Into the dark.

Caves are something I've always been fascinated with. The mind continually boggles at the sheer patient working of time as water forms wondrous limestone columns and carves its way through the unyielding rock. Caves also make me somewhat uneasy, especially since I did have a childhood fear of the dark and I do have the somewhat unreasoning fear of falling.

Nonetheless, the best way to see nature's patient work is up close and personal. Plus since Char has a great interest in caves, we took a trip to Mammoth Cave during our weekend in Margaret River.

Into the dark.

Cave entrance, Mammoth Cave.

The river winds throughout the cave from entrance to exit, although we lose sight of it barely a hundred metres in as the river runs underground to places we can't reach. Naturally, I conveniently forget to bring my tripod along, so I was forced to do hand-held 2 sec exposures with the camera. Surprisingly they didn't turn out too bad, all things considered! What I would have given for a tripod or a much faster lens though!

The deep places.

Mammoth Cave.

I shot this glorious picture from one of the many platforms along the walkway through the cave. The lighting is just spectacular and really highlights the sheer scope and depth of the many different rock formations, stalactites and stalagmites.

Bit of trivia here, stalactites are the spikes that point downwards from the ceiling of limestone caves, and stalagmites are the ones that rice from the floor. When a stalactite and stalagmite meet, they form a column that stretches from the top to bottom of the cave. Both are formed by the dripping action of mineral-rich water that gets deposited on the top and bottom of the cave and slowly form the spikes you see over thousands of years.

Okay, trivia lesson over!

Highway to hell.

Mammoth Cave.

I must confess that I do still have a fear of heights and of falling, and the path through the cave didn't help it any! The walkways are about a metre wide with railings just over a metre high. Combine that with many upward and downward steps to negotiate through the cave, and you pretty much get a situation where Chris gets just a little on edge. I survived it fairly well though, so take that, fears!

Must say, I had the entire scene from the Fellowship of the Ring where the fellowship travels through Moria in my head when I was going through the cave. Complete with getting chased by orcs and the occasional balrog (You! Shall! Not! Pass!).

Yes I am random that way.

Incidentally, there are a couple fossils of ancient megafauna that walked the Australian continent millions of years ago. Sadly I was unable to take a decent photo of those fossils. But just seeing that old jawbone sticking out of the rock is a good reminder that we're just another one of many species who have called our world home, just as there'll probably be many species coming after us once we're gone.

River within.

Exit, Mammoth Cave.

All of a sudden you duck your head under a bit of low-lying rock and you find the river again. Equally slow, rusty brown coloured and a little more brackish-smelling than before. Not something I'd like to drink!

Escape to the surface.

Exit to the surface level, Mammoth Cave.

And just when you thought you got out of the cave, you find yourself at the bottom of a chasm and it's fifty-or-so metres straight up! It's interesting geography though! Truly very different when you're looking up at the blue sky overhead and you're surrounded by rock, earth and fallen trees. Again I started wishing that I had a wide angle lens (or even better, a fish eye lens!) to better capture the location.

Red.

Native flowers, near the Mammoth Cave exit.

Nothing like immersion in darkness to make you appreciate the vibrancy of colour! Shot this while climbing the stairs out of the cave. The native flora and fauna have a certain hardiness to them that bellies the often harsh and inhospitable land that they flourish in, and spring is the rare time where they blossom and bloom in a riot of colour.

Yellow.

Native flowers, near the Mammoth Cave exit.

My own personal misgivings aside, Mammoth Cave was quite the eye-opener for me. It's so different from the caves in Malaysia that I've visited. There were no bats and the cave floor was practically devoid of bat-droppings. The colours are also different, just a little more saturated than the caves I've visited previously (although it might just be an artefact of electric lighting).

It's also a bit of a victory for me because I made it through the cave with no lasting complaint, although Char might say otherwise! Char was talking about bringing me to the caves over in her neck of the woods when we go there at the end of the year. She's a little worried that I might not be able to cope, but I'm sure I'll manage. Plus if I can get a couple good shots in while I'm at it, why not?