Kentucky Rain

My Ebenezer? Nah.

“Kentucky rain keeps pouring down, and up ahead’s another town that I’ll go walking through, with the rain in my shoe…”
-Elvis

My right eyeball sat three inches from the roaring water rushing down the mountain stream. I had gone from standing to flat on my side in less than a second. I was just lucky to have landed on the rock instead of in the water. My right arm was now throbbing, scuffed, and I feared it might be broken. Meanwhile, I took stock of my situation. A little wet. Still had my camera, my wallet, my keys, but my pride had floated downstream somewhere…

* * *

The picture perfect day at Greenbo Lake had been a Technicolor dream, much like Dorothy’s in the Wizard of Oz. Back to the black and white reality of storm clouds on Friday and the last smidgen of the tour. The radar on the morning TV weather updates showed a big blob of rainy reflection covering the entire state. I was used to it by now. Back onto route one and south to I-64, then west for the first time in days.

Carter Caves State Resort is so close to Greenbo Lake that I had barely finished my coffee before pulling into the park. I was curious to see how the karst environment here compared to the caves around my base camp in Bowling Green. Carter County has some 200 caverns around the park, and two are open to the public. It used to be more before White Nose Syndrome and its fungus started to destroy bat populations on the east coast.

A hike was first before the cave tour, and I got advice from Kacie Bledsoe at the front desk. She suggested the 3 bridges trail, and I had the mental image of picturesque wooden structures over mountain cascades. It would rather be more like the natural bridges I had seen a couple of days earlier. I filled my water bottle, jerked my head around to the front desk, and said “If I’m not back in three hours, then I’m having too much fun!” I was off.

The forest had a misty ruggedness associated with a springtime rain. Though it was not falling from the sky, water did drip continuously from the vegetation. And calm were the woods on this day. I jumped several turkey and deer on the way to the rock formations, and was pleased with yet another scenic hike for the week. The area around the lake’s dam was the most enjoyed, as a “fake” bridge crossed over a spillway and gave reason to watch the rushing water for several minutes.

After the hike and fried green tomatoes for lunch, it was time for a cave tour. I showed up to the visitor’s center down the hill from the lodge and missed the tour by five minutes. The next wouldn’t be for two hours. So I bought a few things in the gift shop and drove to a nearby pull off that overlooked a stream. It was loud and white and in a hurry, and I was curious to see what was in a nearby cave across the way. It looked like a waterfall! I surveyed the stream. Rocks were available to cross without getting submerged, at least for 75 percent of the span. The other 25 percent was going to have to be that fated hop, skip, or jump. I looked and looked, but no other way around it. Either get wet, or jump across. I found my rock. The water still rushing, I skipped (why not?). The rock was slick. I wasn’t so slick. Down I went (see kids, this is why you stay on bridges…).

Ouch!

Though my life didn’t flash before my eyes, the water sure did. I came within a foot of going in the drink! You should have seen it! I went from upright to downright in less time than it took to gasp. I got myself back up and checked on my arm. Then the inevitable happened. The sky burst asunder in further punishment. A mountain sized downpour. All I could do was drop my shoulders and mumble. I made it back to my car and shut the door, laughing. It could have been worse.

X-Cave

To the long awaited X-Cave at that point and a tour led by park naturalist Sam Plummer. Several were on the tour this day from a multi-state area including as far as Wisconsin. The cave really did form an “X” in the center, a result of two caves becoming one after several years of getting closer and closer together. Kind of like me and the Kentucky State Parks this week.

I am heading back to Bowling Green and bringing the tour to a close. A reflection on the trip in a few days. Stay tuned…

Tags: www.coryramseyoutdoors.com