The 2nd Most Popular...
Today we toured Mammoth Cave National Park. According to one of the park rangers, Mammoth Cave is second only to Niagara Falls as Americas most popular tourist attraction. Each of the tours we went on were sold out, each had 120 people. The weather was sunny and hot today, although for the most part we were underground where the temperature is 54°F year round.
On the drive in to the Visitor Centre we saw a wild turkey and a couple of deer at the side of the road.
Our first tour was the Historic Tour, it was 2 hours, 2 mile and had 457 steps with a 300' elevation change. We entered through the Historic Entrance, the same entrance they use 4000 years ago when the caves were first discovered.
Our Park Ranger going over the rules. Due to Homeland Security rules, any kind of backpack, fanny pack, camera case, knapsack, etc are prohibited from being taken on any of the tours. We had to get a special tag in order to take one of the girls fanny packs in with their epi-pens and inhaler. As well they give you a couple of opportunities to back out, tours are not recommended for those with heart ailments, fresh from surgery, claustrophobic, acrophobic, and back problems to name a few.
Down in the cave.
This was Giant's Coffin.
Some 1800's graffiti.
Up until the Giant's Coffin the passageways were pretty open and spacious. As we moved on the walls started to close in from the sides and the top. Here are Susan and Claudia coming down a set of steps.
In the early days of Mammoth Cave tours, a person would tip the guide and have their names written on the ceiling of the various area of the cave. As the one Ranger said, they have a name for it these days, federal offence.
The not so Bottomless Pit.
The pathways are well marked, some are man made, others like this one are packed down from years of use. There are handrails and fencing to keep you from falling into the wrong place. Most accidents happen from people trying to take pictures or video while they are walking and end up walking into something.
This was one of the girls favourite parts of the tour. Fat Man's Misery.
It is a winding pathway that is open above your waist but tight and narrow at places from the waist down, halfway through is Tall Man's Agony.
Angela navigating Fat Man's Misery.
Claudia checking that Susan is still behind her.
Not sure if Susan is giving up.
One of the last stops was the stairs up through the Mammoth Dome. It is a fire tower inside the cave.
Susan and the girls really enjoyed the tour. I did this one when I was here in 1990 on a field trip in my 4th year Karst Geomorphology course. We had a couple of hours in between tours, so we grabbed a bite to eat and toured the gift shop. The girls got whatever they wanted, because they had money from G-ma and G-pa and were told to buy whatever they wanted, even if your parents think it's silly.
