little seen details of the Topless dome of Tumbling Rock

[Realms]

see the whole pic here

http://www.realmsofreality.net/caves/tumblingrock_tr4/tumblingrock_tr4b/slides/the%20topless%20dome.html

[Kelly U]

Yes, Nathan, I am the same Kelly. BTW, I had no idea I was in those pics of Jennifer until she showed me lying down in the back ground - funny! I talked to Terry when he was visiting Smokey Caldwell. He comes down periodically to visit and Dalton GA is a source of material for rope. He is part owner of a rope making company in Canada. Smokey keeps in good communication with Terry. Smokey is listed as 'Larry Caldwell' in the NSS MM, from Lafayette, GA. He should have Terry's phone# and maybe you could do a phone interview for an article or something.

Cheryl, I didn't know you were one of the ones that climbed the dome! How neat! I heard it was a woman involved with one of the climbs, but for some reason did not register that it was you. Of course I heard that story before I met you. I'll want to hear all about your story next time I see you!

BTW, yes, Terry did reach the top and the stream passage. He said it kept going. He said he could see where the other groups of people were stopped on their climb by mud, but his group managed to pick the one place that was rock all the way up. Too bad they were too tired to go on that night. They planned to return the next day, so everyone in the group could climb up there, but of course by then they were no longer allowed in the cave.

[Cheryl Jones]

Blush. Some of the story is included in Jim Smith's article in the 1998 NSS Convention Guidebook (Sawanee, TN).

The stream passage at the top gets very small quickly (and didn't have a roaring wind!), which surprised (and disappointed) us.

There are two pits parallel to the main dome that we dropped, which have a window or two into Topless. You can see the windows when you look up the dome. Found a paleo-horse jaw in one pit! However no side passages off of these, as we'd hoped.

After we completed the climb, Don and I left a rope hanging in Topless for a month, and invited H'ville Grotto members to come have a look at the ceiling passages. No one did -- can you believe it?

Thanks for the lead on Terry. I've heard a bit about his climb and then being blocked from returning to the cave, but didn't realize that he'd made it to the ceiling. From the pix Realms posted showing the rope, I thought that perhaps there had been another, a very recent climb.

Cheryl

[Adam Byrd]

Is this Topless Dome also known as the King's Shower?

[Realms]

For years I have heard people refer to the Topless Dome as the Kings Shower. The water from the Topless Dome feeds into the Kings Shower below......or used to before the hole was broken in the ceiling. Back in the day before the days of the little round climb up hole, one had to actually climb the Kings Shower in order to reach the Topless Dome area. Some day after a super soaker rain storm, i'm going to carry a plug to cover the climb up hole so I can see the Kings Shower flow the way it once did

Hope that help to answer you question. Some of the more seasoned cavers could probably word it much better as I tend to ramble.

;-)

[Adam Byrd]

Do you mean that there is another dome above the King's Shower? I was really impressed by the size of that room when I saw it a couple weeks ago on my first weekend caving down in TAG (just moved from WV).

[Realms]

I think you may be referring to the Topless Dome as the Kings Shower.

[Pippin]

I think the Topless Dome and the King's Shower are the same thing. Those pictures are cool! 8)

[Realms]

They are not the same but often confused as being the same. The next time I go I will take a picture of the Kings Shower ;-)

[Realms]

Here is a view of the Topless Dome taken last Saturday.
http://www.realmsofreality.net/caves/tumblingrock_tr4/tumblingrock_tr4a/the%20topless%20dome.jpg

[claustrophobe]

Really nice work. Probably a LOT of work, too. I will give the salad bowls a shot.

[Realms]

Hey thanks Claustrophobe. Yeah the salad bowl is a really good option. They are fairly cheap and much more durable than the shop light reflectors. I do use those as well. I just pushed my Graflex flash units trough them after removing the origional socket in the shoplight reflector. They break down really easy and are not to bad to transport.
The one on the left is the salad bowl. As my projects get bigger, so will my gear. But for now this set up is working just fine for me
http://www.realmsofreality.net/other%20stuff/reflectors.jpg

[Realms]

Adam here is a link to some pics I recently shot of the actual Kings Shower. They are not too glamorous but should give you a good idea of the area I'm referring to.
http://www.realmsofreality.net/extras/kings_shower/index.html

Enjoy

Realms
http://www.realmsofreality.net

[Wm Shrewsbury]

You mentioned bulbs up higher in this post. I've got a bunch of 25's, 26's, M2's, etc. (clear and blue) along with about 15 Mazda 75's. Send me a PM if you need any.

Wm Shrewsbury

[Realms]

Work continues on the rig to get the shots of the Topless Dome from the top down. Anyone here know of any good deals on weather balloons?

Realms
http://www.realmsofreality.net/