Adventures in Karst

We drove there on Sunday afternoon and camped overnight. It was a blast, and the first time the boys have camped in a tent. Much fun was had by all. I'm just going straight to the pictures, because that tells the story better anyway!Hiking to one of the sinks. We also hiked to the River Styx Spring (where usually the underground River Styx meets up with the Green River but doesn't right now due to drought) on Monday. We probably wound up hiking about 8 miles or so on Sunday and Monday. Two of those miles were part of an underground tour.
A goofy Wiz showing us one of the entrances into Mammoth Cave. (Not that you can get in from there, but it is an entrance.) This is from the hike on Sunday evening.

Butterflies! Everywhere! Here's a shot of a giant swallowtail. We also saw some tiger swallowtails, but I didn't quite manage a shot of one of those.
We saw lots of doe/faun pairs this weekend. This mom doesn't look so great--I suppose the weather has been affecting foraging.

The boys want to go back and go on other tours of the cave. I'd like to also. It's a unique place. The rivers and streams are still carving out the cave (it has 5 levels at the moment, and is growing every year) so it is always different. It is the largest cave in the world--if you add up the lengths of #2 and #3, Mammoth Cave would still be bigger by 100 miles. It might not be the most spectacular in looks, but you can't beat the sheer size and enormity of the place.

Another reason why Kentucky is unusual.