Mammoth Cave National Park

This year in the spring my friend talked me into doing a dual family vacation. The plan was to hit Mammoth Cave National Park and visit the Smokies on the way back to NC. The drive to Mammoth Cave NP is about 10hrs from Raleigh so the drive isn't horrible. We stayed in Cave City, KY which gets most of its business from tourists. The first thing the kids did was play in the parking lot to get out their pent up energy from sitting in a car all day.

 The next morning we hit the park. 

There are several hiking trails and places to visit around the park but to tour the caves you have to pay for a guided tour. The main cave entrance is a stair case that leads down to a large door that blocks the entrance of the cave.

The first thing you notice once the cave doors open is the air temperature. The temps in the cave stay near the same temperature year round. This cave system is one of the largest in the world. You can fit a football stadium in some of the larger space areas. 

The expanse of the cave is hard to grasp and the history is very interesting. People lived for many years in the cave and it was even a quarantine for tuberculosis patients at one time. When the caves became a tourist attraction slaves led most of the tours. Most of the cave is natural but there is plenty of evidence of settlements and mining activity. 

Several places have graffiti written by tourists going back as far as the early 1800's. There's several tours you can choose from and they range in times and distances. We did 3 and my favorite was probably the lantern tour. You walk behind a guide with the only light being a gas lantern you hold. 

It gave you a sense of what it must of been like to be an explorer. It's hard to believe people first explored these caves with candle lit lanterns. During all the tours the guides will turn off all the lights just so you can see how dark it is. Supposedly the other place you can see total darkness like this is in the deep ocean. You literally can not see your hand in front of your face.

The features in the caves are incredible and the engineering to weave paths around the caves was impressive. In one tour you have to squat, squeeze and maneuver your wave through several areas. 

The kids loved it and felt like they were having a real adventure.

Water dripped down along the walls in several areas creating amazing stalactites.

I was annoyed at first that the only way to see the caves was having to pay for a tour. I quickly changed my mind after brief moments in the cave. Paths lead in all directions and you can easily see how someone could get lost. A cave can get dangerous quickly especially if you have no light to guide your way.

Another value of the tour guides was their knowledge of the caves and stories they'd tell. All of the guides were entertaining and seemed to have a genuine love with the caves. They also did their best to me make sure everyone was safe and having a good time.

Because of the artificial light it was difficult to get great pictures. It's a very humid environment and with the water dripping I had to take extra care to not get my camera wet. There were some features I couldn't resist taking pictures of.

It's worth mentioning these caves their own wildlife. There's blind crawdads and fish, salamanders and insects that only live in these caves. We were lucky enough to see a couple bats but unfortunately they are suffering from a fungus that is killing them off. The caves have a special walkway you walk across at the end. The walkway is filled with a substance that kills any fungus spores that might be on your shoes to prevent spreading it to another cave

This park truly is amazing and I don't know how I had never heard of it before. Perhaps I had but living on the west coast when I was young I figured I'd never get to it. I'm not sure when we'll be able to visit this park again but it's something everyone should see at least once. 

Fun at the Farmhouse

For a family get away this fall we booked a stay at a farmhouse in the NC mountains. It wasn't far from my favorite creek to fish and hiking spot. While we were unloading our stuff at the farmhouse we were welcomed right away by this kitty.

My kids spent a good majority of this trip trying to let the cat come in the house with us and asking if we could keep it. The cat was a sweetheart but I tried to explain that cat was going to be more happy on the property than at our house. The cat did its best to try to change my mind.

The farm was previously a working dairy farm converted into a rental property. The owners still run cattle on the property. The scenery was amazing and the house we stayed in was very comfortable.

There were donkeys and a horse you could pet and feed treats to. 

This miniature donkey was cute but it could be really ornery and every once in awhile it would try to nip you.

We spent the majority of our time hiking at Grayson Highlands.

This is a great place for kids. The hiking trails meet up with the Appalachian Trail. There's plenty of places to climb rocks and if you're lucky you'll see wild horses.

The trees were still showing some of their fall color but I think we were late to see their true splendor.

The wild horses here are smaller than your average horse. most people call them ponies and some of them have hair that has a shaggy look to it.

They aren't afraid of people but you're discouraged to try to pet or feed them. They are really wild animals. 

My kids love climbing rocks here.

There's plenty to mess around on most aren't that dangerous to climb. There's some that have a easy trail that leads to the top of one side.

The views were pretty even with the clouds.

It's not uncommon to see Appalachian Trail hikers lumbering 50lb packs looking exhausted. The elevation difference can be a little extreme in places.

This is a great place to get 3-5 hiking miles in and not feel spent. The weather was perfect and a nice breeze kept us from getting over heated.

It's always neat to see the horses and I like seeing the variety of their coats.

If you're ever near Grayson Highlands it's worth checking out. You can camp here and there are some decent sized towns that aren't far. There's West Jefferson on the NC side and it's not far from the 81 in VA.

Fly Fishing Podcasts

This has been a strange year for me. I haven't had the desire to fish as much as in the past. Recently I started listening to podcasts. I find them entertaining when I'm driving to work or running errands. The podcasts hosted by comedians are what I started with then I slowly migrated to fly fishing podcasts. I've found two in particular that perked up my interest in fly fishing again. One is called Anchored with April Vokey and the other is the Remote No Pressure Fly Fishing Podcast.

Both of these podcasts have great guests and the hosts to a good job of keeping the conversation engaging. You'll feel like you're sitting right in the same room with them. If you're looking for something different to entertain you while driving or doing odd jobs check these out.

Large Mouth Bass Are Snobs

There's talk of picky fish like carp and trout feeding on specific bugs but few fish swim away with the smugness of a largemouth bass. Bass don't just refuse your fly they do it with a fishy version of giving you the finger. I recently found some huge largemouth bass holding close to downed trees near the bank. I cast a few flies and the large bass just ignored it. One fish in particular gave my fly the same look cute girls gave me in school. Like they had just stepped in gum, it was annoying and they wish it never happened. They don't even swim away a lot of times when your fly falls near them they just ignore it and act like you were stupid for even trying. Few fish give more of an indication of who is more clever than the largemouth. I guess I love to hate them because I keep going back for more punishment. More looks of pity and anger from the bass as they wait for this idiot to stop raining trash into their fishing space. I think maybe that is the only reason they hit at times. They think ENOUGH and just hit out frustration and the desire to be left alone. We think we're smarter as we take pictures and release them back to where they came from. More often though we leave empty handed cussing under our breath and the bass watches us walk away with that dumb permanent frown. 

Son's First Trout

Took my son to a Delayed Harvest stream to catch his first trout. These streams are great for teaching children to fish. The waters are stocked heavily and the fish love nymphs especially soft hackles. 

He was able to cast, hook and bring this fish on his own. He didn't catch any more but he was content having me hook fish and then hand him the rod to bring it in. It was a wonderful day. 

Daughter's First Trout

I've been trying to figure out the right timing to fly fish for trout with the kids. I tried last year and it went great until about 20min in my son fell in the river. He wasn't swept away by the current but he did go in face first and got soaked. This time instead of taking both I decided to try just going with my daughter. The weather seemed to cooperate and I knew a stream had just been stocked. My mother was able to come along and things were adding up to make a great fishing trip. We got to the river and only one other car was in the parking lot. I rigged up our gear as fast as I could and my mother talked to a gentleman who was recently fishing. He said he didn't think it was stocked at all. My heart kind of sank when I heard that but I was skeptical and decided to check for myself. I looked in a location I knew always had fish and sure enough there were 4 or 5 just hanging in the calm water.

 Fish were here and I knew a run where they stack up after stocking. I put my daughter in position and watched her cast upstream. I tried to explain how to watch the drift and keep an eye on the indicator. On her third cast the indicator dipped. She lifted the rod late and felt the tug of a fish and instantly had that smile you get when you hook a fish. "I felt it fighting!" she said. The next several casts she had several strikes and her timing was just a bit off from setting the hook. I figured this is how it would go most of the day then all of sudden she shrieked "I GOT ONE, I GOT ONE" and I saw a shimmer in the water. Before I could say anything she hauled the fish out of the water and brought it over to the bank. I ran over and put the fish in the net and I told my daughter "try not to slam the fish on the bank but that was awesome!"

I was still amazed at how fast she caught a fish. I knew she'd probably catch one but not in the first 10min of fishing.

We were both a little giddy. I thought it was beginner's luck but a few casts later she had another fish. Then while I was helping my mother untangle her line I heard behind me "I got another one!" 

She caught another fish shortly after and then asked if she could take a break.

I explained that fishing isn't always like this and some days you don't catch anything. She knew that and wanted to take a break to check out the flowers and do some other projects. She proceeded to start building something using the river rocks. I thought about talking to her about how those are a home for other animals and some of the consequences of doing that but just left her to her fun. 

I love that she enjoyed just being outside and it wasn't about how many fish she caught. She learned this a lot faster than I did. It was an amazing day for everyone and the best part is that I could share it with family.

We all caught fish and the weather couldn't have cooperated better. I can only hope the future trips we have will be half as successful.

Spring Like Temps

80 degrees today and it was too nice to not get out. I went to one of my favorite spots for lunch and the fishing was slow but I did get one good one.

So nice to get out and cast a line again. I was in such a hurry I missed a guide when setting up the rod.