While a majority of Mississippi State students were enjoying Spring Break at home, or at the beach, the Bulldog Outdoor Club spent the early days of itsspring Break navigating the caves of Kentucky.
Originally the Bulldog Hiking Club, the Outdoor Club started by Cori Province in 2002. The club has been going strong by adding rafting, canoeing and cave dwelling to its list of activities.
For Spring Break, nine members of the club went to Cave City, Ky., a town approximately one hour north of Nashville, Tenn., and seven hours from Starkville.
On March 12 the club split into two different groups and went on the Wild Cave tour and the Frozen Niagara tour.
“The Wild Cave was the most challenging,” Province said.
The members of the group had to use hand and knee crawls to get through spaces as small as nine inches through five caves, with the only source of light coming from the lights on their helmets.
Knee and elbow pads were also provided. It took about six and a half hours to get through the caves. The other group, on the Frozen Niagara tour, saw two rare species of bats, cave crickets and different ice formations, such as stalactites and stalagmites.
The next day, worn out from crawling and walking through cramped spaces, the club went to a Corvette museum and crashed at Yogi Bear Jellystone National Park. That night they had a campfire. At the campfire, a lot of steam was blown out, talking about the frustrations of being a college student: professors, upcoming assignments and jobs.
“It was a cultural experience,” Province said. “We had two international students, one from Costa Rica and the other from India.”
For one of the international students, it was his first time to have a s’more.
Upcoming events for the club include Tishimingo State Park over the Easter break, the Ozark Mountains in the summer and a possible canoe trip in Alabama. If anyone is interested in joining the club, contact either president Cori Province or vice-president Melissa Masters.