Amidst the hills and forests of South-West Kentucky lies a
cave – the Mammoth Cave. Running almost 400 miles long it is easily the world’s
longest cave system. A separate world on its own, the cave has been of service
to the humans for as long as six thousand years. It has been historically used
as storm shelter, burial ground, tuberculosis hospital, food reservoir, mine
and tourist attraction. But since 1941, i.e. after its incorporation as a
National Park its only purpose lies in preserving its own ecosystem and
entertaining the horde of tourists that flock every day.
With the aim of making most of the quickly receding
summer, last Saturday we made it there after a four hour drive amidst the rain.
We were stuck by the natural beauty of the place. Millions of deciduous trees,
made a little greener by the rain closed in on us as we drove through the neat
asphalt made a little blacker by the rain.
The park sprawls over a lavish 52,830 acres of area which
includes several small springs, rivers – underground and not, hiking and bike
trails, and camping grounds. Apart from that there are several guided tours of
the cave itself.
When we reached the place at around 10 o’clock in the
morning, it was already bustling with people. Many of the tours were already full
but we were lucky to get on to the one o’clock tour which filled up right
after.
The rain had stopped so we decided to roam about
ourselves for the time being. We descended a long flight of steps through the
historic entrance of the cave where the season never changes. Inside the cave,
it’s always 12 degree Celsius. The cave is dimly lit by electric bulbs – the only
source of light in the cave. We learnt that there is a river that flows under
the cave ground. It is home to several species of fish and shrimp. But due to the
absolute darkness they don’t have eyes and they are translucent. We saw few
pictures of those fishes – they look eerie.
Beyond the lit corridor there are several pathways that
plunge into absolute darkness here and there on both sides but they are out of
reach to tourists. Maybe one of these pathways leads to the place where Floyd
Collins (one of the earliest explorers) died! I came to know about the tragic
story of Floyd Collins while talking to an elderly couple who have lived in
Kentucky for three generations now. They also sang to me a song that
illustrates the sad story in a lyrical form.
Next it was the time for the guided tour of the new
entrance! We took a bus ride to the opposite side of the park and entered the
cave through what looked like an entry to a bomb chamber. We had to take a
steep flight of 280 stairs to go 250 meter under the ground. The stairs got so
narrow that at some points we had to cross sideways as the width of our body didn’t
fit! As we descended I marvelled at the nature’s wonder and at the human capability
too.
It was amazing how the cave had formed from water seeping
through limestone. We crossed the young cave, where it was still being formed
from water passing through the stones, we crossed the middle aged cave where it
was already fully formed and was wider and then we reached the old cave where
beautiful stalactites and stalagmites have given the cave an impression of
frozen waterfall! They call it frozen Niagra.
But what fascinated me more was the human capability to
install an intricate metal staircase through these narrow passages where anyone
can hardly stand straight!
When we reached the great hall that separated the young
and middle-aged cave, the ranger who was our tour guide switched off all the
lights to give us a glimpse of absolute darkness. It was nothing like I have
ever seen before. No matter how much time you give to adjust your eyes, you
still can’t see anything. And then she illuminated one cigarette lighter. And it
was enough to see everything in the vast hall: we could see every detail of the
stone walls, every hair on the next person’s body! It was an amazing
experience.
We completed our tour in little less than three hours. It
was already afternoon and the campers were setting their camps up behind the
thick woods. Delicious smells wafted our way from their bar-be-ques. We took a
trail that led to a river called Green River. The trail was a deserted narrow
gravel road with thick trees on both sides. We met few deer along the way and a
few abandoned cabins. This made me finally understand why Americans made so
many spooky movies, because of so many readily available perfect locations!
The river was again a beautiful sight; people went rowing
in the river in their own canoes. Some rented them! People like us.
As much as we were enjoying the adventure, it started
raining again. It must have decided that it had given us enough breathers for
the day. So we had no choice but to return to the hotel we had booked.
As soon as we got into the car, everyone was suddenly very
tired and in a hurry to get back to the warmth of the hotel room. We drove
seven miles to our hotel in an angry downpour.
After we had bathed and dried ourselves up, we sat on the
recliners at the veranda with cups of hot cocoa and called it a day! It was
exhausting but a fulfilling adventure nevertheless!
Love,
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Riot of Random
