So Much to See

We are now in northeast Alabama at Cathedral Caverns State Park. It’s a nice site; new, nicely made with full hook ups..

and it’s situated in a pretty valley.

There are decent trails…

and nearby disc golf.

But what made me choose this particular park was the cave.

According to the literature the name Cathedral Cavern is because of the 126 foot by 25 foot natural opening to the cavern.

According to our guide it was the reaction of the first developer’s wife on being taken back to this room. I like his version.

Wherever the name came from, it is a spectacular place, both immense and ornate.

It is home to the largest known stalagmite…

and the biggest flowstone wall in a commercial cave.

Many of the more spectacular views were made accessible by this tunnel, the only place in this huge cave that had to be dug out. I measured it on the way out, just under 100 paces. It took nine months to excavate back in the 60’s with picks and shovels and dynamite.

Past the tunnel is the cathedral room and this flowstone formation they call the frozen waterfall.

There were a lot of very large and very tall stalagmites.

Of the stalactites these were among my favorites. These are thought to have cracked off in the 1811-12 earthquakes that formed Reelfoot Lake in Western Tennessee, when the Mississippi ran backwards. The ends of the broken stalactites fell into thick mud beneath them. That mud shifted slightly to the left and then dried up, leaving these formations just a bit disjointed.

On the way out I noticed several formations..

that were blue green in color. By then our guide was far behind us, making sure we all got out, and I didn’t get to ask what mineral might have caused this.

We have toured a lot of caves,

but were pleasantly surprised with the beauty…

and grandeur of this one.

We’ve camped about 10 times in Alabama and never thought to come across something like this.

The lovely Welcome Center…

is built right over the exit to Mystery River, the underground watercourse that made the cave.

Whenever I think about quitting this camping life or perhaps moving much slower I think, “But there’s so much more to see.”