Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky is an awesome place. It was raining when I arrived so I quickly set up my rain tarp before doing anything else. It wasn't long before the rain stopped and I started my campfire!
My first morning in the park, I woke up all warm and cozy in the back of my car and this was my view out the back window!
It rained on and off during my visit, but fortunately I love the rain, clouds and cool weather. On the last day in Mammoth Cave National Park, the temperatures jumped to nearly 100 degrees and I was pouring gallons of water over my body to keep cool.
Early each morning, wild turkeys strutted through the campground, gobbling and squawking like there was no tomorrow. Reminded me of the roosters back home, waking me up before the crack of dawn with their crowing.
Violet and white Larkspurs lined the pathways in Mammoth Cave, filled the hillsides and popped up in the campground.
I took several visits into Mammoth Cave and found it to be an exceptional experience. This entrance to the cave is called the Historic Entrance and was the entrance first used to access the cave all the way back in the early 1800's. Our guide on this trip was a descendant of one of the original slaves used as guides in the cave. He was able to relay to us the deep sorrow and drudgery the slaves must have felt, whether they were guides or digging in the dirt, mining for saltpeter to make gunpowder.
Jerry Bransford was the guide who took our small group into the cave and told us all the stories of growing up in the area, the slaves mining for saltpeter and his own slave ancestry.
One of the early slave guides, Stephen Bishop, called the cave a "grand, gloomy and peculiar place." It was all that and more.
The cave is filled with strange and wonderful speleothems, including stalactites, stalagmites, helictites, travertine dams, and several types of gypsum formations. The whole thing is absolutely stunning. It takes your breath away.
Mammoth Cave is the world's longest cave system, with over 400 miles that have been explored. Some geologist think that there could be as many as 600 miles of unexplored passageways.
Since 1816, visitors have toured the subterranean labyrinths of Mammoth Cave, but it wasn't until 1941 that it was established as Mammoth Cave National Park. Over the ages, water leaking through the sandstone and shale cap, in areas called "sinks" eroded the limestone into a honeycomb of caverns and unique formations.
Here I am on the ferry ready to cross the Green River. Can just hear Fogarty singing,
"I can hear the bullfrog callin' me, wonder if my rope's still hangin' to the tree.
Love to kick my feet 'way down the shallow water; shoefly, dragonfly, get back t'your mother.
Love to kick my feet 'way down the shallow water; shoefly, dragonfly, get back t'your mother.
Pick up a flat rock, skip it across Green River."
This pool of water flowing out of Mammoth Cave is actually called the River Styx, named after the river in Greek mythology coming out of hell itself.
In this close up, you can see the water seeping out of the cave and dripping into the pool, eventually flowing back into the Green River.
Bright yellow flowers filled the sinks, deep depressions where water drains underground and eventually collapses into a huge hole.
When I wasn't in the cave, I spent hours roaming through the trails around the caves. It was easy walking, and at times overlooked the Green River. All that rain sure makes for lush green forests.
This one is for my sister Dorothy, who loves fungi; is that the right term? Mushrooms I guess they are called. This one was so pretty I posted it just for you, Dorothy.
Every time I saw these vines curling in and around the trees, I wanted to give the Tarzan holler.
On my way out of the park, I stopped for gas and found these two horses patiently waiting for their owner to get something from the convenience store.
I was driving through this country town of Auburn, when I saw this peeking through the trees. How strange is that? I had just visited the Washington Monument in DC so I had to see what it was. Turns out it is a memorial to Jefferson Davis, the President of the Confederate States during the Civil War.
Of course I had to jump in the elevator and go to the top.
I had a 360 degree view from all four windows of the monument and could see for miles and miles. It reminded me to be patient when I can only see 2 feet in front of me. God can see the whole picture and He is able to lead me and guide me through this life. At times he takes me up to the top, and I can see for miles. Other times I walk by faith, knowing that He is with me and will lead me to green pastures. Good night to y'all! May God give you patience to wait upon Him.