Mammoth Cave National Park

My first experience at Mammoth Cave was waking up early to watch the sunrise through the trees above the cave entrance. I was not expecting the fog, frost, and the beautiful first rays of sunlight illuminating it all in its yellow and orange glow. That is what made me first love this park, it could not have been a better morning.

As the park woke up and visitors started to arrive, the cave tours began to start. I had my reservation for the Gothic Avenue cave tour and waited with excited and nervousness as the tour group gathered. This tour had a focus mostly on the cave’s history rather than cave formations. In the images captured, you can see writing on the cave’s walls and ceilings. I had learned that these were names burned in with candle smoke from the very first tours dating as far back as the 1800s. Taking photos in a cave is quite a challenge for many reason. The main reason is how dark everything is, so my only light source are from the lights installed by the park service. Additionally, Mammoth does not allow tripods on the tours so all shots had to be handheld. Other challenges include keeping a constant pace with the tour group, so photo composition is rushed. Also showing the true scale of these cave features is tough without a reference object in the photo. This was my first attempt at cave photography and I hope to improve with more visits in the future.

I hope to go back and join one a different tour featuring some of the unique formations present in the cave. Additionally, Mammoth cave is also a dark sky park. When I had gone, it was a very cold night with lots of overcast, so it would be nice to try to see some stars again. It would also be very nice to explore more above ground on a return trip as well. There is so much to explore in this beautiful park.