Kentucky: Mammoth Caves National Park

10-11 April 2022

Our spring weather continued to dog us as we left Columbus and drove through sleety rain again. Things cleared by the time we got to Cincinnati. I appreciated the Bradford pear trees, in full bloom, in central Ohio. By the time we made our way through northern Kentucky, the pear blossoms gave way to redbud trees, one of my favorites. Another white bloomer accompanied it in some areas and that was particularly pretty! Redbud is so delicate, with tiny flowers outlining the branches. I love them. We are rapidly moving through spring. Our next drive (to Birmingham, AL) will most likely take us south into “summer”. I miss you greatly, spring!

Nevertheless, we had every intention of riding our bikes around the golf course bike trail at Barren River Lake State Park, but there was one hitch: somewhere along the way we lost one of the end bolt on Dan’s front bike tire axel. Can’t ride like that! 😳 So, we went exploring the park by truck and foot. The Villas here are wonderful—they are sited on the slope above the lake; you park and walk over a footbridge to them. All had nice decks or screened in sunrooms overlooking Barren River Lake. They looked great and I dreamed of hosting the boys and their significant others there with us someday. This park also has a lodge and horseback riding.

On Monday, we drove over to Mammoth Caves NP for the “Domes and Dripstones” tour of the cave. Our Ranger, Michael, was great—very funny, knowledgeable, and informative. After descending 280-some steps into the cave, we found several large “rooms” where Ranger Michael educated us. The whole thing was just amazing. I can’t begin to imagine mapping these caves, let alone the building the steel stairways and handrails. The end of the tour found us in the Frozen Niagara area, where most of the photos, below, were taken. Those formations were spectacular and the park lighting really enhanced them. I think I could’ve spent 20 minutes there, just taking different photos. On the way out of the cave, we were treated to an area where there were a lot of cave crickets. (We also saw bats in the cave in a couple of the domed areas!) 

My favorite photo from the cave tour; silhouettes in front of flowstone in the Frozen Niagara formation.

Shower stream

Cave crickets: not that small; one would fit in the palm of my hand nicely

Unfortunately, we have a leak! Around the edge of the skylight in the living area, water is dripping in. We will have to address this as soon as we can…sigh. Always something.

Redbud taken in the rain outside our RoadHouse. There were better pictures, but we didn’t stop along the roadside to take them.  They’re at peak bloom here in the caves area.

Tomorrow we head south through Tennessee and on to the Birmingham, AL area. Stay tuned!