Mammoth Cave

I'm officially on the road!

I still can't quite believe it. As I'm writing up this post, I'm not even a full week away from home and from life as a waitress. And now, the only obligations I have for the next month is to myself, friends and family-- to adventure and soak in all of the beauty I can find across the South/East US.

For my first stop, I made my way to Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky. It was a 7+ hour drive from home (one of my longest planned on the trip) so I stayed at a hotel on Tuesday night to get some sleep in before visiting the park. My original plan was to camp but Kentucky had just been hit with floods that left my planned campsite inaccessible. Had to pivot-- but it was no problem.

For as long as I've been going on road trips with my family, we've had the tradition of stopping at Cracker Barrel while we're on our way (my Mom used to work there my my parents were dating). So, naturally, after my first day of driving I dined for 1 at Cracker Barrel and had some comfort food.

Wednesday was my day at Mammoth Cave. Despite never having truly been in a cave (aside from once in WI when I was a kid), I figured that when I booked my cave tour, I might as well go big or go home. So I did the longest and most strenuous walking tour the National Park Service offered: The Grand Avenue Tour. 4 hours, 4 miles and a grand total of 1% of the world's longest cave (at least of what's been discovered so far).

It was a new experience all around. There was no way for me to know what kind of terrain I was getting myself into because everything was underground. And, impressively, the structure and terrain of the cave that I got to see was equally unexpected. We went through wide paths, narrows, climbed "mountains", saw waterfalls, cave formations, gypsums... and all with a huge slab of rock above us.

These pictures, from the end of the tour, were taken less than 5 minutes apart. All of that beauty just behind and below an unassuming door.

The rangers who led my small group, Ranger Chaz and Ranger Tyler, were great too. They were so passionate about the cave-- it's explorers, it's inhabitants and it's history-- that I couldn't help but smile at each new piece of information they through my way.

What stuck out to me was the quiet of the cave. Darkness, I had anticipated, though it still took a long time for my eyes to adjust. We even got to experience total darkness at a few points throughout the tour. But the quiet was something else. I was with a group so we were making noise, and the rangers were talking throughout-- but still the lack of any ambient noise except the very faint sound of water moving at points was amazing. The only thing I wish could have been included on the tour was a moment of complete darkness and silence. It was almost meditative. I just wanted to soak it in.

A few pictures from throughout the tour.

Overall, Mammoth Cave was a wonderful experience. I'm not sure I would've ever sought it out had it not been a convenient stopping point on my way towards family in Boone, but I'm so happy that I did. It was so grand, but not in the distant way of other places I've awed at before. The mountains go on for miles. The lakes fade into the trees and into the horizon. There was nothing beyond what could be seen. It was like another world.

Map of the cave system. My tour began at the Carmichael Entrance and finished at the Frozen Niagara Entrance.

Dismal Hollow, my first view after entering the cave.

Cleaveland Avenue

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/021d17_7bcfbeb172cc44598880636e1c053b07/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

Boone Avenue-- my favorite stretch of the tour!