Mammoth Cave

Visiting Mammoth Cave last weekend was awe inspiring, but disappointing at the same time. When I visited with school-friends a quarter of a century ago, we were at liberty to explore the caverns on our own. We borrowed the key from the ranger and unlocked the gates, and wandered in any direction that took our fancy. We turned off the tourist lights and relied on our torches, and headed into small crevices ever downward, in search of a route down to an underground stream, and then a alternative way out. We spent half a day in there, but never did find that way out, but it was ten times more involving that merely walking along the official path. It's a shame that those days are over.