fall hiking

trail to the Mammoth Cave Natural Entrance

Fall at Mammoth Cave National Park, where better to be outdoors in this season than in a national park.

The underground cave tours are only part of this huge national park. There are hiking trails 'on top' as well, hiking out to the point or down to the Green River, or to the Old Guide Cemetery. With nearly 84 miles of trail in the backcountry, frontcountry and Visitor Center areas combined, from easy to rugged, you're certain to find just the one-on-one with nature you're looking for. Check out the list of trails at NPS.

where old tour guides go

Old Guide's Cemetery, Mammoth Cave National Park

The region has attracted explorers and tourists, and supported the Kentucky tourism industry since the 19th century. One historic site is the Old Guide Cemetery that contains the graves of guides, explorers, and victims of consumption. Twenty-one graves fill Old Guide’s Cemetery. Three are known to be patients from the experimental consumption hospital, run by the landowner Dr. John Croghan. Another grave is that of Stephen Bishop, famous enslaved cave explorer and guide of Dr. Croghan. ~NPS

under construction

We made another visit to Mammoth Cave this weekend, loving it being so close.

The walkway from the Visitor Center to the Motel is being renovated, which is more complicated than it sounds, as it involves a bridge over the trail to the main cave entrance. The bridge is also the way to the ice cream shop which is a tradition after conquering the Wild Cave Tour :)

domes and dripstones

Mammoth Cave - we took another new tour (new to us) Domes and Dripstones:

Domes & Dripstones

Take a 4 mile bus ride from the visitor center to the New Entrance to Mammoth Cave. Descend approximately 280 stairs through a dramatic series of domes and pits. Continue the journey through large Mammoth sized passages and conclude the cave experience as you take a short walk through a variety of dripstone formations. The tour exits at the Frozen Niagara Entrance to the cave where visitors board a bus for a ride back to the visitor center. It's a great way to see the many faces of some of Mammoth Cave's passage ways.

This tour includes the entire Frozen Niagara Tour route and a small portion of the Grand Avenue Tour route.

Duration: 2 hours Distance: 3/4 mile Total Stairs: 500, including 280 on the initial staircase descent Difficulty: Moderate Tour Capacity: 118 Price: $15 Adults, $10 Youth, $7.50 Special Access Tour Times: 9:30, 11:00, 12:15, 2:00

The tour was short in hiking length, but covered a lot of interesting cave features. The manmade entrance was very narrow and proved to be quite claustrophobic for some fellow cavers who had to bail before getting started. 

Great Onyx Cave

Here in Kentucky we have to visit Mammoth Cave, less than 2 hour drive through the country.

We actually found a cave tour we had not been on before, the Great Onyx Lantern Tour. The online description:

Great Onyx Lantern Tour

Learn the legends and rumors of early community life as you travel by bus to Great Onyx Cave. The Great Onyx cave was a privately owned and operated cave along Flint Ridge until the 1960's. Discover how Great Onyx survived the Cave Wars and emerged as one of the most pristine show caves in the region. Exploring this beautifully decorated natural wonder by lantern light offers a different perspective to the multitudes of dripstone, gypsum, and helictite formations.

Special Notice: This cave is toured within Mammoth Cave National Park, but is not known to connect with the Mammoth Cave System.

Age Limit: 6 and over Duration: 2¼ hours Distance: 1 mile Total Stairs: 40 Difficulty: Moderate Tour Capacity: 38

All of the tour guides at Mammoth Cave are very informative, but we were especially fortunate to have a Kentucky local as our guide, and did he know his history! We learned all about the cave wars and the acquisition of the Great Onyx Cave.

Always make reservations ahead of time, it is very easy at Recreation.gov. And don't forget to use your senior pass for half price!

Be sure to check out the Visitors Center, the exhibit area has a film of the history of the cave and a segment on the Dirty Jobs visit, narrated by Mike Rowe.

thanks NPS

National Park Service Senior Pass cost increases on August 27, 2017 from $10 to $80.

Folks are scrambling around trying to find them everywhere (kind of like the eclipse glasses), us included.

We left Mississippi for a 2 week vacation and tried to find the passes along the way. We tried the office in Blairsville, GA, stopped at the visitor center in the Smokies near Cherokee, NC where the ranger told us he heard the only ones left in the entire Southeast region were at a military park north of Atlanta. We stopped at the Townsend, TN welcome center with no luck. We called Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park in GA, on the recorded message they stated they had No Senior Passes! Our last chance was back in Mississippi at the BLM office in Jackson, MS, where we finally lucked out!  We knew we could go online to get them, but according to the website, it would take months and cost twice as much. 

So why do we need a Senior Pass? The National Parks here in the East do not charge admission, but the ones out West do, so we are just planning ahead, for retirement travel.

But wait - we just checked nearby Mammoth Cave NP and with the Senior Pass we can get discounts on cave tours and camping! And also at our favorite campground in the Smokies - Elkmont, half price campsites discounted from $23 down to $11.50. 

Thanks NPS! I know you need the money hence the price increase, but thanks for announcing the change ahead of time so all of us old folks could take advantage of the lower price.

What's in your wallet?

reading escape

In my quest to read all of Nevada Barr's books this summer - about Anna Pigeon, NPS ranger - in order, I am on #11 out of 19. And what a good time to be reading about the National Parks - in this centennial year. And what a good way to escape the oppressing summer heat in southern LA.

Although I have read a few of these books before, and each book is good even if read alone, it is so different reading them all at once in chronological order, getting to know the characters better, remembering their history and watching relationships grow and change. 

I am enjoying reading about all the different national parks, recognizing some of the places she describes, making a list of places to see in the future, and trying to help her solve the many mysteries she stumbles upon. Yes, the stories in these books are fiction, but the description of the parks is accurate and detailed, going places only park rangers have access to, as Ms. Barr was once a national park ranger herself.

11 - Flashback. This one is set in the Dry Tortugas National Park about 70 miles off the coast of Key West. We did not make the trek to see this park while we were in Key West, but the Fort Jefferson there is much the same design as Fort Zachary Taylor in Key West pictured here.

"The arches forced perspective, creating the illusion that the dimly lit vaults continued on to infinity." ~Nevada Barr - Flashback

9 - Blood Lure. Set in Glacier National Park, she joins a team of bear researchers and hikes along the Highline Trial (just like us!) to get to their backcountry habitat.

"For the first mile or so, she walked Highline, an improved trail that followed the ridge east of Flattop Mountain, winding back to the Going to the Sun Road where the trailhead was. At about seventy-two hundred feet in elevation, where Highline dog-legged south, Anna turned north, traveling cross-country toward the glacial cirque below Cathedral Peak’s south-southwestern slope." ~Nevada Barr - Blood Lure

6 - Blind Descent. Set in Carlsbad Caverns National Park, ranger Pigeon joins a rescue team traveling deep into a non-public area without marked trails. We have not been to Carlsbad, but this reminds me of our many trips to Mammoth Cave NP, and the unmarked trails, absolute darkness, and cool temperature described reminds me of the Wild Cave Tour there.

"The trail wound through enormous blocks of limestone studded with rough grayish-white formations called popcorn, then vanished in darkness beneath a low arch in the rock. Though impressive, and the size a relief to her fear-tightened mind, the cave had no life and no color. In a land devoid of sunlight, color was superfluous." ~Nevada Barr - Blind Descent

national park quilt

"Susan Davis, owner of Olde America Antiques and American Quilt Blocks, has created a series of original quilt block designs to pay tribute to the National Park Service Centennial 1916-2016. These are the first quilt blocks created specifically for the National Park Service. Each of these designs is unique with a distinct color combination, the name and nickname of the park, and a matching border to enhance the overall design. The style is American Arts and Crafts." 

Individual blocks are ready to sew and available for purchase starting at $4.95 for a 4x6, up to $32.95 for 12x18.

vacation 2015 - Smokies

Vacation 2015

Day 1 - Great Smoky Mountain National Park

First stop - the new Oconaluftee Visitor Center built in 2011, with the adjacent mountain farm of historic buildings.

new national park

There is a new National Park in development - the Manhattan Project National Historical Park.

The Manhattan Project was a top-secret government program in the United States during World War II to create a nuclear weapon. The massive research and development project included several sites in the United States and employed thousands of people.  

The new Manhattan Project Park will tell the stories of the people, events, science, and engineering that led to the creation of the atomic bombs that helped end World War II.

The park will be located in three states -- Oak Ridge, Tennessee; Hanford, Washington; and Los Alamos, New Mexico.

The park will be managed as a partnership between the Department of Energy, which owns and manages the properties, and the National Park Service.

Goal open date is December 2015.

But for now you can take a virtual tour, see the sites close up, hear the descriptive history and interviews with some of the participants. 

Hanford, Washington

Los Alamos, New Mexico

Devils Tower

Devils Tower - 15 February 2015

Devils Tower, Wyoming, an hour or so west of Rapid City, South Dakota. Where the aliens landed in 1977 via Steven Spielberg and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. No aliens were spotted on this day. All of the farm animals along the route were doing fine. I do, however, have a hankering for a big pile of mashed potatoes.

badlands

Badlands National Park - 15 February 2015

My Valentine's weekend trip to South Dakota included two days of snow and ice and one pretty day, so we took advantage of the sunshine and stayed on the road, first visiting the Badlands to the east of Rapid City. The residents were out showing off and posing for the camera on this Fee Free weekend.