Saturday, June 13, 2015

Return to Mammoth Caves June 3, 2015

On Wednesday the 3rd of June, 2015, I went with Michael Pierce, Brian Middleton, Shalise Jenkins and Cloid Tippie (and Bonnie, his black laborador) to Mammoth caves. When we arrived, there was a horde of teenagers infesting the place. It was "Girl's Camp" for the poor lot.

I attempted the southern entrance to Mammoth Cave, but a few feet in I realized that my unarmored knees were no match for the jagged rocky floor.

We went back around through the main entrance. Bonnie refused to join us, so Michael remained back at his car with her. The rest of us proceeded in. I checked the main room for remaining crystals; I had placed hundreds of selenite crystals for people to find, and I only counted eleven remaining through the whole cave. Oddly, most were in the main large entrance room. A youth counselor passed me and stumbled around, and I was able to offer some assistance with my absurdly overpowered flashlight. I shared my observation on the remaining crystals, and she noted that most of the young students think in a "heel-to-toe" fashion in caves, in that they tend to want to get out as quickly as possible.

Further in I found a large, off-white, filamentous growth. I suspect it was fungal, though I had never seen such long, thin filaments in a fungal body. Must do more research.



Frozen rivulets of water still make for a slippery floor, compounded by wet clay.


Filamentous (fungal?) thing. Perhaps fungus consuming a bat corpse?

Shalise makes for the narrow precipice, as Tippie waits to catch her just in case.

Lichens abound at the mouth of the cave. Loose nutrients collect here.

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