Mammoth Cave National Park
A trip of many firsts--fated to be as harrowing as it was beautiful.
I left Knoxville around 7am yesterday after a great weekend with my bestie Sam. Including a pit stop and a brief trip to the Walmart in Glasgow, KY, I got to Mammoth Cave National Park in about four hours. The park is an impressive canopy covering some 90 square miles of land to the North and South of the Green River just on the Western edge of Appalachia about halfway along the diagonal between Nashville, TN and Louisville, KY. The first of the parks along my way and a real treat.
The Maple Springs trailhead, near Maple Springs Campground, took me to Big Hollow Trail. Comprised of two loops, a North Loop and a South Loop, my Big Ride of the Day was 12 miles of shady goodness. It’s an easy ride that rolls along with spurs here and there offering technical challenges for more advanced riders. I thought I had it figured out until I took a wrong right fork and had to quickly stop before a sheer three foot drop. Not quite brave enough for anything like that yet. Just kind of happy to be on trails without having to worry about roots and rocks.
There were a number of stream crossings—largely dry at this point, but still fun to ride across—and a handful of bridges. I did catch a few inches of air here and there on some of the jumpy spots. At several points, I had to stop and shake spider silk and a couple of unwanted hitchhikers off my arms, face, body, bike, and legs. Besides a few people on foot, I was afforded free rein over the trails. It was my first big bike ride on my first big road trip, and my first time solo out on a mountain bike.
Had lunch in the shade at the trailhead parking lot and enjoyed the company of some busy bumble bees going to town on the wildflowers around me. It’s funny, but just about anything tastes like it’s from a James Beard award-winning restaurant when you’re starving… including two spinach wraps with some cheese, avocado mayo, and jalapeno-flavored tuna in them.
After a bit of shade and a blissful lunch that tasted like heaven after burning 1500 calories, I made my way over to Mammoth Cave Campground. Along the way, I got to cross the Green River on a ferry. I’ve ridden ferries before, but not one quite like this. The small, moving platform carried me and one other car across the river at the same time. A few short miles through canopied road and I found myself at my home for the evening. I stopped at the camp store and picked up a couple of postcards for my parents and uncle and a rainbow Mammoth Cave sticker as a souvenir for myself.
I managed to get camp setup somewhere around 4:30pm and went for a short ride along the gravel rail trail that runs through the park. Shortly before I turned around, I spotted a roadside vista. On the way back, I stopped, and lo and behold: it’s a vantage point to view the very edge of Appalachia. I’ve never thought about Appalachia as a region before—only really recognizing that the Appalachian Mountains are a thing. So after a short moment reading plaques, I headed back to camp for some freeze-dried pad thai.
That night, I went on the lantern-lit eponymous Star Chamber tour at Mammoth Cave. The cold air blowing up from the entrance was sheer bliss. I’d spent the day in mid-90s heat. Even being in the shade the whole time, I had nary a dry moment. We descended into the cave and saw two of its bigger attractions: the star chamber and gothic avenue. Surely a place of power, I and everyone else on the tour found the two hour walk invigorating and wonderful. I chatted briefly with one of the rangers on the way up about the ecology of the cave—since bats no longer roost there, surely it has changed. Definitely a subject worth reading about.
I made it back to the campsite at 9, said good night to the forest friends around me, and said hello to the screaming child that would keep me up until well after midnight. I’m looking forward to some of the dispersed camping I’m doing, and, hopefully, to a better night’s sleep tonight.