Walter enjoys life of spelunking

By CHARLES W. JOHNSON / News Editor for the Southern Standard

Bill Walter with some of the equipment, photos, maps and memorabilia he has collected during a lifetime of exploring and surveying caves. (Charles W. Johnson photo)

Warren County’s Bill Walter has spent a big part of his life underground, literally. But he’s not a member of some secret underground organization. The organization he claims membership in is very much out in the open, though, to be accurate, its members usually aren’t. It’s called the National Speleological Society and it is an organization of spelunkers, more commonly called cavers.

Walter was born in the British Isles, but moved to Louisville, Ky. when he was eight. His love of caving began as a young man when in 1953 at the age of 15 he was invited to accompany some friends to visit a cave in Tennessee. That cave turned out to be Higgenbotham Cave, which was later to be commercialized and renamed Cumberland Caverns.

“I remember waking up in front of the Brown Hotel,” Walter said, “sleeping in the back of the car, in this big old 1948 Buick, a man named George Welsh drove down here, then we went on up to Higgenbotham Cave and visited the cave. It was my first cave trip and I was just overwhelmed with all these places going off to the unknown. We went through the historic route and then to what is now the 10 acre room, which is part of the commercial part. This was all pre-commercial, of course, when we were there.”

This experience gave Walter a passion for caving that has lasted to this day. But unlike many hobby cavers, Walter also developed an interest in mapping and surveying caves, which has led to his being involved in the documentation of many caverns, including Blue Springs Cave which, with a length more than 30 miles, is the largest cave in Tennessee.

To say that Walter fell in love with Higgenbotham Cave would be somewhat of an understatement, since it even affected his choice of colleges.

“I attended Vanderbilt,” Walter said, “mainly with the idea that I would be close to Higgenbotham Cave.”

Later on, Roy Davis and Tank Gorin decided to develop the cave, and Walter’s interest continued.

“I eventually got involved in 1960,” Walter said. “It became a corporation and I bought some stock in it, and I was director for 43 years. I’m retired now,” he added.

Walter was also an employee at the cave.

“When I graduated from college there weren’t any jobs available,” he said, “so I ended up working at the cave as a part time guide, and helping improve the commercial aspect of it, building trails.”

Meanwhile, he was also traveling back to England where he met his future wife Christine. After their marriage the couple settled in Warren County and operated a baker for a time. But after the birth of the first of the couple’s three children, they sold the bakery and Walter took up farming. Somewhere along the line, he also developed a talent for investing, which has served him well over the years.

But through everything, the siren song of the underground beckoned Walter. He became involved in the exploration of the Mammoth Cave system, including Salts Cave, Crystal Cave and Unknown Cave.

Walter has received a major recognition for his caving exploits, including the Lew Becking Award in 1982, and the Francis McKinney Award, both established in the name noted cavers.

He is also proud of his involvement in the discovery of the huge room inside Rumbling Falls Cave in Van Buren County, along with fellow caver Marion Smith and others.

The reasons for his lifelong interest in caving is pretty simple.

“It’s a combination of seeking the unknown,” he says, “or trying to figure out what’s around the corner.”

And then there is the sheer beauty one can find under the surface.

“Of course there’s always the thrill of discovery when you find an area of beautiful formations,” Walter said. “There are some beautiful places under the earth as well as on top of the earth.”