Day 4 - November 7 - Tour Day Mammoth Caves National Park - Cave City
We slept great at this motel and got up around 7:30 am. The older couple a couple of doors away with the huge old dog that I chatted with the couple yesterday, was gone by this point. The couple was very nice and very old. The lady has said that normally the old dog travels well but not on this trip. I did not ask any other questions but one wonders how so very frail and old people get on the roads to get here in one piece. We are old and qualify for the senior discounts, but this couple was very old, and the traffic on the road was pretty intense getting here. I have to admire the couple.
We were on the road to Mammoth Cave by 8:20 am. It was a 15 minute drive up hill and into the Mammoth Cave National Park. We chatted with the Park Ranger staff at the Visitor Center and they said that doing the morning Gothic Cave Tour and the afternoon Frozen Niagara Cave Tour would cover the highlights of the park. There are many caves and about 200 miles of cave tunnels. They don't just let people tour there in the caves on their own. There are several cave that are electrically lit and tours are conducted for groups there. People have gotten lost there over the last two hundred years of touring the caves.
On the first tour we had to walk down a descending road and then go down about 70 steps into the cave. After the twilight stage of the cave tunnel we were in the formal Gothic Hall of a cave. There was two hundred year old graffiti all over the certain lower ceilings and these were done in candle wax. There are researchers in the cave that study the names and match them up to history.
We climbed further down into the cave and there were some slightly tight spots but not too low. At one point our Ranger guide Charlie, turned off the lights and told some historical stories. We were down in the car about two hours and walked about a mile or so. The temperature was about 4 degrees. At the end we went further and then we had to walk all the way back. One could see the wooden cribs erected in 1812 for the war effort and there were manned by slaves. From the leaching limestone, eventually gunpowder was manufactured for the war effort (war with the British). So lots of history here.
After that, these cavernous cave was used for local tours. The area became a national park in the 30's I think but I am not 100% sure. Some people even got married in the cave. They don't allow that anymore. However, there is an annual Christmas singing and music concert in the cave which happens next month.
One can see a waterfall outside at the start of the cave entrance. At the end of the tour, we had to walk through a soap bath so we would not bring out any caves spores out etc.
We walked up the road to our car and had our picnic lunch and then we made a pit stop and we were ready to wait a bit for the park bus to drive us to the next cave tour (Frozen Niagara) about 15 minutes away.
This time our guide was Ranger Mary and she warned us that there were two areas where we would have to stoop over (really stoop over if one is tall, all I had to do was bend my head down a little bit) to get through the narrow path and low ceiling. I guess I should have been someone who works in a tunnel. Norm ended up bumping his head three times. The spots were tight. This trip was sort of like the Bonnechere Caves outside Renfrew/Douglas. After about 15 metres we came into larger areas. To see the Frozen Niagara we had to climb down about 40 stairs to be able to see whole "Falls" of frozen stalagmite-type formations. It was beautiful. This tour was about a mile walk and took an hour. It was pretty spectacular.
PS
We spent yesterday and today really in the boonies of Kentucky and it was election day yesterday. I know some of my friends were concerned about traveling in the US these two days but it was totally normal both days.
Once we returned on the bus we went to the washrooms to wash our hands as we used the handrails a lot and there were those spores to worry about. Again we had to walk through a soap bath for our shoes. We then toured the history exhibit inside the visitor center which was really well done.
We then walked into the sunshine to walk the Heritage Trail as the Ranger told me that this was the best area for birding. We did see Carolina Chickadee, White Breasted Nuthatch, Eastern Blue Bird, Dark Eyed Junco, Red-bellied and Red-headed Woodpeckers, Cedar Waxwings, to name a few. This trail has many squirrels running about and there are lots of oak trees and acorn nuts to collect. These are fat and curious squirrels.
This trail also has a beautiful scenic lookout that is the best one we have seen yet on this trip. We left the park around four pm, quite happy with the day's touring. Good to have a break from the highway. As you can see many trees are still in leaf and they are in fall colours. Just later in the year to what we are used to. The lookout was great.
The temperature outside today was around 10 degrees C. A perfect day for walking up and down the roads, stairs and around.
We were on the road to Mammoth Cave by 8:20 am. It was a 15 minute drive up hill and into the Mammoth Cave National Park. We chatted with the Park Ranger staff at the Visitor Center and they said that doing the morning Gothic Cave Tour and the afternoon Frozen Niagara Cave Tour would cover the highlights of the park. There are many caves and about 200 miles of cave tunnels. They don't just let people tour there in the caves on their own. There are several cave that are electrically lit and tours are conducted for groups there. People have gotten lost there over the last two hundred years of touring the caves.
On the first tour we had to walk down a descending road and then go down about 70 steps into the cave. After the twilight stage of the cave tunnel we were in the formal Gothic Hall of a cave. There was two hundred year old graffiti all over the certain lower ceilings and these were done in candle wax. There are researchers in the cave that study the names and match them up to history.
We climbed further down into the cave and there were some slightly tight spots but not too low. At one point our Ranger guide Charlie, turned off the lights and told some historical stories. We were down in the car about two hours and walked about a mile or so. The temperature was about 4 degrees. At the end we went further and then we had to walk all the way back. One could see the wooden cribs erected in 1812 for the war effort and there were manned by slaves. From the leaching limestone, eventually gunpowder was manufactured for the war effort (war with the British). So lots of history here.
After that, these cavernous cave was used for local tours. The area became a national park in the 30's I think but I am not 100% sure. Some people even got married in the cave. They don't allow that anymore. However, there is an annual Christmas singing and music concert in the cave which happens next month.
One can see a waterfall outside at the start of the cave entrance. At the end of the tour, we had to walk through a soap bath so we would not bring out any caves spores out etc.
We walked up the road to our car and had our picnic lunch and then we made a pit stop and we were ready to wait a bit for the park bus to drive us to the next cave tour (Frozen Niagara) about 15 minutes away.
This time our guide was Ranger Mary and she warned us that there were two areas where we would have to stoop over (really stoop over if one is tall, all I had to do was bend my head down a little bit) to get through the narrow path and low ceiling. I guess I should have been someone who works in a tunnel. Norm ended up bumping his head three times. The spots were tight. This trip was sort of like the Bonnechere Caves outside Renfrew/Douglas. After about 15 metres we came into larger areas. To see the Frozen Niagara we had to climb down about 40 stairs to be able to see whole "Falls" of frozen stalagmite-type formations. It was beautiful. This tour was about a mile walk and took an hour. It was pretty spectacular.
PS
We spent yesterday and today really in the boonies of Kentucky and it was election day yesterday. I know some of my friends were concerned about traveling in the US these two days but it was totally normal both days.
Once we returned on the bus we went to the washrooms to wash our hands as we used the handrails a lot and there were those spores to worry about. Again we had to walk through a soap bath for our shoes. We then toured the history exhibit inside the visitor center which was really well done.
We then walked into the sunshine to walk the Heritage Trail as the Ranger told me that this was the best area for birding. We did see Carolina Chickadee, White Breasted Nuthatch, Eastern Blue Bird, Dark Eyed Junco, Red-bellied and Red-headed Woodpeckers, Cedar Waxwings, to name a few. This trail has many squirrels running about and there are lots of oak trees and acorn nuts to collect. These are fat and curious squirrels.
This trail also has a beautiful scenic lookout that is the best one we have seen yet on this trip. We left the park around four pm, quite happy with the day's touring. Good to have a break from the highway. As you can see many trees are still in leaf and they are in fall colours. Just later in the year to what we are used to. The lookout was great.
The temperature outside today was around 10 degrees C. A perfect day for walking up and down the roads, stairs and around.
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