Carter Caves State Park

     We drove most of the way to Carter Caves State Park and then stopped in a Walmart for the night in Morehead. It rained during the night and we woke up to a warm, humid day (May 17) and drove on to Carter Caves.  The road leading into the park from the entrance is very picturesque meandering alongside Tygarts Creek.  We arrived early to get a campsite and it was a good thing we did because they had only four sites left, all the rest had been reserved.  

     We scheduled two guided cave tours for the day, one at 10:30am and the other at 4:30.  Our first tour was of Cascade Cave which has several large “rooms” and a narrow 30 foot underground waterfall.  We actually saw a small cluster of bats sleeping overhead.

     Between cave tours, we returned to the campsite and I took a nap while Mark relaxed outside.  A fella arrived pulling a huge trailer and maneuvered it into the site across from us.  Mark was impressed with his driving skills and initiated a friendly conversation with him.  After he got the trailer all set up, he left in his truck.  A couple hours later a park ranger and a policeman wearing a bulletproof vest came looking for the man and asked Mark if he’d seen him.  Mark told them what he knew and then we left for our second cave tour.  As we drove through the campground we saw the man and his truck parked at another campsite. As we left the campground there was a significant police presence with police cars and a policeman directing traffic. We told the police officer directing traffic where the fella’s truck was parked and he immediately passed on that information.  We don’t know what happened next, but when we returned a few hours later, the police were gone and the fella and several guests were at his trailer and everything seemed fine.  The only other excitement we had that evening was a loud thunderstorm. 

     We had our own personal tour of X Cave since we were the only ones signed up for that time.  X Cave is comprised of two long narrow caves that intersect like an X, hence the name. Since it was a very warm, muggy day, the cool temperature of the cave was refreshing.

     After touring X Cave we took a short hike to a natural bridge that is large enough to have a paved road going over it.  We walked through it and then over it.  On the way back to the camper we encountered a fox carrying its dinner.