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I guess I’ve always had a thing for caves. When I was a kid it feels like I went to The Rocks in Hopewell Cape a hundred times – it was just outside of Moncton and back then it was free – where I would immediately scurry along the sea floor past all the giant ‘flower pots’ in search of caves to spelunk. The most I would ever find would be a crevice or two that would lead no more than fifteen feet into the cliff before they would taper down to nothing.
(I remember one time I was exploring off on my own when the tide started coming in. This is the Bay of Fundy – we’re talking about the highest tides in the world – the water rises about fifty feet and it rises fast. I had just come out of one of my little caves and saw a few inches of water where the beach used to be and I was about as far from the stairs-to-safety as I had ever been. As I trudged along I remember being amazed at how fast the water was rising. I started running, which of course got harder with every wave. When I finally got to the stairs the water was up to my knees.)
And until I toured a large cave in northern Thailand back in ’92 that was the extent of my spelunking. So on August 14th, 2001, when I found myself on a solo drive across America with plenty of time to kill and spied a highway sign advertising Mammoth Cave National Park of course I pulled in.
Who knew that the dirt just a few dozen feet below the vast blue grass of the commonwealth of Kentucky* is riddled with caves? Well, I do and now you do too.
The Mammoth Cave is the longest cave system in the world, with hundreds of miles of explored chasms. The cave network is so big they have it split up into dozens of different tours. When I pulled up to the ticket booth the next tour to leave was an easy trot through the tunnels through an area called Frozen Niagara.
About thirty of us descended into the cave where we spent the next hour or so following our guide through a ten-foot wide tunnel that just seemed to go on forever. Side-passages were everywhere, branching off of the main passageway and labyrinthing off into miles and miles of other tunnels, many of which remain unexplored.
We all stuck pretty close.
Not that you could get very lost. Down there every sound is amplified and even the slightest sliver of light is unmissable. I’m sure if you hunkered down and watched for a rescue crew you’d be alright.
Not that I wanted to find out about that, so yeah, we all stayed pretty close.
When we finally resurfaced the beautiful sunny day seemed to shine even brighter, the warm Kentucky breeze felt even warmer. I got in my Honda and drove along the tree-canopied side roads in search of a late breakfast.
That’s the life of us spelunkers; rising to the surface and squinting in the sun like a gopher at daybreak. In this case, a gopher hankering for an order of biscuits with country gravy.
*From wikipedia: “Four states – Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia – adopted constitutions early in their post-colonial existence identifying themselves as commonwealths, rather than states. These commonwealths are states, but legally, each is a commonwealth because the term is contained in its constitution. As a result, “commonwealth” is used in all public and other state writings, actions or activities within their bounds.” note: This is often a very fun bit of trivia to point out to Americans.
Todd Man Out 