Tag: Kentucky

Back to Kentucky 2 ….One Mammoth step ahead of claustrophobia.

We arrived at Mammoth Cave National Park with no real expectations, but it was much busier than we predicted with no tickets left for the Historic Tour on the first day we were there…so we booked what we could…which was the last slot in the afternoon of the following day. Although not terribly convenient for us, it’s great to see these sites being well appreciated.

The self guided tour has less restriction on numbers so we did it as a ‘taster’ for the ranger led tour. It turned out to be a quite magnificent experience and left us quite excited for the next day.

We took the opportunity in the morning for the Green River Bluffs above ground hike…..then munched our packed lunches and headed for the gathering point.

Really lucked out with this tour selection (being the end of the day) as there was a much smaller than usual number of people (37 instead of 110).

There was a list of dire warnings from the rangers to not go in if you had heart conditions, breathing issues, claustrophobia, fear of heights etc. Honestly…they keep you moving at a steady pace as there’s a lot of terrain to cover and the whole thing is so darn fascinating that you kinda forget how far underground you are…..

The lead Ranger stopped at this historic point to show us the ‘pictures’ on the ceiling….

There are coloured mineral patches on the ceiling that look like bears, and a grim reaper….

Maybe you have to actually be there to see it……but apparently this has been part of the tourist presentation since the very first tours in the cave back in 1816.

You really can see some pretty awesome scenes in the ‘pictures’….but maybe its a bit like staring at clouds and seeing balloon animals…LOL

The pace continues through the cave….one Ranger in the lead and one as the caboose making sure no one is left behind……we were hanging back at the rear to try to take some pictures without the whole group in them….

Deep into the cave there is lots of 1800’s graffiti. Names and dates of often slaves who were some of the first tour guides. They daubed the letters using soot from tallow candles. It’s remarkably neat.

The bottomless chasm……there is (thankfully) a rail….no I did not look down…!!!

The way they described the next part of the cave….fat mans misery…..an hourglass shaped channel through the rock…..

I was dreading just how narrow it might be…..other than the rock being a bit slimy…..it wasn’t that bad…!!!

Then ‘tall mans agony’…..a challenge on the neck creeping through…..This is where I’d expect claustrophobia to catch up with us, but you’re moving along at such a clip I think we were staying just ahead of it.

At the lowest point that the tour goes to…86M/263ft…there is a big chamber that is one of the places that fills with water after stormy weather…..the recorded flood levels had reached record highs a couple of times this year……again….it was a place you had to be standing in to really appreciate how impressive the thought of it being filled with flood water…!!!

Then we started climbing again….

to ‘the fire tower’…the rock formations here were massive…..these cone shaped vertical channels look like something out of a sci-fi movie……and the 270 stairs up had a real ‘Batman Begins’ look to them

… the long ascent up these wet and slimy (and numerous..!!) stairs….

I have to say it was almost disappointing to come to the end….it sure did not feel like 2 hours down there……

The Rangers do a great job……the lead Ranger explained at the end that they pass the stories and the histories down largely by word of mouth…the intent being to keep this Historic tour as authentic to the origins of the Mammoth tourist experince as they can.

I am still blown away by how much I/we enjoyed this experience. What started as a ‘push the comfort zone’ turned out to be a ‘so glad I did that’ life experience.

Extra Pix

Back to Kentucky, Mammoth Cave National Park.

Continuing north and beginning the travel westward (towards home) took us back through Kentucky, but this time on the west side of the state. We had bypassed Mammoth Cave National Park on the journey south…so we took the opportunity to visit on the return northward. As I searched the campgrounds around the area , and found a Boondockers Welcome site just 15 minutes from the park gate…… Ideal.!!

This BW host had power and water available…bonus in the warm, humid July weather in Kentucky.

Mammoth Cave NP, despite its proximity to The Great Smoky Mountains (the US’s most visited park) is one of the least visited parks. I’m not sure why….we found it to be a fabulous place to visit.

On our first trip in to the park we booked tickets to do the self guided tour into the first part the Mammoth cave system. Being a bit on the claustrophobic side, I was expecting this to be slightly challenging…….but no……. Mammoth Cave is just that….mammoth….!!! Going down the steps into the cave you transition from that warm humid air of the surrounding forest….. quickly into the cool 54F (12C) of the cave.

After moving through the security gates at the entrance, the cave quickly opens up into the Rotunda, a chamber that feels like a huge ballroom. The dome of the chamber looks like a carefully crafted coffered ceiling.

There is a bit of an adjustment to the low light and a realisation that a flashlight would have been a good thing to bring.

At the far end of the area available for this self guided tour we met and chatted with a young and enthusiastic ranger who had many stories and insights into the history of the cave.

Like much of Kentucky and Tennessee, the cave has its own history of enslavement. It was a rich source of saltpeter during the War of 1812 when slaves were utilised to extract the minerals to feed the war machine. (NB. The Revolutionary war ended in 1783 and resulted in the Declaration of independence of the United States from British rule. The War of 1812 was about establishing Maritime rights and resolving trade restrictions imposed by the British fleet hence requiring a domestic source of gunpowder ingredients…!!!)

Mammoth Cave is the longest cave system in the world…..with much of it still unexplored. The whole system has been formed by water seeping down through the limestone layers…….the architecture of the walls and ceiling are a testament to the power of water and time.

On our way back out we were fortunate to meet up with the young ranger again as he shared more stories and pointed out some of the relics found in the cave from its pre 18th century history.

We were quite enthralled by the cave….so the plan for the next day was to find an above ground hike for the morning and then follow the Historic Tour underground in the afternoon.

The Green Bluffs Trail.

Green Bluffs trail was the overground choice. We packed a lunch and a change of clothes. (It was a very warm and very humid day……this part of the world seems to experience sudden short thunderstorms with impressive….but thankfully short downpours)

….and set off on the trail.

The trail follows a high path above the Green River, luckily in shade most of the way.

The trail weaves back down to the river…….we followed the boardwalk out of curiosity and found that it led to the outflow river from the cave itself….

Continuing on the path which was not the most challenging we have ever done….but definitely as hard as one wanted to be working in the humidity.

Beautiful trail….strangely no bugs…!!! (not complaining)…then a bit of a diversion as they were constructing boardwalks on part of the trail.

We found one of the strangest….and coolest fungi I have seen on our travels……

….and much evidence that the river has seen very large volumes of water recently. The ford and boat launch were closed and you could see how high the muddy waters had flowed recently.

Due to the harvesting of the early settlers, the native trees of the area have been largely replaced by maples which were considered low quality lumber…..so were not harvested thereby reseeding and becoming the dominant tree species…..

a very beautiful morning…..but now we were ready for the cool cave in the afternoon…….after a sandwich and a lot of re-hydrating.

Extra Pix

Kentucky 5. Stone Bridges.

If you ever have the occasion to look into the main attractions of Kentucky, besides the obvious bourbon attraction…what you will find is many images of the natural rock bridges, predominantly in the Daniel Boone National Forest. The forest itself is a phenomenal landscape covering 708,000 acres of land.

Having seen some of the pictures, and after a bit of map research…I plotted a route that would let us get in a moderate hike (leg stretching) but also visit a few more places of wonder……. we were not disappointed.

It was another early morning start (1. beat the heat and 2. beat the crowds) and a drive up to Grays Arch trailhead. It promised a 6 km out and back hike with a view.

After a torturous 4 mile drive up a pothole ridden gravel forest trail…the trailhead had nicely shaded parking.

Gray’s Arch Trail

Off we trotted on a mostly downward trail into the valley where the arch was promised.

For how moist and shaded the trail was (and how much fluid was leaking out of our skin) there were surprisingly few mosquitos.

There were a few trees downed on the trail…….

There are some pretty impressive rock formations on the way down….

…some stairs…then the path descends further….then more stairs down…….

Almost at the bottom you are rewarded with a glimpse of the stone bridge…….

..and then down at the bottom the huge rock formations are impressive to say the least.

A short scramble up the other side has you standing under this enormous other worldly stone arch. Just WOW…!!!

Now all you have to do is climb back out of the gulley…..!!!

Princess Arch

The next stop along the loop was Princess Arch..this one was a 15 minute walk in…to an arch that you could walk over the top of then loop around and walk underneath……lending itself very nicely to photo ops.

Right across the parking lot was a bonus trail and lookout point at Chimney Top.

The signage was………interesting….!!!!

The view was spectacular……

Sky Bridge

Sky Bridge is reviewed as one of the most impressive arches.

It’s another one where the trail loops over the top and then back underneath. We set off in opposite directions expecting another photo op….. but …unfortunately there is not a point from the top where you can see the trail underneath and vice versa….

..it was still a pretty impressive stone bridge tho…

Angel Windows

Last but not least, another trail heading down into a valley (15 minute walk) to Angel Windows.

A very pretty little spot with a double arch. The kind of place that would be perfect for a picnic….if it was not quite so busy.

In its defense there were not loads of people there…but a steady stream of visitors coming down the trail, taking their pictures (just like us) and then climbing back out.

All in all a beautiful drive through the forest and some spectacular pieces of natures architecture. All in all a grand day out on a hot day….so of course we had to finish it up at an ice cream store….. 😁🍦

Extra Pix

Kentucky 4. Finger lickin’ edible

Corbin turned out to be a great spot for a bit of R and R….(as well as the occasional killer hike…!!!)

After the long weekend of fireworks (yup from Thursday to Tuesday…fireworks every night) our big ‘who-knew-it -was-there for Corbin Kentucky was…… the actual birthplace of KFC, Kentucky Fried Chicken.

I cannot confess to being a fan of KFC….however…when in Rome…..

So of course we had to go down to the Harland Sanders museum..

..and yes we had to eat there.

I can’t tell you if it was finger licking good cos we had the pot pies (who knew KFC did pot pies) which were surprisingly good…not overly salty or greasy and made with real vegetables…..LOL…..

Like so many American icons…the museum is a much more fascinating place than you might expect……

….and like most things…when you look at where they started…….there’s an interesting story…and Harland Sanders was definitely an interesting man.

Kentucky 3. Trying to kill Steve (unsuccessfully..!!)

As we continued our journey south, searching for a spot that was accessible for the Daniel Boone National Forest…and had a site available over the long weekend (July 4th being a ‘thing’ in the USA…!!!) I snagged a site at a KOA campground in Corbin, Kentucky.

It took us close enough to another expat friend (Hi Steve..!!) who lives in North Carolina to make an epic drive (he drove up through the tail of the dragon) to come and join us for the weekend.

Searching for this campspot, I was really more concerned about finding a decent location to stop during America’s ultimate party (and fireworks) weekend…..not following the brief of the bourbon trail. So…I managed to book us into a town that bridges two counties….both of them dry counties…LOL…so much for obscure bourbon tours and tastings.

We made up for it by having Cumberland Falls State Park right next door. Between us we picked a hike, which according to Alltrails was a moderate, 9.3km, 2 and a half hour hike. …and enticingly named Cumberland Falls and Dog Slaughter Falls (we preferred to read that as Dogs Laughter Falls….it just felt less disturbing.)

An early rise to beat the heat and the parking lot had a few vintage vehicles show up before we started….

We admired them for a bit then donned our boots, hoisted our packs and set off……

The trail was lovely and followed the river….as we began there were multiple rafts and kayaks lowering into the water to follow pretty much the same path as us.

The path was rocky and up and down most of the way………

Many parts had stone, or wooden constructed stairs…the stairs blended with the environment by being extremely uneven and treacherously moss covered.

All requiring careful foot placement.

There were spots where we opened out onto the river again……and the rafts were not catching up to us…

The trail proved trickier than its promise…..lots of little ups and downs ……

A bit of rock clambering and a few spots where downed trees blocked the path requiring looping up and scrambling through some pretty dense forest.

We were grateful for the shade on this trail as the temperature climbed….. also grateful for having started early enough that we were not at the peak heat of the day.

But there were lots of rock formations and overhangs to stop and stare at….

….and many stone ‘staircases’ (mostly moss covered and slippery)

Many spots with downed trees that required climbing over …

….or completely re-routing around

…..and a few narrow paths to edge around…… (not my favourite)

Crossing one of the tributary creeks to the river we came across a well placed bridge. I am not a fan of jumping into the unknown…..so after the boys leapt ably across the rocks….

I chose to scramble down the mudbank (yes I am a big wuss..!!!! )

Hydrating amply as we walked (between the humidity and the sweat we were all pretty soaked by this point) we made it to the last little climb to Dogs Laughter Falls.

Very pretty. Other people had come in via a much simpler route so we left them to frolic in the cool water with just a mild spat of envy. Checking out some huge dragonflies and weird ‘ufo looking’ spiders….!!!

Time to trudge on back……

The return journey was made harder by the fact that we were now on tired legs (and on our first real hike of the season)…….

…the path always seems a little steeper…..the stairs more numerous….

..the coolness of the rock overhangs and falling water was most welcome.

But at last we returned to that long flight of stairs we recognised from MUCH earlier in the day. A couple more turns and at last the Cumberland Falls re-appeared…..

Suffice to say that the trail description lacked accuracy. Five and a half hours later we emerged muddy sweaty and ready to admit that it might take a few days before that seemed like fun.

Back at the visitor centre/parking lot……ice cream and large pops all round to lift us a little before heading home for showers and cold beer.

It was a good hike…but maybe a bit more than planned for a first outing of the season. Steve was a good sport allowing me to take frequent rests and slow the pace on the way back.

Thanks for joining us Steve…..I thoroughly enjoyed the company on the hike. (Does it seem like more fun now ?….or still too soon…!!! 😆)

Extra pix

Kentucky 2. Bourbon County Bourbon, Paris Kentucky.

After a quick (google) search around Blue Licks….the nearest Liquor Store (Kentucky has this radical notion of selling liquor , wine and beer from the same store) was on Old Paris Road….in Carlisle. That alone made it worth the trip to see what kind of beer we could find.

(Nb. We lived in the town of Paris Ontario….for 30+ years…)

Whilst browsing the store we came across a Daniel Boone Settlement Rye Whiskey. It seemed to be one worth further investigation given the history we had found ourselves in the midst of.

We struck gold with our first official Kentucky bourbon stop on this bourbon trail adventure, Regeneration in Winchester KY. They have a partnership with a local restaurant, Beech Springs Cafe, making it a perfect lunch spot with free whiskey/moonshine tasters. (and the service was excellent too…!!) They make a whiskey made from rye grown on land Daniel Boone farmed……how cool is that…..and it tastes not half bad…!!! (yes I have a bottle.) Winchester is a lovely town…beautiful old brick buildings constructed between the late 1800’s to early 1900’s.

Winchester itself is a pretty little town…we had a wander up and down the main street….

Having passed around the edge of Paris, KY on the way to Regeneration..it was most fortuitous to find the other nearby distillery, Hartfield and Co…was located in the middle of the town of Paris itself. It seemed like too good an opportunity to miss…so we hot-footed back there and found a parking spot to run in and book ourselves on the tour.

This was a great one to pick….not only are they a young, family owned company (opened in 2016) but they are also the only Kentucky Bourbon Distillery actually operating in Bourbon County where it all began. (Pre-prohibition Bourbon County had 29 distilleries…!!)

It was a superb tour looking at the bones of this growing operation as they follow in the footsteps of many before them to becoming established in the bourbon world.

It speaks of the ingenuity, the grit and graft of this family as they make it work.

Tour done…..and thoroughly enjoyed……it was time for a bit more discovery in the town itself.

I did not know, but do now…!!….that Paris is a major thoroughbred horse town. Driving between towns takes you through the most amazing, lush, rolling landscape filled with horse farms, manicured fields dotted with beautiful horses, picture perfect fences and magnificent stables.

The sidewalks through town have the names and shoes of all the famous horses from here….

The most famous being Secretariat, who was owned by a local stable…and was buried locally after his passing.

Thus far the decision to stay off the beaten track and search for smaller, lesser known distilleries has paid off. Not being lead by the nose through glitzy tourist information, but happening upon obscure but fascinating historical bubbles has so much more appeal.

I will raise my glass to the next ‘who-knew-it-was-there’ spot.

Extra Pix

Kentucky 1. Blue Licks Battlefield State Park.

I’m reluctant to say that we start the travel season without much of an itinerary…but we do start with either an overall theme (ie. route 66 last year) or an end point, and evolving as we find stuff along the way.

This year the idea was to follow the Bourbon trail through Kentucky and Tennessee……or at least use it as a theme to give us a direction of travel.

Researching Kentucky suggested we needed to be down around Lexington to start. So my first search was for an interesting camping spot somewhere around there. I tried to get in to Buffalo Trace State Park…but sadly it was not available for the dates I needed…..(boooo…!!) Searching Kentucky State parks I happened on Blue Licks Battlefield Resort State Park…..the name alone was irresistible (if you know me you will not be surprised at this…LOL)

I was panicking a bit as we approached Kentucky as I had been told some stories about the roads, ‘S’ bends and steep up and downs…….and the State Park I had picked for our first stop all of a sudden looked like it might be the middle of nowheresville.

The road was thankfully much less dramatic than I feared……and we arrived at this lovely little park run by a super friendly ‘friends of the park’ group. (…and the online booking site for Kentucky State parks is one of the best I have come across..!!)

Blue Licks Battlefield was the scene of the last big battle of the Revolutionary war……and Daniel Boone fought here…and lost his son in the battle.

The Blue Licks name and the Licking River, as strange as they sound, turn out to be because this area is an old inland sea. The area has significant salt deposits which were a big draw for roaming mammoths and mastadons ( I love that..!!) then latterly roaming bison herds. The word Trace in the place name refers to it being an ancient path carved out of the landscape where these great creatures walked. eg Buffalo Trace.

In the early days of European settlements the salt deposits served to provide income and trading goods…..and with a bit more ‘civilisation’ , health spas.

Imagine our surprise to find the remains of the Arlington Hotel…!!!

Even tho temps were in the mid 30’s C (low to mid 90’sF) the intrepid explorers set off to follow the Licking River Heritage trail using Alltrails.

Another little factoid for this trail is that it is reputed to be roughly the trail that Daniel Boone took to escape from the battlefield.

oh…and then there’s the local flora..…Shorts goldenrod..….I have never seen goldenrod any other colour than bright yellow….this stuff was very pretty…..

We set off early to follow the trail…it was not long, but the day was promising much heat and humidity.

Last year we had little opportunity for actual hikes and I had forgotten to carry a walking pole with me…..not for walking but on forest trails the lead person is constantly walking into lone spider silks that whisper across your skin…..carrying the big stick in front of your face helps reduce the unpleasant feathery yeuch factor on this one.

At the outer curve of this loop hike there is a reproduction of Tanner Station. A pioneering time operation to extract salt from the local salt springs…..and a little photo op.

It was a little more than an hour walk but we arrived back absolutely soaked between the heat and the humidity.

The park has a great little museum on site. An easy stroll from the campground and a good afternoon to be in air conditioning…!!!!

The ranger in the museum was great……very engaging. He showed us some of the artifacts he has reproduced using techniques from the first peoples of the area.

This is a tulip poplar bark basket.

Extra Pix