Picture Post #2!
Jun. 21st, 2012 07:32 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
annissamazingPhotos from Mammoth Cave and a bonus one of Dominic being "cute."
This is Dominic's "cute face." It is genuinely cute. It reminds me of Hima's starry-eyed look from Shin Chan.
I put that first so you know he doesn't usually look like this:
It's a lousy picture (I actually took it to demonstrate how narrow the passage was), but I didn't have time to reshoot. I was holding up the people behind me.
This was taken halfway down the huge staircase in the first cave we went into, the "living cave." Everything was cold and damp here and I was sort of terrified I'd slip because the rails were so slick.
Next:
This was near the end of the first cave type. This was a perfectly Dominic-sized tunnel. The rest of us had to stoop to get through.
I'm a lousy photographer on my best days. In a cave too small to stand up in with impatient people behind me, I'm far worse. ;)
Seriously, though, there was a woman with a little girl behind me. She was the second most anti-social child I've ever seen. The mom carried the girl through the whole tour. The mother kept saying things like, "It's ok. She's not going to bother you. She's just here with her family. Don't worry. She won't even look at you." And the little girl would kick me in the back. I'm not entirely sure why the mother didn't just back off.
A better photographer could give you the scale of this. This was taken at the end of the first cave type, at the first rest point. The top of the cave was probably 20 or 30 feet high. This was a fairly big cavern. The air was completely fresh and dry. We were entering the dormant cave (which I keep trying to call "stagnant," but that's wrong and if I don't catch myself, you'll know what I mean), and the atmosphere changed drastically and abruptly.
Cavers don't call this a "cave in," but I genuinely can't remember what they called it. I'm standing several feet away from this and it has been here as long as we (and I mean the human race) have known about these caves. In the next cavern, there are two enormous pieces of slate hanging precariously from the ceiling. They've been hanging like that for at least 90 years.
Ranger Bobby said he's been inside the caves during earthquakes on two separate occasions. He only knew about the earthquake after he'd finished the tour and other people asked if he'd felt the tremors. The vibrations from the quakes travel through the rocks, but don't become noticeable until they reach the surface. Nothing moves in the caves. He said it would take a direct quake of 6.5 or higher to do any damage to the cave system.
The way the limestone is laid down over the centuries causes this incredibly smooth surface. Many people visiting the caves assume it's poured concrete.
This is the ceiling of the Drapery Room. It's so high my flash couldn't reach it. You may need to be in a dark room to make out any detail. The stalactites are formed in a spiral.
This is another view of the Drapery Room. The stalactites come down from the ceiling in sheets and take on the appearance of theater curtains. Very dramatic.
This was Dominic's favorite part: Frozen Niagara. Can you imagine how long it took for these to form?
By this time, we were all pretty tired and Dominic was making a beeline for the exit (he was in the middle of a potty emergency and it would not do to pee in the cave. So I think this is Crystal Lake, but I'm not positive.
I got a couple other pictures, but my husband is in them and he has asked I not post his picture on the internet. So that's all for now!
This is Dominic's "cute face." It is genuinely cute. It reminds me of Hima's starry-eyed look from Shin Chan.
I put that first so you know he doesn't usually look like this:
It's a lousy picture (I actually took it to demonstrate how narrow the passage was), but I didn't have time to reshoot. I was holding up the people behind me.
This was taken halfway down the huge staircase in the first cave we went into, the "living cave." Everything was cold and damp here and I was sort of terrified I'd slip because the rails were so slick.
Next:
This was near the end of the first cave type. This was a perfectly Dominic-sized tunnel. The rest of us had to stoop to get through.
I'm a lousy photographer on my best days. In a cave too small to stand up in with impatient people behind me, I'm far worse. ;)
Seriously, though, there was a woman with a little girl behind me. She was the second most anti-social child I've ever seen. The mom carried the girl through the whole tour. The mother kept saying things like, "It's ok. She's not going to bother you. She's just here with her family. Don't worry. She won't even look at you." And the little girl would kick me in the back. I'm not entirely sure why the mother didn't just back off.
A better photographer could give you the scale of this. This was taken at the end of the first cave type, at the first rest point. The top of the cave was probably 20 or 30 feet high. This was a fairly big cavern. The air was completely fresh and dry. We were entering the dormant cave (which I keep trying to call "stagnant," but that's wrong and if I don't catch myself, you'll know what I mean), and the atmosphere changed drastically and abruptly.
Cavers don't call this a "cave in," but I genuinely can't remember what they called it. I'm standing several feet away from this and it has been here as long as we (and I mean the human race) have known about these caves. In the next cavern, there are two enormous pieces of slate hanging precariously from the ceiling. They've been hanging like that for at least 90 years.
Ranger Bobby said he's been inside the caves during earthquakes on two separate occasions. He only knew about the earthquake after he'd finished the tour and other people asked if he'd felt the tremors. The vibrations from the quakes travel through the rocks, but don't become noticeable until they reach the surface. Nothing moves in the caves. He said it would take a direct quake of 6.5 or higher to do any damage to the cave system.
The way the limestone is laid down over the centuries causes this incredibly smooth surface. Many people visiting the caves assume it's poured concrete.
This is the ceiling of the Drapery Room. It's so high my flash couldn't reach it. You may need to be in a dark room to make out any detail. The stalactites are formed in a spiral.
This is another view of the Drapery Room. The stalactites come down from the ceiling in sheets and take on the appearance of theater curtains. Very dramatic.
This was Dominic's favorite part: Frozen Niagara. Can you imagine how long it took for these to form?
By this time, we were all pretty tired and Dominic was making a beeline for the exit (he was in the middle of a potty emergency and it would not do to pee in the cave. So I think this is Crystal Lake, but I'm not positive.
I got a couple other pictures, but my husband is in them and he has asked I not post his picture on the internet. So that's all for now!