I suffered my worst injury of the trip this morning. No, I wasn't mauled by a bear and I didn't fall into a cave hole. I burned my bottom lip with hot coffee. I guess this goes to show you that you are probably more likely to get hurt doing everyday things than by a wild animal.
Today, I visited Mammoth Cave, one of the largest caves in the world. It has been formed by millions of years of erosion washing away the limestone beneath a hard sandstone layer. Unfortunately, it was not quite as exciting as some other caves I've visited in the past, such as Carlsbad and Luray. It was, however, an interesting tour and it did make me want to try spelunking someday. That will have to wait for another trip.
The tour ended near a formation called Frozen Niagara. It looks like what you are probably imagining: a stone waterfall. Like most cave formations, it has been slowly formed by water dissolving limestone and then re-depositing it. The time scale of these formations is perhaps the most impressive thing about them. When you're imagining something this size forming from slowly dripping water, it's difficult to wrap your mind around just how long it would take.
After leaving Mammoth, I started my journey to the final destination of my trip: The Great Smoky Mountains. After driving through the worst weather of my trip, I finally made it to Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, two towns on the outskirts of the park. Basically, imagine that Myrtle Beach has been transported to the mountains. These two towns are essentially sprawl, stretching out from the base of the mist-covered mountains. It's sad to think that one day the haze that gives the Smokies their name might no longer be natural mist, but smog instead.
Tomorrow, I'm planning on leaving early and heading into the park to see as much of it as I can in one day. I know I want to stop at Clingman's Dome, the highest point in the park; but, other than that, everything is up in the air. Once I'm done, I'll be driving the rest of the way to Santee, SC.
This trip has been wonderful and in many ways I'm sad to see it come to an end. On the other hand, the past three days of nearly non-stop driving have been exhausting and I'm looking forward to not being behind the wheel for a while.
I've seen so much on this trip that I may never see again and that I might never have seen otherwise. I would adivse anyone who ever has the chance to drive across this country to take it and make the most of it. Perhaps I'll be able to talk about the sum of my experiences on this trip in a more coherent way when I have had a few days to let everything settle. For now, I will put such musings aside in favor of flippant remarks and simple observations:
Caves are awesome. But they are not as good as mountains...
Or bears.
I'm not sure when I'll be posting the entry for tomorrow's adventures or the highly anticipated epilogue. But, dear readers, rest assured that you will not have to wait too long.
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