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Central Kentucky

These intricate structures are composed of calcium carbonate. The material comes from shells of ancient sea life.

Here's my first sighting of graffiti. Instead of using a can of paint, the creator of this monogram used a candle instead. Yes, that's right, the black is actually soot from the candle's flame. This mark is really old, probably placed on the rock face sometime in the early 1800s.

Our tour guide points out this human artifact, the broken fragments of a bottle from the 1800s. This is an example of a relatively recent artifact. The oldest date back 4,000 years ago when the visitors were aboriginal people who discovered about 10 miles of the caves. They came primarily to collect crystals and salt. I wonder, how did they light their way?

The cave is slowly widening. This is about its widest point so far.

The tour group finally reaches the Snowball Dining Room. Located 267-feet below the surface, here we'll grab lunch before continuing on with our tour. This is the tour's bail-out point for the weak and weary. Those who change their minds and wish not to continue on with the rest of the tour (still 3 miles to go) can take the cave's only service elevator to the surface.

Unfortunately, the tour up to this point has been flat and easy, so folks may very well overestimate their stamina and continue on with the rest of the tour which turns harder really quickly. There's no backtracking to the service elevator after continuing on with the tour because, to conserve electricity, the lights only stay on with the passage of the tours.

More candle graffiti. The Snowball Dining Room gets it's name from the gypsum formations attached to the ceiling. Can you see them? I must say, they really do look like snowballs.