Monday, August 28, 2017, Cave City, KY

Day 109

For the first time in quite a while, we did not need the heat at night. In fact, the air conditioner kicked on even though it was a cloudy and rainy morning. Our campground was conveniently located only 15 minutes from the Mammoth Cave National Park Visitor Center. Mammoth Cave is the world’s largest with 405 miles of caves surveyed and mapped. We took the morning Historic Cave Tour which was rated “moderate” at 2 hours, included some 500 steps and covered 2 miles. The cave had some large rooms including one about half an acre. The cave is mostly dry and inactive. The cave featured a “bottomless pit” and an area called “fat man’s misery” which was very narrow and low and required one to squat and move sideways. An enjoyable tour and good training for our tour tomorrow which is rated difficult. The afternoon was spent in the Visitor Center’s museum which had a good display of the history and geology of the park. We also hiked the Heritage Trail about .7 mile. We drove the entrance road into the park twice as we ate lunch at our coach and each time going in and going out we passed several deer grazing by the road side. We also saw wild turkeys twice. None of the animals seem fazed by our presence. Another good day and excitement for tomorrow.