Lewis and Clark Caverns

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Popcorn

This is called popcorn. It grows on the walls of the cavern and is formed by the water pushing through the walls slowly and become what is seen here.

It is better than a 1/4 mile up hill walk just to get to the entrance of the caves. The tour is so worth it though. My friend who went with me on the trip has rods in her back that are ready to be replaced - so it was not easy for her. It took us a while to get to the cave and then she held onto my shoulders and followed me through the caverns. The caves have been explored now for better than a century and they talk about how the early tours were. I can't imagine going down there like they did. Often times women were in long skirts climbing up and down ladders.

Eyes can't see it all.

I was surprised when I looked at all the colors my flash picked up that I could not see in the dim lighting down there. They are in the process of changing out the lighting so it will be easier to see everything. They did have the end of the cave done and it was like being in a whole different atmosphere for what you could see. Take lots of pictures - you will be amazed after wards. The flash of the camera makes a big difference in what is picked up.

Deep in the mountain

This step marks one mile above sea level and one mile from the top of the mountain. This is not an easy walk even with all the steps they have put in. At one point you have to get down and slide through a hole to get to the next part. Just like being 5 again.

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Photos

Old Faithful
Typically there is a drop of water that can be seen coming down on this one, so they call it Old Faithful.

Long Room
This is of the longest room in the cavern.

Comments

[dragonlady]

lights in caves
I haven't heard of these caves but they sound good. I love to see formations in different caves, they are all so unique and every cave we go into has some type I have never seen before, either colour or shape. We have some lovely ones in Australia, including Jenolan Caves in New South Wales and Buchan Caves, in Victoria. Re the lights in caves, they have to be careful with using too much light as the heat affects the climate in the cave and can dry out active formations and alter conditions for insects and algae etc. That's why they always turn off the lights as you exit each cavern. I've often wondered if our flashlights are having any effect, too.

[Dymphna]

The lights they are adding are not as hot as the ones they are using now. They are in a string and smaller. It has to be better than the torches they used in the past to go through the caves. This cave has been explored for better than 100 years now. They have pictures of women in long dresses making a day of it to go down in there. There are portions of the old stairs which was little more than a rope ladder, that they would climb to see the caves. I can't imagine trying to do that in a skirt and I pitty the man who tried to look up my skirt as I was climbing it LOL.