Here is a summer heat escape walk for this #wednesdaywalk by @tattoodjay
The Cave of the Mounds is in Wisconsin where we took a mini summer vacation at a cabin.
While at the cabin we planned on hiking but the weather was super hot and humid.
Fortunately this cave was nearby and it stays 40F year round.
Walking down into the cave was a perfect place to cool off after being out in the humid heat.
The stalactites and stalagmites were quite interesting too and they let you wander around the cave at your own pace to really admire them.
Quite a bit of water runs through this cave and it forms interesting pools with tiny stalagmites in the bottom.
Then there are some large ones that look amazing.
They have some that kind of form sheets kind of like bacon.
And there are even a few columns where the mites and tites meet over zillions of years of calcium rich water dripping constantly through limestone.
Some take on an iron ore coloring.
They even have some straw stalactites.
A few of them got broken while they carved the pathway but most stayed intact.
While exploding the main opening to the cave the even ran across a separate smaller cave that was completely detached from the main cave. It forms a nice mirror effect as you look down the opening.
Here are some bubbly looking formations. Maybe drip splatters from the roof of the cave form these guys, some appear to be hollow as well.
More stumpy coppery looking stalagmites.
My daughter really loved it in here and made various noises because of the echo.
A trick to remember the difference between stalactites and stalagmites is when the mites crawl up the leg (they go up) the tights come down off the leg (they go down).
Quite a few fossils are encased in this cave as well. They are a bit hard to distinguish in the ceiling of the cave. Most of them are squid shells
Later on in the visitor center they had quite a few examples of the squid shell fossils. I would imagine that most of the limestone was formed from millions of generations of snails and squids living and dying then their shells getting ground up and compressed into stone.
Now its time to go back out into the summer heat and leave the cave behind. That's al for now, thanks for looking :-)
Thanks again @ewkaw :-)
I want to visit this place too, it's so beautiful
Its one of the more interesting caves I've been to, Kartchner caverns is probably the best.
Hey, that's interesting! It's like entering another dimension. I've never actually entered a cave, but I'd like to at some point. Cheers!
The big ones are fun, there have been some really skinny claustrophobic ones I've been in that aren't as fun and barely have any formations. Living caves are also more interesting than dried out ones where everything has stopped growing.
Absolutely huge! Fantastic photos!
Thanks, it is one of the nicer caves I've been to.
Oh wow the first picture looks like a chocolate fountain😅 This cave is astonishing, thanks for sharing😍
That's exactly what my daughter called it, she pointed and said chocolate.