Park Number: 19/63

First Visited: May 7, 2011

I whisper to Meredith, “This place is unbelievable.” The ranger giving the tour overhears and responds, “Thank you.”

It’s an odd thing to say, with Mere and me later joking that the man must get cave-lonely in his underground office. That his marbles may have been lost in the dark. I mean, how else could one so easily accept gratitude for Mother Earth’s bounty. But maybe he has the right. Maybe we all do.

Mammoth Cave is the longest cave system in the world, and yet, it is still not fully explored. Miles of tunnels and tubes remain uncharted. And while you are inside the earth you can hear the underground rivers carving away at its creation. This place is not stagnant. It continues growing, ever slowly, in the pitch black of the abyss.