Mammoth Cave Tour

We went on the Mammoth Cave tour today - there are several tours available ranging from 1 hour to 6 hours in length, we took the two hour tour.  Evidence of habitation in the cave dates back 4000 years and several artifacts from 2000 to 4000 years ago have been found.  Written historical records date back to the late 1700's and the cave has been an active tourist destination since the mid-1800's. The cave has over 400 miles of explored passageways with an unknown amount left to be explored - estimates are that there may be 200 to 300 more miles of cave yet to be explored but they really don't know.  

The original opening to the cave - no longer used due to a cave-in in the 1800's (this was not part of the tour - we hiked to this yesterday)

Our first stop after descending to over 300 feet and the ranger who guided the tour - he was an excellent tour guide

One of several large chambers 300 feet underground 

Dripstone formations (limestone)

Interesting limestone formations

More formations

More formations formed by millions of years of dripping water

I have been to Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico and in my opinion Carlsbad is much more impressive with more stalactites and stalagmites, more color and more random formations plus it has several larger chambers.  Having said that, Mammoth Cave is many times larger and has a very interesting history and is quite worth seeing.

Mammoth Cave, KY via Clarksville, TN

Tuesday we left the Corinth Recreation Area in Alabama with plans to spend a week in Clarksville, TN which is just a little north and west of Nashville.  We planned to spend at least a day in Nashville and several days checking out the surrounding area.  We arrived in Clarksville and I will just leave it at we were very underwhelmed with the campground there.  So . . .  we spent one night and packed up the next morning and headed to Mammoth Cave National Park - the great thing about an RV is if you don't like where you are you can move - we will return to Nashville on another trip.  The National Park campground is great as is the park itself.  We may spend more than a week here to be able to see everything.  The campground is only about half full and is very peaceful and nicely laid out.  We have reservations Sunday to tour the caves - the tours were booked up until Saturday so we decided on Sunday since it is supposed to rain that day.  Mammoth Cave is the largest cave system in the world - over 400 miles have been explored with much that has yet to be explored.  I have been to Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico which was very impressive - we will see Sunday how Mammoth Cave compares.

Our Campsite at Mammoth Cave National Park

The campground check in kiosk

The park even has its own post office (walking distance from the campground)

Original late 1800's train car and engine from when it was the only way to get to the caverns

Probably late 1800's to early 1900's photo of visitors to the caverns

Part of the visitors center

The front of the visitors center

Stephen Tyng Mather bronze plaque - Mather was instrumental in forming the National Park Service in the early 1900's

Back To Sipsey River Wilderness Area - 100 Foot Cave - Wildflowers

We went back to the Sipsey River Wilderness area today to do the trail we intended to do last time. This trail has waterfalls and caves and follows the river for about 5 miles (round trip).   This is a deep gorge with sandstone cliffs and rocks on both sides towering over 100 feet in some areas - quite an amazing place - it is difficult to show the scale of the cliffs and ledges in the photos.

Typical view of the river from the trail

There is a 100 foot cave you have to go through to continue on the trail - it would be difficult to go over the top and the other option would be to go in the river and wade around the ledges.

The entrance to the cave

The exit of the cave

Donna and Darby entering the cave (on the return trip - had to go through twice)

Donna and Darby going through the "Fat Man Squeeze" section of the cave - I understand that is the local name for this section from reading reviews on line

Fat man squeeze

Fat man squeeze - it gets pretty tight - glad I lost weight - might not have made it through

View of the cave from the other end

Some of the many rocks and cliffs

Donna and Darby in front of a typical outcropping

Donna and Darby in front of a typical cliff

Lots of interesting sedimentary rock formations - mostly sandstone

It is hard to tell in the picture but this is about a 60 foot waterfall - not much water flowing today as it has been dry

Unusual pock marks in the sandstone

Wildflowers Along the Trail

Spring Beauty

Bumble bee on some Virginia Bluebells

Lanceleaf Trilium

Free State Of Winston - Civil War Memorial - Double Springs , AL

We were in Double Springs, Alabama today and took a few minutes to visit the "Dual Destiny" Civil War monument located there.  Double Springs is the county seat for Winston County, Alabama which gained quite a bit of notoriety during the Civil War for refusing to join the Confederacy.  They never formally seceded from Alabama but they did provide 259 soldiers to the Union and 112 to the Confederacy.  This area of Alabama was primarily made up of subsistence farmers who did not have slaves and a majority of its residents were philosophically more aligned with the North than the South.  

Although it doesn't show clearly in the picture, the statue depicts a soldier wearing a Union uniform on his left side and a Confederate uniform on his right side.

The county court house

A few miles out of town we ran across this old barn with a reference to "The Free State Of Winston" - apparently the spirit is still alive 

Sipsey Wilderness Area - Borden Creek - Pre-Columbian Temple Ruins

Today, (Thursday - we didn't do much Wednesday as there were severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings for the area which turned out to be just heavy winds) we hiked what we thought was the Borden Creek Trail in the Sipsey Wilderness Area. We took the wrong trail but still enjoyed the hike - we will go back and do the trail we intended to do.   The Sipsey Wilderness is a natural area known for its untouched rivers, cliffs, caves and waterfalls.  

Borden Creek Photos

We did, however, run across Pre-Columbian temple ruins that archaeologists date back to the 1300 to 1400 AD period. The ruins were built by the Wehdahekahwee who were known for their extensive use of  natural stone in their structures.  Little is known about the Wehdahekahwee who were believed to be native only to northern Alabama but it is believed that they were an offshoot of the Hekowie nation.

More ruins

Tower or platform about 12 feet high - archaeologists are unsure of its purpose

Another section of the temple

Heh, heh - belated April fool - these are all natural formations - the Hekowies were a fictional nation on F-Troop (1965-1967) if anyone is old enough to remember that.