Caving at the Lost Sea
November 19-20

On November 19, the troop left Mt. Carmel UMC late morning, traveled for about two hours, and stopped for restrooms and snacks somewhere near Ellijay. Then we headed on to Sweetwater, Tennessee. On the way, we kept track of the Georgia Bulldogs and the Tennessee Volunteers football games and finally got to the Lost Sea.
When we got there, we checked in and went to the dining hall for BBQ & Hamburgers. Then we changed into our caving clothes and waited for our tour guides. While waiting, we checked out the gift shop and a little mining post. When our tour guides arrived, we gathered our gear and listened to the rules and regulations before we could go into the cave.
Then it was time to get dirty! We descended over 100 steps down to our campsite in the cave. After we got set up, we got ready for our caving trips. First, we took an “info-tour” to learn about the formations and history. We even go tricked by the tour guides into thinking we were going down on an elevator. They tricked all the adults too.
Then we went on the wet part of the tour. We crowded into a boat where we set off for our sea tour. The guides told us some information about how the sea was found and about the fish that were in the sea. They were huge!
Then the dirty part came! We squeezed and squirmed through lots of holes trying to get AFAP (As filthy as possible)!
We went through the “Meat grinder” and boy was it a small grinder! After getting dirty, squeezing through holes, and getting more dirty, it was time to clean up with our wet wipes and get ready for bed. We slept in the cave that night and on Sunday morning packed up and went up the 100 steps to get breakfast. Then it was time to head home.
The boys who went on the trip were, Austin, Brandon, Daniel, Mason, Brandon, Christian, Roy, Hector, Andrew, Jared, Ben, Jerris, Zack, Hunter and Sean.

Mason R