Mammoth Cave, KY

October 20, 2009

 Driving through KY to Cave City, I was looking at the map and realizing that there is so much to see in Kentucky, most of which we’ll have to do some other time. We only have a couple of days here before we move on to Nashville. We got up early Tuesday morning and headed to Diamond Caverns- so named because the boy they lowered into the opening they found so many years ago, yelled back up that it looked like the cave was full of diamonds. Very disappointing for them to find out that it wasn’t really diamonds, but glittering stalagtites. The tour in that cavern was about an hour long, and I thought it was pretty cool, with great lighting. This whole area is full of caves- some are privately owned, some are in the national park. There was a landmark case years ago when a neighbor found out that the cave tours given by the people down the street went under his property. He sued, to get a share of the income. Many, many years later, he won, but he died before the decision was made, so his estate got the money. The court decision said that property owners own rights to whatever is under their property. Now there are rocks lined up inside the cave that mark the property line. Right from that cave we went to the national park to see what tours we might be interested in taking.

 We decided to take the Great Onyx Cave lantern tour that afternoon. Paul also signed up to take a 4 hr/4 mile hike called the Grand Avenue Tour, the following day. I am not wild about caves to begin with and really wasn’t interested in spending 4 hours under the ground, so he’ll do that one on his own. The Onyx tour was even better than the Diamond Cavern. The whole tour is done by lantern, no electrical lights at all. This tour is only open to the public 2 months of the year, for groups of only 38 people per tour/day. That’s because its not cost effective to do this tour in the height of the tourist season when they need their resources for other tours that can accommodate over 100 people. Because so few people walk through this cave, the formations are in pristine condition, and more varied than the Diamond Cavern. We met a nice couple from Florida on this tour, and pretty much went through the tour with them. Wednesday Paul went on his adventure, and I stayed home and caught up on some cleaning, organizing, and phone calls. Before I knew it, Paul was back, and he brought the couple from Florida with him. We all sat outside and had a drink and traded life stories for a bit before they left to go home. Our last day here we spent above ground. We walked a 2 mile trail that was supposed to go to a spring, which it did, but there was nothing of interest there, so it was disappointing. We decided to walk the “Collie Ridge Trail” thinking it might have a view at the end. The trail was over 4 miles each way. Along the path we met a bicyclist, and chatted for a few minutes. He said the trail we are on is “pretty”. We also saw a small, but very old cemetery. After reading the gravestones, we realized that almost all of the graves were children- mostly very young ones. I looked around on the web and couldn’t find any information on it. I may try again when I have more time. Anyway, after hiking the 4 miles to the end of the trail, there was nothing of interest there. No ridge, no view, just an equestrian campsite. Sooo, we turned around after eating our lunch, and walked back 4 miles the other way. It was a nice walk but really, its nicer when there is something to see somewhere along the way. When we sat down that night to look at our itinerary for the next week or so, we decided to make some changes. Halloween in New Orleans is apparently almost as big of a deal as Mardi Gras, so we can't get a reservation near the French Quarter that weekend. I don't want to skip New Orleans, so we are skipping Chatanooga, and getting to New Orleans early. We want to spend one night actually in the city, so we can walk to and from the French quarter, and the rest of the time we will stay just outside the city. The rates for the one in the city are high!