Marengo Cave
Yeah I know....it's been way too long since I have last written. Work is just keeping me way too stressed and busy. At this point I'm just trying to survive until the end of the year. It's been a rough work year, but this is enough talk about that. It's a much needed Spring Break, and I need to not think about work any more. Yesterday Jack and I decided we needed to get out of the house so we decided to go to Marengo cave. Marengo cave is about an hour south of us in the middle of nowhere. It was a beautiful day and we drove through backroads with the windows open. It was lovely. When we got there we decided to splurge and go on both tours. You got a slight discount if you did both tours and it was so worth it. It was truly and awesome sight to see.
The Pipe Organ
It made me a little sad to see such an incredible sight like this tamed with paved walkways, handrails, and light switches on the walls so each section can be viewed by all the tourists (myself included). Of course without those things the beauty of this place would be restricted to the rare few who would come to this place with out such comforts. I don't know if that is good or bad but it made me feel a little sad nonetheless. They do offer some more down and dirty tours for those who want to experience the cave in a more adventurous fashion. Cave crawls are what they are called and Jack is really wanting to go on one. They require as you would imagine getting down and dirty, crawling through the mud and water on your hands and knees, and even your belly at times. You leave the safety of the cement pathways to see some of the deeper beauty of the lower levels of the cave system which our tour guide assured us is quite spectacular. I must admit I too am intrigued by the thought of this, but am also terrified. I have a great fear of being trapped in tight spaces. I'm afraid I might panic in such a situation where I would be crawling through a tight space and hyperventilate or even pass out! Does this mean I won't do it? Well....I've never been one to let me fears get in the way of something I feel will be an incredible experience. So I probably will, but I'm really going to have to steel my nerves, and psyche myself up for it.
These are a very rare cave formation called "Shields" they require just the right pressure, soft minerals and angle of water flow to create.
Wall of Columns
This is where an ancient river used to flow that helped form the cave system. We walked the length of the tube into a huge cavern which they called ,"The Music Hall"
Cave formation called, "Snow White's Castle".
Flow stone
They call this one "Elephant's Head", but personally I think it looks more like Cthulu
The Dam
This was on the ceiling and was called, "Upside Down New York"
The Pipe Organ
It made me a little sad to see such an incredible sight like this tamed with paved walkways, handrails, and light switches on the walls so each section can be viewed by all the tourists (myself included). Of course without those things the beauty of this place would be restricted to the rare few who would come to this place with out such comforts. I don't know if that is good or bad but it made me feel a little sad nonetheless. They do offer some more down and dirty tours for those who want to experience the cave in a more adventurous fashion. Cave crawls are what they are called and Jack is really wanting to go on one. They require as you would imagine getting down and dirty, crawling through the mud and water on your hands and knees, and even your belly at times. You leave the safety of the cement pathways to see some of the deeper beauty of the lower levels of the cave system which our tour guide assured us is quite spectacular. I must admit I too am intrigued by the thought of this, but am also terrified. I have a great fear of being trapped in tight spaces. I'm afraid I might panic in such a situation where I would be crawling through a tight space and hyperventilate or even pass out! Does this mean I won't do it? Well....I've never been one to let me fears get in the way of something I feel will be an incredible experience. So I probably will, but I'm really going to have to steel my nerves, and psyche myself up for it.
These are a very rare cave formation called "Shields" they require just the right pressure, soft minerals and angle of water flow to create.
Wall of Columns
This is where an ancient river used to flow that helped form the cave system. We walked the length of the tube into a huge cavern which they called ,"The Music Hall"
Cave formation called, "Snow White's Castle".
Flow stone
They call this one "Elephant's Head", but personally I think it looks more like Cthulu
The Dam
This was on the ceiling and was called, "Upside Down New York"