"Galen Hekhuis" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 21 Jan 2005 19:11:23 -0800, Melissa
wrote:

Being a bit claustrophobic with regards to underground exploration,
the "cave" paddling I've done is only into fairly shallow sea caves.
Do people even *paddle* in underground rivers running through caves?

A bunch of commercial caves have some sort of underground boating
experience. Bodies of water underground range from rather large lakes to
small streams. In the US, anyway. I've heard of incredible rivers and
caves, especially in the tropics. In the US most paddling in caves is
going to be accompanied by some sort of underground portage. I've been in
a few you could do some paddling in, but only a very few.



Skocjanske Jame (jame = cave) in Solvenia
http://www.park-skocjanske-jame.si/B...keJameENG.html has a
spectacular underground river, the Reka, with torquoise-blue water and
stunning rock formations that runs through a several-miles long gorge before
emerging into a broad valley. I've always wondered what running that would
be like....I hear that it has head clearance the whole way, just a series of
underground class 2-3 rapids with pretty large falls and compression waves.

--riverman