Mammoth Cave National Park

The system is so large and diverse that shuttles are needed for visitors to access them.

Before this trip began, I already had memories of Mammoth Cave National Park from the summer I was 12. As part of a family reunion in Kentucky, we had gone to see these incredible rock formations. I remember it being cold, damp, and colorful. The tours I took this time were both dry and monochromatic, though not less compelling. 

The first tour I took was through Cleaveland Avenue.

Early visitors to the cave would use candle or lamp smoke to leave their mark. Luckily, my initials were already there so I felt no compulsion to defile the ceiling.

Gypsum deposits take a lot of different forms. This one reminded me of barnacles.

Same gypsum; this looks more like a salt flat.

Mammoth Caves were carved out by the Green River. This is the longest cave system in the world with more than 400 miles of explored tunnels of varying sizes.

Karst topography like stalactites and stalagmites happen where fluids drip and evaporate. Despite the original eroding factor, and the carbonic acid that helped dissolve the limestone in the area closest to the visitor's center, the sandstone "cap" of rock over most of the caverns allows for more subtle, slower growing mineral crystals to develop.

My resounding impression after this tour was that there must be a God. Not in the same WOW way that magnificent vistas can shock you into prayer, but in the tiny similarities. That rocks can look like they formed petals like a flower, that the Golden Ratio exists, that even leaks caused by breaks in a rock - given time to develop - become something magical. I had to go back for another day.

The second tour was a much more traditional look at drip formations.

Draperies are literal curtains of rock formed over thousands of years.

From tiny tubules, called soda straws, to thick stalactites, columns, and draperies. It is incredible what the power of patience can reward us with.

I just love the way this wall showcases the limestone and gypsum. It reminds me of a majestic pipe organ in a cathedral.

The namesake of this tour: Frozen Niagara. Having recently come from Niagara Falls, I was mesmerized by the movement clearly visible in the stillness.

Looking up from underneath a system of draperies is similar to laying underneath a chandelier: it jsut hangs differently from that viewpoint.

 For more adventures underground, keep coming back!