So, this morning we did the 11:15 Great Onyx Cave Lantern Tour. This was a different cave. So far, they think there is a connection to Mammoth Cave, but they haven’t found it yet. Research is continuing. This cave tour also only runs in the summer, and only once a day. So, it’s kind of a special one.
While we were waiting to go, a couple came up to us and asked if we were on the Domes and Dripstones tour with them yesterday. We were, and I remembered them because Marge had just had a total knee replacement in May, and her husband Willard is 82 years old! We chatted for awhile before the tour. Willard had been in three of the armed services…Army, Air Force, and the Navy. He worked on Boeing planes when he was in the Air Force, and they lived in Seattle. Now they live in Florida. They were the sweetest couple.
I told Willard after the tour that I’d never seen such a nimble-footed 82 year old!
The Great Onyx Cave is not lit, so that meant we had to carry lanterns. They were Coleman lanterns, and they couldn’t get some to work. There were 31 plus 3 rangers on the tour. There were 6 lanterns (then one died) total. Yesterday, I had brought my headlamp. Today I did not. I carried one of the lanterns. As we entered the cave through the door, then descended down the original stairs (read…uneven and narrow), I felt like I could barely see, and I had a lantern! First I thought my eyes just had to adjust, but then I noticed the lantern was not putting out as much light as the other lanterns.
Into the cool darkness we go!
When we reached a stopping point, I told Chelsea, our guide, that it seemed like the lantern should be putting out more light. I gave the lantern to Doug, and used the flashlight on my phone. At the next stop, Chelsea came and fixed the lantern.
It needed some more pumping. It was also making a high pitched whistling sound. No one knew what to make of that. I just said it was a “singing lantern”. After it was properly pressurized, it stopped singing.
Here’s some not great photos. Turns out lantern light doesn’t necessarily make for good photos.
When stalactites meet stalagmites, it’s called a column.
Good size cavern.
They call this feature “The Nativity”.
One of the different things about this cave is that it has minerals that sparkle. It’s gypsum.
Not such a great photo, but you can see the sparkle.
This tour was an out and back, except for one short passage. In that passage, the formations were different. I think they were called helictites.
They are like curlicues and sideways formations.
I think the chubby one looks like a standing Buddha.
While we were heading back to the entrance, I asked Chelsea what she likes best about her job as a cave tour guide. She has a degree in geology and hydrology with an emphasis on sinkholes and springs. She said she really likes sharing the caves with the people, and telling the history. She has been at Mammoth Cave NP for 8 years, and both her parents worked there too.
Back up the stairs.
One of the other rangers was Jerry. He is 5th generation Mammoth Cave tour guide. He was born and raised in what is now Mammoth Cave National Park. His family’s cemetery is on National Park property. His great great great uncles and grandfather were slave tour guides. The National Park has erected a monument to his family in the cemetery. The dedication ceremony will take place in October.
We returned to the Visitor Center. Before we got on our bikes, we walked down to the Historic Cave Entrance.
We had to check it out. If not, it would be like going to Sydney, Australia, and not going to the Opera House!
This is where the “Historic Cave Tour” starts.
We saw Marge and Willard once more as we made our way back up to our bikes. Turns out Marge’s birthday (she’ll be 75) is December 8th, just four days after mine! Thoroughly enjoyed meeting them!
Back at the bikes, we ate a quick snack, changed into bike shoes and whatnot, and headed out. It was 2:00. We felt like we made the most of our time in Mammoth Cave National Park!
We rode 24 miles to a Super 8 in Munfordville. It is a couple of miles off our route (the Super 8 is by the freeway), but better than doing 80+ miles tomorrow. Except for riding past a wildlife place that I could see an emu and wallabies (lots of them, but I didn’t get a photo), the ride was nothing special.
An interesting sight near the freeway interchange is this cemetery next to a McDonalds.
I don’t know why, but it just seems like a strange place for a cemetery…
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