The excitement of the solar eclipse and our wonderful trip stayed with us for the long journey from Gaitlinburg to Cave City, Kentucky. Easy enough a drive staying on major highways, and we did pick up a car along the way so we could travel into the Mammoth Cave National Park in a much easier fashion than with Aimee.
Mammoth Cave is so very different that the Luray Caverns. There are some spectacular stalagmite/stalactite formations at the very end of the tour; however, the Mammoth Caves are part of the longest cave system in the world; a system of chambers and subterranean passageways, and because of this the attraction is being able to hike underground unimpeded by formations requiring water seepage to develop. The uniqueness of this cave system is its formation; limestone strata capped by sandstone, and since the sandstone cap is relatively hard for water to penetrate the passageways the cave is actually very dry.
We were impressed by the National Park Service Ranger leading us on a 4 hour tour through a good majority of the cave system that is open to the public. He seemed like your favorite drill sergeant in bootcamp, tough to the core with a heart of gold. And just like that drill sergeant our Ranger’s job was to enforce rules that would keep us safe, and, oh yeah, to give those of us on the tours enough knowledge to truly appreciate one of this earth’s wonders.
The Park Service provided a bus ride to our entry point, and from there it was well over 100 steps down into our starting base in the cavern. There were about a half dozen that started down the stairs with us who backed-out claustrophobic when reaching the base, and 1 gentleman who had to turn-around with breathing/heart concerns a bit of the way into our 21/2 mile underground hike.
This isn’t an oh/ahh/wow type of journey like you’ll find in the Luray Cave. But there are a fair share of curiosities. For example and for decades the Park Service would serve meals to tourists. They did stop that practice quite a number of years ago. Full hot lunches or dinners were served, not PB&J or cold sandwiches. Weddings had taken place in the caverns as had other social events and banquets Think about the logistics-do you prepare meals on the surface, and if so how do you keep the hot food hot during transport? If not how would you prepare food in the cavern-open campfire or camp stoves?
Mammoth Cave is a wonderful history lesson and a stop well worth it. It leaves you wondering just what else might be waiting to be discovered in some unexplored section of the cave system.
August 22 and 23, 2017
Aimless Wanderings 