Skip to main content

Day 27: Mammoth Cave National Park

Got up early and was ready to leave by 7:30am because I was visiting both New River Gorge and Mammoth Cave National parks today. Also, I had made a reservation for a cave tour at 3:45pm, so needed to ensure I reach Mammoth Cave before that. 


It was very foggy on the road and in the New River Gorge park once I reached that. It was great, cool hiking weather but not much visibility into the canyon. I did the short Endless Wall Loop trail. It has several places you can optionally climb down a long steel ladder and hike along the sheer cliffs. I did not climb down the ladders, since I was hiking alone and did not want to risk it. The fog also obscured the view of famous New River Gorge bridge, the longest steel arch bridge in the world. It is also the 3rd highest bridge in the US.


 

 

 


 

The drive from New River Gorge to Mammoth Cave was magnificent, probably one of most picturesque during my road trip. I stopped to take a few pictures, but I wish I could have lingered longer to enjoy it. 




I managed to make it to Mammoth cave just in time for my Historic Cave tour. It lasts two hours, going through many of the historic areas that made the caves famous. It covers 2 miles and over 500 steps. The caves are gigantic, wide, high, huuge ...  You could literally put in a 4 lane road in some places. I've never seen a cave system as big as this before. During the tour, we also had to squeeze through some tight spots. The pictures don't do justice in capturing the scale. 



After the cave tour finished, it was a short drive to my B&B in Glasgow, Kentucky. It is a beautiful, historically significant house built in 1852. The place has been restored very well. It is surrounded by over 10 churches within a few blocks, which adds to the charm.  I loved my overnight stay in the Theodosia Room.  A bonus was I found a 240V outlet close to my parking spot and they let me charge up fully overnight.

 

A long busy day with lots of scenic driving, lots of hiking (with a couple of miles underground) and a lovely B&B to rest overnight.  One of my favorite days in the 4 weeks so far on the road.

The raw numbers for the day:

  • 401 miles driving, 17200 steps walking
  • 2 Tesla supercharger stops, 240V overnight charging
  • 2 states - West Virginia, Kentucky

Next:  Day 28:  Gatlinburg, gateway to Smokey Mountains (Oct 1, 2022)

Comments

  1. VisheshOctober 9, 2022 at 7:21 PM

    Wow, so many trees! Plus the beautiful ferns yesterday; you're surely been through some lush areas in the past few days!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

USA48 Road Trip: The Whole Story

  The whole story of my road trip across USA in a Tesla, captured in a series of blog posts below. My six-week adventure was from Sept 4, 2022 to Oct 15, 2022.  The links to the blog posts below are in chronological order. Best viewed on a larger screen  of a computer, not on a phone. Click on the photographs in the blog posts to see larger images.   Road trip across USA - Why? What? (July 10, 2022) Road trip in a Tesla - will it work? (Aug 11, 2022)  Day -2: Road Trip Delayed (Aug 27, 2022)  Day 0: Starting Road Trip Tomorrow (Sept 3, 2022)  Day 1: The Adventure Begins (Sept 4, 2022)   Day 2: A drive through Oregon (Sept 5, 2022) Day 3: Mount Rainier National Park (Sept 6, 2022)   Day 4: Reminiscing in Seattle (Sept 7, 2022) Day 5: KOA Cabin in Glacier National Park (Sept 8, 2022) Day 6: Hiking galore in Glacier National Park (Sept 9, 2022) Day 7: Drive from Glacier to Yellowstone (Sept 10, 2022)  Day 8: Yellowstone and G...
Post a Comment
Read more

Day 5: KOA Cabin in Glacier National Park

  A long drive today from Spokane to the West Glacier KOA Resort, which is close to the Glacier National Park entrance. I had to slow down or stop many times during the drive due to road construction underway at multiple places. There was also a traffic jam to deal with at one place. Lastly, I had go past the most direct route for about 15 miles to get to a supercharger in Superior, MT and then retrace back.  I reached my destination for the day, a cute looking KOA log cabin in a beautiful KOA resort surrounded by mountains. The cabin has electricity, heater, refrigerator and a microwave. Not too shabby, changed my perception of what a KOA kampground is like.  The nearest supercharger from Glacier National Park is over 120 miles away. The primary reason I chose to book at KOA is because they provide access to a NEMA 14-50 220V charger. A timeslot for the single outlet they have needs to be  reserved ahead of time. I was very relieved when all of this worked and my...
3 comments
Read more

Day 14: Enjoyed with Friends in Minnesota

A long drive from Bismarck, North Dakota to Minneapolis, Minnesota today. The drive was mostly on the I-94 interstate freeway, so it was very smooth, high speed limits and lots of Tesla superchargers along the way. The first three hours of the drive was through heavy rain, which was for the first time during the trip. It was nice to transition from the dry grasslands of North Dakota to the lush green trees and grasses in Minnesota, the land of 10000 lakes.  During the drive, I reflected a bit on all the different places I had been to over the past two weeks. I have enjoyed each day since it brought something different and unique. However, one thing is sure that my favorite days so far have been the ones in the big mountains of Mt. Rainier, Glacier and Rocky Mountain National Parks. The imposing mountain ranges, snow capped peaks, the lakes, the waterfalls, the rivers and creeks, the tall trees, the fresh air, all combine to create something magical. I can't get enough of it.  ...
2 comments
Read more