Grand Avenue Tour - Mammoth Cave National Park

My first tour of Mammoth Cave National Park was Grand Avenue Tour. It is a 4 hour adventure underground hiking 4 miles point to point. 

My tour was scheduled for 9.45 AM, so I arrived at 9.30 to make sure I have enough time to check in. I printed my ticket at home (the ticket was purchased on Recreation.gov in advance) and showed it at the Visitor's Center. The NPS ranger directed me to Shelter B 5 minutes prior to the tour's departure. I had 10 minutes to look around, so I used that time to get to know some of the history of Mammoth cave. Apparently, it is the longest cave system in the world (over 400 miles!) and it's been in existence for years. Geologically, it is a bit different from other caves. It does not have many stalactites because of the material that the "ceiling" is made of. It is dense enough to prevent water from depositing limestone in the shape of "icicles". There are a few "rooms" where you can see stalactites.

I headed to the meeting point, and precisely at 9.45 after a brief safety message we were loaded into two buses that would drive us 7 miles to the cave entrance.

I was a bit concerned with the prospect of being underground for 4 hours, but after the initial hesitation, I headed in.

My initial impression was, "this is so awesome"! The group was excited chattering away. Almost right away I realized it really will be dark even with all the lighting.

As we walked along the pathway, and I attempted to take videos, I knew half of my footage is just going to waste as it was pitch dark.

Don't look down - it's endless!

The pace of the group was moderate and we didn't have too much time to stop and take pictures until we got to several stops along the route where our tour guide gave us some historical and geological information.

Similar to stalactites that form in wet areas of caves, these are gypsum crusts and flowers in drier areas

One section of the "hike" was very narrow allowing only one person to pass through. I didn't get to take a picture of that, but documented in this video.

The pathway went up and down, but few areas were wet. It was a different experience than I've had before in wetter caves.

The last section of the cave was in a wetter area where I was surrounded by timeless stalactites. They look majestic, but the guide gave us a different perspective - these formations are filling in the caves. They are pretty, but at some point in time the cave will be gone because of them.

After a long walk, the group was tired. On the way back people in the buses were quiet and probably hungry. It was a great way to spend the day. One more tour to go in two weeks!