What's Under Alaska?

What's Under Alaska?
 By:  Cave Spelunking

Alaska is a land of extremes.  Most often when people think of Alaska, they think of extreme cold and the extremes of daylight in the summer months and dark in the winter months.  But there's another Alaska extreme that's less well known.  That extreme is the number of caves that lay beneath it.

Volunteer cavers, attached to the Forest Service, are working hard to map the amazing cave systems that have been found.  In the Tongass National Forest, the largest national forest in America, visitors are invited to feast their eyes on some of the wonders of nature that abound, like eagles, bears, and spawning salmon.  The vistas of this wild land are breathtaking.  But, as they say, "you ain't seen nuttin' yet!" That's just what's on top of the ground.  Wait until you see what's UNDER the ground!
So far, more than 600 caves have been found and charted in the Tongass National Forest.  That is probably only a very small fraction of the number that are actually there.
The temperature in Alaska can be a pleasant 80 in midsummer (or even higher), but the temperature dips well below zero during the winter months.  But underneath Alaska, the temperature remains a constant 40 degrees. That might not sound like a really comfortable temperature, but as compared to the temperatures above the ground, it's wonderful!

If you ever have the opportunity to visit the caves of Alaska, you'll never regret going.  You'll see moon milk — a lot of it.  You'll also crawl through openings so narrow they look impossible to get through and then you suddenly see a 15-foot drop right in front of you that drops into a silo-shaped room — and the wonders just keep coming!

Rock On & Keep Spelunking...
Cave Spelunking.