When the Clan Went to Mammoth Cave in Kentucky

Mammoth Cave may be the largest cave system in America and is possibly the largest in the world.  The cave has been known forever and part of the spectacle is open to guided tours.  It wasn't enough for Cadillac Man to show his Old Fucker independence by going to visit by himself.  Nooooo, he went with the whole clan.  (WIKI:  Mammoth Cave National Park)

Ed:  that's not your clan!

His family is a 'near clan' after Cadillac Man and I have hung out together for forty years or so.  It's the same deal as in Australia where every friend of the family becomes an uncle or an aunt.  It's all about clans, see.

Ed:  his family isn't Scottish or Australian!

There were Celts all over Europe.  There were even Celts as far South and East as in Turkey.


Cadillac Man never ignores the history and here's his intro:

The first tour in Mammoth Caves occurred in 1816, two hundred years ago.   My first tour occurred in 1968.   Saturday, forty-eight years later, l again toured the Caves.  I realized how lucky I was to be alive and able. 

The ranger who took my ticket marked Senior gave me a thumbs up.  I believe I was the only senior out of one hundred and twenty people in this group.  On about half or more of the days recently l wouldn't have made it.  But on Saturday l once again did the cave walk.

I know for you it takes much courage and strength every day.  I thought about that before, during and after the five hundred+ steps, bent over to my navel for over one hundred yards at times, during the two-hour constant walk over three+ miles.  I reposted the pictures sent to me by my nephew to your Alan Fraser timeline on Facebook (turns out he is a much better cave photographer than I).

- CM

Note 1:  for a bit more historical perspective, the University of Cincinnati was founded three years later in 1819.

Note 2:  I modified the text slightly to turn digits into text.

Note 3:  Cadillac Man has a higher estimation of my courage than is my own assessment which tells me if I don't do something then no-one else will so I don't see so much courage as expediency.  Uh!  (larfs)

Herewith, the Descent:

It's never too early to start teaching junior spelunkers:

Here, at once, is an example of some unusual geology plus an excellent place to ensure the Clintons never come back to darken democracy again:

I'm not sure what's happening in this one but it appears there may be an underground stream at the bottom of it:

To cap it off, there's one more climb of some stairs to get back to the world you know:

There you have it, the Clan's 2016 Cave Walk and you know there was no stonin' in this one, first from the kids since they were never part of any stoner behavior and, second, because stoners would get into the first chamber of a cave and then decide this is a good place to set up and play so we would stop.  Imagine the acoustics down there, Echo Man.

Thank you, Cadillac Man, and I apologize for being so sluggish about posting them.  I love the spirit in doing this although how about next time in penguin outfits and I know where you can get some really cool ones.  (Ithaka:  Party Like a Penguin at Newport Aquarium)