Caving at Hidden River Cave, Kentucky

We had a blast caving with Peggy at Hidden River Cave in Kentucky.  We were especially lucky because, not only was she very pleasant with a great understanding for kids, she also is a Caving Biologist with a veritable treasure trove of information packed into her head!

First we got ourselves set up with bandannas, helmets, and lights.

Then we started our descent down the long flight of stairs to the mouth of the cave.

Our plan was to travel on a short trail to get the feel for caving and then go off-trail and explore with Peggy.

The hole in the rocks is the first trek we went on.  Interestingly enough, you can actually see the moisture in the photo that we could not see while we were down there.  (Thanks to my my new cool camera!)

There was a fair amount of crawling on that one: bear crawling, crawling on our hand & knees, and bottom scootching.  Occasionally we could stand stooped over, and very occasionally we could stand straight up.  Took a short break for snacks and water.

We got plenty of dirty,

Saw plenty of cool things,

like two dozen crayfish -- blind and without pigmentation, a fleeting blind fish (so fast we weren't actually sure we saw him!), and a salamander.

We saw flow stone in the making.

 

It was an entirely new adventure,

And an adventure we'd like to repeat some time!

Thanks, Peggy, for a classic (& educational) caving adventure!

For those of you who might want to do the same, check out http://hiddenrivercave.com!