May 23-28, 2008---Sunday we took the day off to lounge around Jellystone and take part in the activities they offered. On Monday we headed to Mammoth Cave National Park. We had a rocky start to the morning when I slammed Anna Catherine's arm in the door of the van. I slammed the door hard and it closed completely. Thankfully, nothing was broken or bleeding. There wasn't really a bruise either, just a small scratch. She put an ice pack on it and it was fine. We were very, very lucky!!! I vow to be much more observant when closing doors from now on!
We were six of a gazillion people who thought it would be a good idea to go to the cave on Memorial Day. A majority of the tours were sold out (including the "Frozen Niagara" tour that we wanted to do because it only had 13 steps and was 75 minutes long). None of the tours were handicap accessible so we would be carrying Chloe and possible Jackson through the entire tour. Rick was lucky enough, however, to book us on the two hour, 500 step "New Entrance" Tour (he failed to look at a description of the tour before buying the tickets). While waiting for our tour to begin we took a walk on one of the nature hikes at the National Park and hoped to do more after lunch. A sign said no cameras inside the cave so I had Rick take my camera back to the van. The sign was apparently there in error because photography was allowed inside the cave. No big deal though...I bought postcards. It would have been difficult for me to keep up with a camera and take pictures during this tour.
The tour started with a bus ride to the "New Entrance". From there we descended almost 300 feet below ground via 286 very wet and slippery steps that were extremely, extremely steep. I started off carrying Jackson because he went into a complete panic attack on the fist step. My poor baby is scared of the dark and every time his arm, leg, back, etc. touched a rail or rock he completely freaked out and tried to climb on top of my head. Rick had Chloe and Anna Catherine was walking on her own. Shortly after we began Rick and I swapped kids because I was also having a panic attack and could not handle Jackson. For those of you who do not know, I have a terrible fear of heights, falling, darkness, and tight spaces. This cave combined all of them into one horrific experience. You could see off the side of the railing and the metal steps had holes in them so you could see the drop-off as you were looking down to find your footing. Chloe was hanging onto me like a clinger monkey and I was so scared that I was going to fall or drop her. My heart was probably beating 200 beats per minute because it felt like it was going to jump out of my chest. No lying, sweat was pouring off of me--head, hair, face, hands, etc. My clothes were wet as if I had been sprayed with a water hose. My face was completely red and I couldn't breathe. If I could have laid down on the steps, curled into the fetal position and never moved again, I would have!!! Rick, Jackson, and Anna Catherine were ahead of me and I lost sight of them not far from the beginning. Mimi was behind me and encouraged me thorough the whole thing. At times I had to turn side ways, squat, and duck just to get Chloe and myself through the tight spots. Believe me, I had a few choice words for Rick when we got to the meeting spot. Jackson was still quite upset so the park ranger let him hold the flashlight. This made him happy for a little while. After a short Q&A session we continued with the tour and Rick held Chloe while Jackson and I panicked together. There were still over 200 steps throughout our tour but they were spaced enough that it wasn't as big a deal. We still had times of freaking out due to steep drop-offs and narrow openings but Jackson did walk part of it on his own. I really couldn't enjoy the cave because I was too focused on getting out. We were so proud to see daylight!!!
You are probably saying to yourself, "If you have this fear, why did you go on a cave tour?" Well, we went to Blanchard Springs Caverns in Arkansas last summer and it was a fun experience. We rode an elevator to get to the start of the tour. The tour was handicap accessible so Jackson and Chloe rode in the stroller while Mimi, Anna Catherine, and I walked. It had great lighting and interesting formations. Rick and Cliff took part in the Wild Cave tour there. I'm so glad Rick stayed with us on this tour or else we would never have made it to the end.
After our bus ride back to the visitor's center, we ate lunch at a cafe inside the Mammoth Cave Hotel. It began to rain so we weren't able to hike any trails. I think everyone was so exhausted from our whole cave ordeal that it wasn't a big deal. We all took a good nap once we were back at the cabin.
Mammoth Cave is the longest cave system in the world with over 360 feet of mapped and explored connected caves. People are continuously mapping this cave system. There were so many other tours that we could have taken. I wouldn't have a problem if the descent had not been so traumatic. Visit their website if you're interested: http://www.nps.gov/maca/
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