Recent Trip to New York

I went to see my family over Labor Day weekend and one of the places my nephews wanted to go was Howe Caverns. Howe Caverns is a 6 million year old limestone cavern that is 156' below the surface of the Earth and it is a constant 52 degrees Fahrenheit throughout the year. It was originally discovered by a farmer who noticed his cows were always gathering at some bushes at the base of a hill on hot summer days and as he approached them to see why they were always in the same spot, he noticed the temperature change and pushed back the bushes and discovered the cave. It is open year round (except Thanksgiving and Christmas) which makes it an excellent place for school field trips, summer camp trips and tourists from all over the world. Although I have been there a handful of times since I was a small child, it never ceases to amaze me. I think I was just as excited as my 8 yr old nephew, Blake, who was up at 7am wondering when we were going to arrive at his house to go see the cave (it doesn't open until 9am and we were on vacation, so he was a bit disappointed when we arrived at his house at 10am). Nevertheless, we got to Howe Caverns with plenty of time to spare and Blake was satisfied when we got to take the boat ride in the cave on the Lake of Venus (everyone's favorite part). The walking tour is about 80 minutes but it is easy to spend a whole day there. Once you finish the tour below, you can follow the tour above ground and see where all of the attractions are 156' below. I decided to mention Howe Caverns here because we focus so much on what is on the surface of the earth but we seldom think about what is below the Earth's surface. The other reason I'm posting this is because the pamphlet for Howe Caverns had the latitude and longitude location on the cover and before taking this class, I probably wouldn't have thought twice about seeing it but I immediately wanted to map it as soon as I saw it.


View Larger Map