Rock Hotel EarthCache
Hidden : 8/25/2009
Difficulty:
1.5 out of 5
Terrain:
2 out of 5

Size: Size: not chosen (not chosen)

Join now to view geocache location details. It's free!

Watch

How Geocaching Works
Looking for a different adventure?

Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions in our disclaimer.

Geocache Description:

I have earned GSA's highest level:



Photobucket
Trail head sign


Pine Mountain State Park is Kentucky's oldest park. Located inside it, you'll find several hiking trails that vary in degrees of difficulty. You'll also find along these trails a variety of geological features.

In extreme southeastern Kentucky lies one of Kentucky’s most unique biological, ecological, and geological natural resources. Forming an almost solid wall over 120 miles long and rising to 1,500 feet above valley floors, Pine Mountain is an impressive mountain system of the Southern Appalachians.

The mountain, which is technically considered a long, even-topped, erosion fault scarp, forms the northwestern border of the Cumberland Mountains eco-region; a rugged, heavily forested area that contains Kentucky’s tallest mountains and some of its most scenic views.

The mountain ridge runs from near Jellico, Tennessee, northeastward to Elkhorn City, Kentucky, cutting through Whitley, Bell, Harlan, Letcher, and Pike Counties. The mountain contains approximately 151,167 acres and the elevation of the mountain ranges from less than 2,200 feet on the southwestern end to greater than 3,200 feet near Bad Branch in Letcher County.

Over 200 million years ago during the late Paleozoic period, the bedrock in this corner of Kentucky, where it meets Tennessee and Virginia, was uplifted and turned skyward along one edge, forming the long, linear ridge we now call Pine Mountain. Millions of years of subsequent rain, snow, ice and wind have eroded and sculpted the ridge into the striking image we see today.

The steep northwestern face of the mountain is crowned with massive sandstone cliffs up to 200 feet in height. The southeastern slope of the mountain is much gentler, but deep canyons carved by streams alternate with prominent ridges along its flank. Massive sandstone cliffs and waterfalls are common along these mountain streams.

The evenness of the ridge top is broken in a number of places by natural gaps. The gaps are from 300 to 700 feet below the crest and were important to early settlers as passages. Only a few state or county roads cross the mountain in its entire length, most utilizing the natural gaps.

Throughout, occasional runoff and persistent spring-fed streams cascade down the mountainsides, percolating among the erosion-scarred boulders, meandering beneath dense forest cover and creating various points of interest within the park such as Rock Hotel.

Photobucket
please stay in the trails


Beginning at the Rock Hotel trail head, you’ll follow this .75 mile loop trail with an elevation change of 200 feet. This trail visits Rock Hotel, one of two large rock shelters within the park. Rock Hotel is a large sandstone shelter that was formed from millions of years of erosion. Such natural shelters or “rock houses” as they are frequently called in the southeast, served as temporary dwelling places for both woodland Indians and white explorers. As you near the shelter, the trail will pass through a rhododendron tunnel that is nestled beneath the tangled, jungle-like shrub layer that exist there. Rock Hotel is a significant archaeological site and was once inhabited by prehistoric Native Americans. If you choose to continue the trial past the shelter you’ll find that it plummets to the bottom of a moist ravine where a wooden bog bridge traverses a wet seep area. Beyond, the route ascends and closes the loop rejoining the initial in-bound trail section.

Photobucket
you're almost there
What is a rock shelter?


A rock shelter, also known as a rock house, is a shallow cave-like opening at the base of a bluff or cliff. Rock shelters form because a rock stratum such as sandstone that is resistant to erosion and weathering has formed a cliff or bluff, but a softer stratum, more subject to erosion and weathering, lies just below the resistant stratum, and thus undercuts the cliff. Because rock shelters form natural shelters from the weather, prehistoric humans often used them as living-places, and left behind debris, tools, and other artifacts. In mountainous areas the shelters can also be important for mountaineers.

How are rockshelters formed?


Almost ever rockshelter is formed by a process known as erosion. Erosion is the removal of solids (sediment, soil, rock and other particles) in the natural environment. It usually occurs due to transport by wind, water, or ice; by down-slope creep of soil and other material under the force of gravity; or by living organisms, such as burrowing animals, in the case of bioerosion.

Erosion is distinguished from weathering, which is the process of chemical or physical breakdown of the minerals in the rocks, although the two processes may occur concurrently.

While at the site, please take a minute and just think about how long it took for the wind and rain to carve this rockshelter. Can you imagine how many people have used it in the past as a way to keep dry from the rain? The large rocks you see in the front of it no doubt added some protection from the elements. As you take the time to explore the shelter pay attention to the texture of the walls and see if the feel different on both the inside and outside.

Photobucket
The Rock Hotel



Logging Requirements
1) How high do you estimate Rock Hotel to be at its opening?
2) What type of rock is Rock Hotel?
3) Tell me what the walls of Rock Hotel feel like when you run your hand against it. Are they smooth or rough?
4) Post a picture of yourself and your GPSr with Rock Hotel somewhere behind you. Pictures of your GPSr and only your hand will not be accepted.

Additional Hints (No hints available.)



Advertising with Us