Kentucky Trip - Day 2 (Thursday, August 26, 2004)
- Mammoth Wild Cave Tour -
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| Steven navigates over Split Rock during the Wild Cave Tour. (Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky) |
My brother and I got up a little earlier then planned and had a little time to look at an old train display before going over to the Visitor Center to pick up our reserved tickets for the Wild Cave Tour. While waiting, I asked some questions at the front desk about what I could or should bring with me and decided in the end to just to take my camera in its protective bag and some cash. Soon several other people showed up for the tour and we introduced each other.
When the two guides showed up, we headed to a storage shed to obtain headlamps, helmets and knee pads. We also received souvenir bandanas with names displayed on it of places in the cave where Wild Cave Tours have gone. After getting instructed on using our equipment, we got onto a bus that took us to the man-made Carmichael Entrance of the cave and soon headed underground, going down a bunch of steps.
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| Our group carefully tries out "canyon walking." (Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky) |
A short, fast walk along the regular walking tour route led us to a small hole where we got to crawling right away. Our first challenge came at Split Rock, where we had to crawl up and over through a crack. Nobody had a problem with it. After a tighter belly crawl known as the Bare Hole, at least one person doubted her abilities, but did not quit. We got into another hole named the Birthing Canal and emerged from there sort of in between one of the guides legs, all in jest.
We did a bit of a long crawl through Hell Hole, with the football player guy in front of me speeding way ahead of me. We then did part of a passage called Kathleen's crawl before going to the Snowball Room to clean up and have lunch. I shared a box lunch with my brother. Soon after finishing, we continued our tour, now doing less belly crawling and doing more free climbing.
We started the after lunch part of the tour with canyon walking, careful to keep our balance and not fall into the crack below. From there, we entered the Lantern Room and walked part of a 1920s tour route. Soon, we entered an impressive room with high dome shaped ceilings known as Cathedral Domes. Continuing on, we then climbed down on a formation known as The Lion's Head, stepping onto the "teeth" of the gaping "mouth" as we got down.
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| Steven climbs down The Lion's Head formation. (Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky) |
Through a narrow corridor then down the Otter Slide we went, then we crawled through Hooter Alley with its pointy formations. At the Double Barrel Shotgun, we had the choice to go to the rough and wetter lower tube or the smoother and tighter upper tube. I took the top one while my brother went down below. At a wet corridor named Dave's Lost Sea, we practiced spider walking, which I found difficult to keep up.
Taking a break, we relaxed and listened to the quiet of the cave in total darkness. Not long after, we continued onto Fox Avenue, named after bones found there of a racoon once thought to belong to a fox. Next, we passed the Star Trek Room, named for formations that looked like creatures known as Horta in an original series episode. Between these named formations at times during the tour, we had to climb, one time at least directly on flowstone.
We ended on the regular tour walking path, passing people on easier tours interested in seeing us "wild cavers." We continued on quickly through the Frozen Niagara section with its huge flowstone formations and finally exited to a steamy outside, where we got a look at how dirty we had all become. After a bit of waiting around, a bus finally arrived to pick us up and take us back to the visitor center.
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| Emerging from the two holes of the "Double Barrel Shotgun." (Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky) |
With the gear returned, my brother and I immediately headed for the campground showers and cleaned ourselves up. We then headed back to the visitor center area to take a look at the Natural Entrance of Mammoth Cave. I saw a waterfall there, which I didn't expect, and also enjoyed the cool air and the sight of shafts of sunlight highlighting the steam near the opening. We walked up to the locked gate and back.
We next relaxed at the lounge of the Mammoth Cave Hotel, somewhat watching an episode of "Walker, Texas Ranger" while I wrote postcards. Back at the campground, we cooked a simple dinner of soup, then just relaxed and talked for a while. After night fell, we went to the campfire circle to hear and see pictures related to the Floyd Collins story, presented by a park ranger.
Collins got trapped and died in nearby Sand Cave, garnering nationwide attention to the area as a result and helping make Mammoth Cave a national park. I found the story quite interesting, especially after his death when people used his famous name and body for commercial gain. The ranger ended the presentation playing a recording of the "Ballad of Floyd Collins" on a vinyl record, then we left and got some sleep.
Contact me if you have any questions or comments about this trip.
| Document last modified January 06, 2009. Copyright © 1995-2009 Andrew Sawadisavi. All rights reserved. |
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