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Cave in!
This morning we got up and drove south to Mammoth Cave National park. (You know, I'd give you the link, but their site was so terribly, terribly slow this morning I'm not going to bother. Pretend I did give you the link and that you clicked on it and let it load the whole time you read this, and then find it still isn't done and quit in disgust. This morning I went off for breakfast and it wasn't done when I got back. But, I digress...)
We drove south!
On the map (of the country) it didn't look that far. It's about 100 miles.
And, we past some familiar places. I was born in Boston and used to live in Lebanon (New Hampshire, not that place north of Israel.)
It is a very nice part of the country to drive through and a VERY nice day.
When we got off the highway we were attacked by dinosaurs.
They tried to get money from us to see their world, but we kept driving.
Some of you may remember that last November I found that the Rock Library had nothing to do with geology.
No problem with these places.
When they say "rock shop" they mean they've got a big pile of rocks in front of the store with price tags on them.
Sadly, none appeared worth flying home. So, no rocks.
But, we did get to the park.
They have a very nice, new, visitor center that isn't open yet.
Sad. The old one is too crowded to spend much time waiting in, despite the AC. (That's why so many people are there.)
They also seem to be worried about some strange things.
We got tickets for a cave tour, but had 2 hours to wait. So, we decided to wander the surface trails and see the wild life and geology.
These big trees were dropping huge sheets of bark down on the trails.
At first my wife thought someone was littering a whole lot, then some fell down near us.
It's about 400 feet down to river level. The climb down wasn't bad at all and we were soon on the bank of the Green River.
Down at river level you can see just how bad the spring storms were.
Although the smaller trees are permanently bent over, the big ones are still OK.
The river went from 20' above flood level two months ago, to not totally there now.
That doesn't mean it has all cleared out.
But, many of the feeder springs are dry now.
We were told, by someone who had performed the experiment, that a hive of bees live in this hollow tree and take sticking your head in as an invasion that must be actively repelled.
We did not repeat the experiment.
The 400 feet down seemed OK. But, 400 feet up, in 90 degree weather with high humidity? Not so much fun.
But, up we climbed.
About half way up I almost stepped on this guy.
We spent a lot of time examining and contemplating the different mosses and lichen that grew on different rocks and trees at different heights.
Looking down from half way, it seemed like an even longer way.
So, we took the stairs the rest of the way up.
I worried the climb had taken a lot out of my wife.
But, it turns out she has good eyes and spotted a baby deer just off of the path and was trying to remain still so it would not be frightened.
But, a big blundering Frank came along with a camera and the deer took off. So we walked the rest of the way back to the place where the tours start.
(Yeah, OK. How did I manage to get the photo if I was so blundering? Work it out on your own, I'm tired.)
One of the rules "for security" is no cases of any kind, of any size can go in the cave. Why my camera case is a security risk was not quite clear to me, or even the ranger I asked about it, but I went and put it in the car to keep them happy.
(The cameras themselves you can bring. That's why it isn't so clear to me.)
Our ranger came out to lead the tour. He was a good guy and we thought he did a great tour.
This is half the tour group:
The other half was behind me. They bring A LOT of people into the cave at once.
This didn't seem to worry the two rangers in charge of all those folks.
Like the Phoenix Swords fire show, the tour starts with?
THE SAFETY SPEACH!
It is amazing in the last 10 years that I've been paying for liability insurance how much I've learned to like safety speeches.
They even get little cards to read from! (Which would totally fail for me, but I still like the idea.)
Then, down into the cave.
The entrance is about 1/4 of the way down the path my wife and I had walked. A large cool breeze comes from it. We had noticed the breeze on our first trip, but didn't know that was the entrance we'd be using.
There are some really big open spaces down there.
Back in the War of 1812 they mined saltpeter here.
When the war ended they started doing tours and have been keeping it up since for almost 200 years.
There are some very interesting formations and different types of rock.
Of course the reason there was saltpeter to be found is millennia of bat droppings.
So, after we got back up I made sure to wash my hands quite well.
And, my wife and I are tech geeks. So, we traced the power and lighting cables.
There is one point when they switch to "traditional" lighting.
And then show you what happens if that blows out. It gets very dark.
(I promised. There it is. A picture of the dark.)
As you climb down you go through different sections of rock.
My wife was happy she could reach the roof. I not as happy about the headroom.
I did think the floor was very interesting.
You climb down a lot.
My wife, who loves caves, marched through quick enough we went from the middle of the crowd to the front fairly quickly.
There is graffiti down there from 200 years ago.
The tour takes you over to deep pits.
The second one is called the "bottomless" pit. So, of course, I asked how deep it was. I'm told 121 feet.
The tour goes through some tight spaces.
Then, you come to a place where it is about 6 feet across up at shoulder level, but only 1 foot wide lower. They call it:
That goes on for a while.
Then, there is a bathroom.
(Hey, for some people that matters. Neither of us used it. But, I can still be glad it was there.)
There were a couple of places I had trouble breathing. Not due to being underground, but as the flash photo shows, there was a LOT of dust in the air.
(Yeah, bat dropping dust at that.)
But, soon after we were at the lowest part of the tour.
You spend 90 minutes going down, then 15 going all the way back up on some stairs that fill a big vertical hole.
Then, the tour is over and you go back to the light.
We drove back to Louisville and found a nice pizza place for dinner.
Then, we needed to visit this shop in the same mall.
It seemed like other folks liked it too.
The road near that mall had the same name as the road with our hotel. So, I tried going down it rather then back to the highway. But, I guess it isn't done yet.
We did make our way back to the hotel, where I happily explored the pool and whirlpool the hotel has...
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I might be wrong, but I believe those shedding trees are Shagbark Hickories. Those aren't the only trees that shed around here, but I think that's what those are.
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>"(The cameras themselves you can bring. That's why it isn't so clear to me.)"<
I'm sure the thinking here is that you put the camera in your pocket, and, steal pieces of rock or other items, placing them in a pouch or a case...I'm sure there is also the 'fear' you'd be bringing explosives into the caves packed into a case.
Is it overdoing it? Probably. But, NPS is extremely twitchy on potentially hazardous or damaging things on the parks. I know two Rangers, they tell me all the time.
(yet, the NPS seems to have no problems allowing development to encroach on historical land and battlefields, and very very close to historical landmarks/buildings...But really crazy about allowing some idiot to steal something)
Bathroom inside a cave, that's a wacky thing to see, but I would certainly be grateful for that, deep inside a cave. I'd rather not add to tons of bat droppings :P
As for the "Safety Speech Card" - You could easily make up a prop, and not necessarily read from it. Make it look Official Phoenix Swords or something :D