There were 18 participants on this rather unique adventure.  It was the perfect cool, dark place to spend a hot and humid August day.  It was nice that we were able to drive our vehicles into the cave to unload our boats at the water's edge.  We could immediately see the damage to the place caused by the flooding Mississippi as it poured into the huge underground expanse.  Even now, a year later, the water is still at least 6 feet above normal.  As a consequence some areas to the back of the cave are not accessible because the water is still up to the ceiling.  Even so there were seemingly endless huge passageways flanked by ranks of enormous pillars that stretched into the distance as far as my spotlight would penetrate.  Without a guide or a map a person could be lost down there for a long time.  There were several small waterfalls pouring into the cave as well as a couple of places that were open to the surface with daylight streaming in.  There were some artifacts visible left over from the days of active quarrying as well as some debris that had been washed in by the flood of 2019.  There were some bats of course and we even saw a nursery in a crevice in the ceiling where mommy bats were tending to a cluster of baby bats.  A bit of anxiety was caused by a section where the ceiling came down low and we had to lay down in our boats and use our hands to push on the ceiling to propel ourselves along.  It was certainly an interesting experience and I think everybody had a good time.

 

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