Mammoth Caves

This past weekend I joined eight other geology students and Dr. Shoemaker, as we drove five hours south into Cave City Kentucky Friday morning. We left at 9 a.m. from Shawnee and got there a little after 1 p.m. Our two day trip would consist of cave tours, site seeing, and a lot of exploration. We first stopped at the entrance to Horse Cave. We did not take a tour of this cave because Shoemaker said it was dumb.

entrance into Horse Cave

After we checked it out we headed to Mammoth Caves and took our first tour through the man made entrance. This part of the cave was still active so it was very wet and very narrow in the beiging. Our group for the tour was around 20 people so it made it a lot more personal. After a our two hour tour Dr. Shoemaker took us down to River Styx Spring and Ecco River Springs.

Ecco River Springs underground river

After that we hiked back to our van and we drove to our hotel to check in. We at dinner that night at a local Mexican restaurant where I destroyed a Burrito California style. We hung out there for an hour or two then some of the guys and Shoemaker went to the bar. I, being 20 years of age still, returned to my hotel to watch some movies and get some sleep.

The following morning we ate a quick breakfast at the hotel and checked out. We headed to Mammoth Resort to check out an overview of the sinkhole plain from atop Dripping Spring escarpment.

atop Dripping Spring excarpment

After a group picture we headed out to check out the turnhole bend on the Green River. This was also a very scenic outlook.

atop the turnhole bend outlooking the Green River

We followed down the road and stopped at a local dinner in Pig City, Kentucky called Porky Pig dinner. Almost everyone ordered the same thing, Polled Pork BBQ sandwich. After some good food and laughs we went back to Mammoth Caves and took our last tour through the Historic Entrance. This was a much more opened tour with more then 120 people which caused a loud ruckus and confusion, but still enjoyable.

historic entrance into mammoth cave

The tour lasted around an hour and a half and provided a lot of detailed information on the history of the cave. We returned to our van and headed on our journey back to Portsmouth. This was an amazing trip. I am really looking forward to more field study and trips to learn a lot more about Geology. The next Geology trip is March 3-12 in Arbuckle Mountains, Oklahoma!

-BJW

this is a live version of The White Stripes "Ball and a Biscuit"

Its quite possible that Im your third man girl
but its a fact that Im the seventh son
and right now you could care less about me
but soon enough you will care, by the time Im done
Lets have a ball and a biscuit sugar
and take our sweet time about it
lets have a ball girland take our sweet little time about it
tell everyone in the place to just get out
well get clean togetherand Ill find me a soapbox
where I can shout itRead it in the newspaper
ask your girlfriends and see if they know
that my strength is ten fold woman
Ill let you see it if you want to before you go
Its quite possible that Im your third man girl
But its a fact that Im the seventh son
It was the other two which made me your third
But it was my mother who made me the seventh son
And right now you could care less about me
But soon enough you will care by the time Im done