Mammoth Cave

From Wikipedia – With more than 400 miles (640 km) of passageways explored, Mammoth Cave is the world’s longest known cave system. Subterranean wildlife includes eight bat species, Kentucky cave shrimp, Northern cavefish, and cave salamanders. Above ground, the park provides recreation on the Green River, 70 miles of hiking trails, and plenty of sinkholes and springs.

• Established: 7/1/1941
• Annual Visitors: 533,206
• Size: 54,012 acres

Rangeley was good at this sign picture. I set up my phone on a tripod with a 10 second timer. Sometimes there is someone else at the sign to take a picture for us, but most of the time we take it ourselves. We only took three photos and 2 of them were good ones. It is tough because we want to be looking at the camera, so we can’t be looking at him.

Mammoth Caves National Park 10/24/2020

This adventure marks the least time we have spent in a park. We even beat Zion’s two-hour visit. Unfortunately it was not by choice : (  We were beginning a beautiful, autumn, woodsy hike to a stream and Rangeley had a stick in his mouth and was raring to go. And I twisted my ankle. I should be fine but we needed ice and a wrap. I asked Gary to stay and go on the Mammoth Cave tour he booked days ago but he put me in the car, iced the ankle with our cooler ice and we drove the 25 miles back to Bowling Green. He went to Walgreens to get Ibuprofen and some wraps. I even told him he should try to get into a Lost River Cave tour locally here and he said he was fine. We’re taking a day off, I guess : (  Thank you Gary, you are a good hubby! I will update you on the ankle as the days go on. I should be fine, but it was a good twist, pop and swelled. I will need my hiking sticks for walking and stability for a few days and plan on using them for every walk/hike moving forward. A little more on Mammoth Cave NP below.

On our way from Great Smoky Mt. NP in Tennessee to Mammoth Cave NP, we crossed into Kentucky. The fall colors are still showing themselves. We try to take “back” roads and scenic roads whenever possible vs. freeways enabling us to go through small towns so we can stop to run Rangeley, make a “pit-stop”, get food, gas, etc. Plus, we get to see more of the USA! When we are on the bigger roads, we have found some really nice rest areas. We can often get geocaches at these stops. One cache in TN was very clever. It was in the woods, out of the way from “muggle’s” eyes (people who could take the little boxes without knowing it’s a co-ordinates treasure hunting game) was a very realistic wooden “birdhouse”, literally attached to a large tree. Some caches can be very clever. We have seen fake rocks, “birds” in trees, “electrical boxes”, some require puzzle to be solved and some are multi stages. Most bring you to a place that is educational like this TN rest stop. The plaque said that this location was the first Wayside Inn in the late 1800’s when the 1^st federal road came through the Cumberland Plateau in TN and KY.

We are staying in a Candlewood Suites in Bowling Green. We like the full kitchens in our room, for ourselves and for preparing Rangeley’s raw food meals we make up every 5 days or so. There’s a Sam’s, Walmart and a Chipotle in walking distance so Gary was all set 😊

There is a lot of history in these southern states and MCNP is no exception. At its west entrance, we stopped at Joppa Missionary Baptist Church and cemetery. Being 10 miles from any town, the church established in 1862, was used for services and community gatherings like weddings, funerals, baptisms, and group social gatherings. Ironically, not one but two headstones read simply: “M.E.S.”, my initials at birth, Mary Elizabeth Stahl. Weird fact, I know.

In 1926, a group of local citizens rallied to protect the park which later became a NP in 1941. Today, people come to visit the caves, go spelunking, and there are studies done on bats and stalagmites, for example, for school teachers and university professors. With 350 miles of known passages and many more to be discovered. It is stated to be the largest known cave system in the world!

Bowling Green, KY has some interesting businesses. It is the location of Fruit of the Looms headquarters. There is the National Corvette Museum because GM’s Corvettes are made in Bowling Green and the Historic RailPark and Train Museum is here. In addition, the two acre 19^th Century Fountain Square Park’s land was originally donated to Warren County by a local citizen, Robert Moore. It has seen Civil War soldiers march around it, horses sold in it, beauty pageants held at it and many more occurrences over the years.

Although we only spent about an hour at the park itself – until I had to leave : ( – getting our pin, postcard, stamp and KY cache at a cemetery, it has been a good stop. We learn something about all the towns we stay in. We have been loving the travel and adventures.

Tomorrow we drive to St Louis, MO to explore Gateway Arch.