Cicada Hollar

We went from the Smokey Mountain National Park up into the hills of Tennessee outside of Chattanooga for a couple of relaxing plugged-in days. We like to give our campsites nicknames like mosquito fest or hammock oak because it gives it a personal connection and conjures up an image that makes it easier to remember the places that we have been. The minute we rolled into the Raccoon Mountain Campground and Cavern, I already knew the nickname this one would recieve – Cicada Hollar.

Little did we know that the Cicada’s in Tenneesse are on a thirteen year cycle and this is year number thirteen. Millions of Cicada’s are on the move in the state and it sounded as if every single one was flying around my head beating it’s tymbal muscles as I got out of the car. It was deafening and a bit creepy. I immediately began to think about how I might get some sleep that night. Fortunately, the males sing their loudest during the heat of the day and by bedtime they were completely silent.

There are over 2500 different species of Cicada’s and the ones inhabiting Tennessee right now are really quite pretty. Really. I have never used the terms bug and pretty in the same sentence before but, these bugs really are pretty. They also provided entertainment for the Lil’ Dude as he would try to find dead ones then put them up on posts or somewhere the birds might more easily find them to eat. I understand they can be fried up and are a popular snack in some parts of the world. Not in my world.

In addition to the huge number of Cicada’s, Tennessee also has the highest number of known caves(9,600 documented) in the United States so it wasn’t surprising that this campsite had it’s very own cave. The cave was discovered 75 years ago and has 5 miles of accessible structure. One can sign up for an eight hour back of the cave experience where one can climb and slither through tight spots like a salamander and in the end emerge mud caked or do a one hour easy walking tour. We chose the one hour easy walking tour because I am on vacation and want to relax.

The cavern has an amazing collection of stalactites, stalagmites, soda straws, columns, flowstone, rimstone pools, natural bridges, ancient fossils and a rare shield formation. It was really quite a treat. The tour even held the Lil’ Dudes attention for the duration(really amazing).

I recovered from my unplugged experience and the Big Dude was recovering so well from his lung infection that on our last night there, the Dudes, serenaded by the Cicada’s, had a three hour pick-up game of kickball with all of the other camp kids. It reminded me of summer days when I was growing up. We lived in a new housing development in which children lived in every household and we would all get together and play anything and everything until the sun went down. There is only one other child in our neighborhood at home and the Dudes have never had that endless summer experience, until now, in Cicada Hollar.

“Do you know the legend about cicadas? They say they are the souls of poets who cannot keep quiet because, when they were alive, they never wrote the poems
they wanted to.” John Berger