wonder. Native Americans were sheltered within the massive natural opening for thousands of years. Archeological studies confirm that the site was inhabited as early as 7,500 BC. In the late 1700's, an enterprising miller established the first and perhaps the nation's only functional "cave mill" in the huge opening of Lost River Cave. The mill burned in 1915 and was never rebuilt. In the fall of 1861 Confederate Forces used Lost River Cave as a temporary shelter. One year later, 44,000 Union Troops from the 14th Corps camped at Lost River before moving on to Nashville for the Battle of Stone River. Colonel John Hunt Morgan and his Southern Raiders are thought to have hidden in the cave after burning the depot at South Union, Kentucky. Local folklore says that the notorious Jesse James Gang used the cave as a hide out following the robbery of the Russellville bank in 1868. Lost River Cave found a new and exciting purpose in 1933 when its natural air-conditioning enhanced the success of an "Underground Nite Club". The Cave was a significant tourist attraction and the Cave and Valley figured prominently in the social life of the community for over thirty years. The Lost River Cave and Valley acreage was acquired in 1986 as a gift to Western Kentucky University. . The site encompasses 25 acres in the valley, formed by the collapse of a cave system, and a large cave system, containing the Lost River which courses over three miles under the city of Bowling Green. The Friends of Lost River was created in 1990 for the purpose of restoring and developing resources of the Lost River Cave and Valley. Clean up at the Cave Valley was begun in 1991, and Trails through the valley were laid our or restored in 1992. The Cave was reopened to limited tours in 1993. The Cave Valley was opened to the public for supervised visitation on weekends in late April of 1995. A boat tour of the Cave was initiated in 1998 and was fully operational throughout 1999. The Cave and Valley were opened for visitation on a daily basis in the spring of 2000. This cache is located near the trail system within the park. Follow the trail until you get close. Normally there is a fee to access the trails, but the fee will be waived for Geocachers. Park hours are 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Open daily year round except for Christmas, Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day. The Friends of Lost River provided the above information. The container is a camo lock-n-lock. Hide is not hard. We wanted to bring you to some place hidden within the city. The hike is almost .4 miles to the cache. You should see many interesting things while you are hiking. We hope you enjoy this area as much as we do. The contents are trade items with a special FTF prize. Please be respectful and have fun.
The description above is copied directly from the original Lost River cache (GCRGJH)
I was FTF on the original Lost River cache in December 2005. For the last 4 years or so I sort of unofficially adopted it and have kept it up and running. I have tried to contact the KY Girls several times about adopting but I never got a reply. Last time it came up missing I decided to just go ahead and let it be archived and rehide it and make it mine. I have talked it over with the cave staff (Annie) about archiving all my other caching in the cave hides and moving them to (freshen) up things but she wanted to keep things as they are. The new Lost River Cache is exactly in the same spot as the old one. Anyway enough about the background.
The Lost River Cache is now a officially part of the (caching in the cave series) If it has been a while since you have been to the park please check out all the improvements at the visitors center. Any way I hope this proves to be a suitable replacement for the original Lost River cache. FTF prize is in the cache.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
sbyybj gur trbgenvy.