Sea Palm Treasures: Cave of the Mounds

Honestly, looking at photo's taken in a cave aren't all that great. It really is a case of 'you had to be there'.

I've been in quite a few caves over the years, and every time I go in one, I do a figurative pat on the back. I'm mildly claustrophobic, and hate, hate, hate having a lot of stuff above my head. I'm always waiting for it to go crashing down on top.
So why do I go into caves? Well, part of it is a total fascination with caves, and how they're created through thousands and thousands of years, the drip, drip, drip of water which contains a mineral, and forming stalactites and stalagmites. And sometimes those meet in the middle and become columns. Every cave I go into has its own story, some more mundane than others, some pretty fantastical, in how they're discovered, and shown to the public.

This is just one of the many places I visited on my 'road trip' this past summer. And I'm going to write about all of them, so stay tuned...

I went to the Cave of the Mounds in Wisconsin this year, and after getting over my initial panic of being underground, enjoyed the tour. And as per usual, took lots of pictures. You can read more here about Cave of the Mounds. They have tours, there's a little bit of history, and the whole process is totally fascinating.

And like many caves, the discovery of it was serendipitous. A chance explosion, to uncover more rock in a quarry, led to the discovery of this cave.

They also did the obligatory turn off all the lights so you can see how dark, dark really is. That has to be my absolute scariest thing, but I go along with it every time.

One of the funnest parts of this particular cave is that they have not 'carved out' places, there are literally places where if you have broad shoulders it's hard to get past. But I am so glad I explored here.

There are places here where you can look through a narrow opening and see beyond.

This looks like a lava flow, but it is instead where the water deposited lots of minerals over the years through the fissures in the rock.

As you can see, there are some safeguards so you don't go where you shouldn't or rather fall where you shouldn't.

This was right along the walkway, you could reach out and touch, but of course you should never touch places like this. As our guide was explaining.

There was a bit of a stream here, and if I remember correctly, it never dries up all the way.

As you can see a stagalactite is almost meeting a stalagmite.

This was a neat, at least for me, shot.

There is also lots to explore outside, but it was rather warm that day and I didn't feel like walking around in the heat. I did have a wrap on to explore the cave, cause it's a little on the cool side underground.