#147 Mammoth Cave, KY 9-10 & 9-11-09

We stayed at Mammoth Caves National Park Campground. All the sites are primitive—no hook-ups. There is a dump station and a place where you can fill up with potable drinking water, so we were fine. Right behind our RV are public restroom. The showers and laundry were up at the store just before you drive into the campground. The site was level and blacktop. Perfect for us. The visitor center and cave tours were about a half mile away. We purchased our tickets on the 10th and did our tours (2 of them) on the 11th.

Our first tour took us to the Historical entrance, where we walked down about four flights of stairs into the cave. Frank says, “another hole in the ground!’

We were surprised to see the remains of the salt peter mining that was done during the war of 1812 and the civil war. Salt peter was used in the manufacturing of gun powder.

Because this cave was once privately owned and operated as a mine, using slaves as laborers and then used as a tourist attraction to make the owners income, there are many places where graffiti occur. Above is one such occurrence.

One of the passages we went through was very tight. Someone gave it this name. Below is Frank coming through the tight quarters. You literally touched each side and some places had to go through sideways.

One of the previous owners got some college kids to work in the cave, clearing out rubble and making the paths safe to walk on. The only pay they received was this plaque naming the area where they worked.

The prettiest part of the cave was the “Frozen Niagara” room. We walked down steps right next to the formations. It was very pretty.

It does look a little like Niagara Falls if it were frozen. Some parts were well lit, others not so much. We really had to watch our step.

Mammoth Cave is the largest cave in the world. It has over 300 mapped miles, and there are still areas that have not been explored. We ended up walking four miles inside the cave. Quite a hike! Over 500 steps on different staircases. It was a very nice adventure.