A Slightly Different Focus

My good friend Phillip turned thirty last Friday, and to celebrate, his wife Neecee planned a mystery weekend. The destinations were kept from him right up until — and after — we left on the trip.

So where — and what?

Friday night, we camped just outside of Dalton, Georgia, near the summit of Dug Mountain. Hella road getting there, too — loved it:

Dug Gap Battle Road, Conquered

We were on the opposite side of the mountain from Dalton, meaning we overlooked a quiet valley (as opposed to I-75):

Mill Creek, by Moonlight

The next morning, just before heading out, got a nice shot of the birthday boy:

Phillip’s Camping Party

Better still, a got a wonderful shot of two of the weekend’s (also-wonderful) participants:

John and Manna, Dug Mountain

Saturday, though, was the biggie: spelunking. I’d never done it, and am in fact claustrophobic, so was not sure at all how it would go down. Pun intended.

Besides, they’re caves. How am I supposed to take photographs without (literally) dragging a kitchen sink’s full of equipment?

We had to pack just essentials, so, unfortunately, not too well. But I tried — and have a couple I actually like, including this one:

Neecee Leads Phillip Through

Although I had to miss some of the crawls (just wasn’t up to several of those small spaces), I did use that time to try to take some photographs. Note the sharp rock immediately above Neecee’s head — those were everywhere, and left dents in all of us.

Giles’s claustrophobia aside, it was fascinating to explore the space and learn its history. Even turns out there’s a good reason it’s called The Lost Sea.

Most of the time, photography wasn’t practical; it was just dimly-lit or dark spaces, with people crawling around. Like these guys are about to:

Spelunking Group

I say “guys” confidently; they were Cub Scouts. 75 of them, plus chaperons — all of whom, greedily, I wish had been elsewhere. Even the so-called “village” was covered with ’em:

Cub Scouts — Everywhere

The Lost Sea of Boys aside, the weekend was a great time, with a fantastic group of people. Many thanks to Neecee for putting it together!

Check out the Dug Mountain gallery here, or the photographs from The Lost Sea here. Enjoy.

Coming soon: the long-overdue Snapshots post, anything I might take tonight at Cocktail Hour, plus, next week, some stuff from Maine. As always, thanks for stopping by.