If you think we have a lock on wild scenic country in the west, think again. Here we are in the middle of Kentucky, a half days drive by freeway to places like Cincinnati, Louisville and Memphis . Yet we are caught in a time warp. Our campground in Mammoth Caves National Park has no electricity, no water, no cell phone coverage, no cable TV and no WiFi.
What we have been doing is learning about mining bat guano to produce saltpeter during the war of 1812 with Great Brittan to make gun powder. We have been learning about a cave so huge, something like 400 miles of caves, that it was named Mammoth.

I must admit that we just came from Blanchard Springs Cave in northern Arkansas and we think that cave is much more beautiful. Blanchard is a live cave with fantastic flow stone formations. Mammoth is miles and miles of dry limestone caverns with a couple small rooms of flow stone. We were duly impressed but on a different scale. It was easy to imagine ourselves visiting the caverns in the summer of 1816 when the first tours were conducted by Stephen Bishop, “…a self educated enslaved person who became a legendary cave guide.” The saltpeter operation was over and the owners created one of the first tourist industry destinations in the US. The last 8.7 miles was covered by a narrow gauge railroad running a cute little 2-4-0 engine called a “dummy engine.” It towed a small passenger and baggage car up the hill to the Mammoth hotel and cave. The National Parks system didn’t become involved until 1926 and didn’t become fully operational until 1941.
I will get a couple of photos in the blog in a couple days. Meanwhile this e-mail will have to do. Like I say we are in a time warp.
Gary and Judy
P.S. I am getting this out through a worm hole, (wifi over at the hotel.)
Gary
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