10/27-28/07 Mammoth Caves

Captain’s Blog
10/27/07 – 10/28/07
Cave City, Kentucky
Odometer Reading: 14516.7

We arrived in Cave City, Kentucky around 4 PM. Set up in a very nice place called Cave Country RV Campground for the night, possibly two nights. The plan is to take a tour of Mammoth caves in the morning. After reviewing the many options we decided on the Grand Avenue Tour that involves four and one-half hours along four miles of cave. This tour is described as a three on a scale of four for difficulty but we decided to try it anyway.

With over 350 miles of cave passageways Mammoth caves is the longest known cave in the world. Mammoth Caves was established as a National Park in 1941, designated as a World Heritage Site in 1981 and became the core area of an International Biosphere Reserve in 1990. It is not known for its beauty but for the miles and miles of passageways.

I think we are becoming or were bats in a previous life because we seem to like caves and mines. The tour started out easily enough with the first mile pretty flat and benign. The underground world is a unique place and not for the faint of heart or claustrophobic. Some of the areas we entered were tight and closed in.

We ran into another group who were doing the Wild Cave Tour. Ron and I would have liked to join that tour, however since we are robust and not anorexic we would not have been able to squeeze through the very tiny spaces required of that tour. We did get some pictures of those struggling to get themselves through very enclosed spaces.

At the end of the first mile we entered an area that was set up as a restaurant. We shared a boxed lunch and were on to the challenge of the next 3 miles. Mile two was slightly more challenging with twists and turns but mostly downhill. The caves are promoted accurately as long, not beautiful but are as unique as fingerprints. We entered into areas that were narrow, very high and very different.

It didn’t get difficult until miles 3 and 4 when the majority of the walk was uphill - very steep uphill. The good news is that if you could survive the walk up the hills and stairs you wouldn’t need a cardiac stress test. By the end of the walking, climbing, sweating and breathing hard tour we were unceremoniously met by a revolving door to the outside world where an ugly green bus met us to bring us back to the parking lot. The end of the tour was abrupt to say the least. All in all we enjoyed ourselves, bat people that we are.
<---- Cave Cricketes
Next it is back to the RV to watch the Patriots kill the Washington Redskins and hopefully the Red Sox taking the World Series.

Tomorrow it is on the road again and the business of driving home. Neither of us wants to go home but we can’t complain since we have had a great adventure once again.