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Mammoth Cave

Sun June 1 to Mon June 2

Mammoth Cave is deserving of its name. So far about 360 some miles of tunnels have been explored. We hiked along 4 miles of them for 4 hrs. There were many types of cave structure, from broad, smooth tunnels of dry cave, carved by slow-moving water, and now crusted with gypsum formations that look like blossoms, or snowballs, to deep sinuous canyons through which water once moved swiftly - underground versions of the slickrock canyons we will see out west. We also climbed steep mountains, & plunged into valleys on slick paths, holding onto handrails. We saw active, wet parts of the cave with spectacular flowstone formations. Animals we saw: blind cave crickets, little pippistrelle bats, and a cave spider. Very cool. This evening what impresses me is how well we are working together: fixing dinner, cleaning up, building the fire - everyone pitching in without much cajoling! Time to go to the pay showers now - we are all in need. Tomorrow, probably some hiking in the AM and a careful packing job, then onward to Louisville.

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Photos

Max Taking Photos
Max took a lot of pictures, undeterred by the guide's comments that most cave photos don't turn out too well - not enough light.