Introduction from 

Underground Legacy

Absolute darkness! So complete, I could feel it against my skin. It was impossible to see anything. I waved my hand in front of my eyes to test it... Nothing.

I reached into my pack for a water bottle and after quenching my thirst, spit a mouthful into the water reservoir of my carbide lamp. While not a very genteel way of filling one of these things, it worked, and avoided spilling any of the precious liquid. I fingered the carbide in the lamp bottom, gauging how much was left and added several small chunks. Earlier, I had planned for a certain margin of error and thought there was enough. Now I questioned that decision. “Safety,” I scolded myself, “Always think of safety.”

A defining trait of explorers at Mammoth Cave, I thought that real cavers always used carbide lamps. It is the same lamp that one would see attached to a coal miners hat. An expression of simple genius, really. Water in the top half of the lamp drips into the bottom containing pieces of calcium carbide. The resulting chemical reaction creates a flammable gas called acetylene, which flows out a narrow tip in the center of a reflector.

Carbide lamps are reliable. They are easily repaired and have no wires dangling from a battery pack to snag on projections along the cave passage. They allow freedom of movement, warmth when needed, and when attached to the front of a helmet, light in any direction a caver might turn his head.

I struck the lighter mechanism and the lamp popped to life. A bright yellow-white flame filled the room with light. The tension drained from my neck and shoulders, and only then did I realize that I had been holding my breath. It was time to move foreword. After attaching the lamp to my helmet and adjusting the heavy, black-rubber kneepads, I shouldered my pack. I was ready, and carefully picked my way down to the floor just below.

Inching forward, I fantasized that yawning caverns were just ahead. Caverns filled with beautiful and rare formations. Caverns filled with mystery and adventure. I imagined wonderful discoveries just around the next corner; maybe some mighty underground river or a deep canyon. The lamp illuminated the walls and ceiling… both smooth and flat. The light danced and flickered with my every movement, causing a chorus line of shadows to dance and flicker in response.

Objects around me took on a strange and surreal appearance: canned goods, boxes of winter clothes, and tools in neat rows along the wall. The washer and dryer both looked odd and spectral. I crawled into the storage area under the stairs, over boxes of books and old magazines—imagining I was caving with the great explorers of Mammoth Cave, pushing a tight lead to the very end.

 My heart raced and my pulse quickened with the prospect of discovering new “cave”. But all too soon, the lead ended. The under-side of the stairs pinched down, and a large cardboard box marked garage sale items blocked any hope of further progress. Smug and satisfied with my new caving prowess, I went back upstairs to the living room to read more cave books and dream of, some day, caving at Mammoth Cave.

Now, well over a decade after my first caving experience, I am manager and motivator of one of greatest volunteer restoration efforts ever undertaken in a national park, The Restoration Field Camp at Mammoth Cave.

Exploring caves is all about discovery, and what did I discover in Mammoth Cave? I discovered people there. Hundreds of people who were willing to contribute countless hours of service in order to make a small section of the world a better place. I discovered a work ethic in those people; a spirit of camaraderie and cooperation I never knew existed. I discovered them in Kentucky. They came to clean a cave.

They were great people, from all walks of life. Some were doctors. Others were educators. Some were blue-collar workers and some were students. Fathers brought their sons to participate, mothers brought their daughters, and whole families came on annual vacations. The youngest were just kids, and one would think the oldest had no business here, so far underground.

Mammoth Cave is a big cave. A really big cave. I have the highest respect for the individual, who upon walking through its passages was the first to make the comment, “Wow! This cave is mammoth!” Because it is mammoth, and to a lot of cavers and cave enthusiasts, it is not just a cave, it is the cave. Mammoth Cave is the longest cave on earth, with more than three times the surveyed passage than its nearest rival. The Mammoth Cave System consists of many different caves, explored to the point at which they all connect. It makes one huge cave. And connecting caves in the Mammoth Cave area has been a lifetime pursuit for many individuals who explore these caves.

There is a distinct history and culture of cave exploration at Mammoth Cave. This history and culture, the chance of discovering new cave passage, has been popularized by several books on the subject: The Caves Beyond, The Longest Cave, Beyond Mammoth Cave, and others. None of these books ever reached the critical acclaim desired by the authors, but to some cave enthusiasts, they are scripture. Most cavers wait breathlessly for the next publication.

One might think that a national park shot through with caves of all sizes would be a Mecca for cavers, requiring an annual pilgrimage to worship at its splendor. However, quite the opposite is true. Worshipping cavers can only kneel facing Mammoth, for if one tries to explore the caves there, he or she will most likely end the trip with a stay in jail. Mammoth Cave National Park now forbids recreational caving. Other than the Wild Cave Tour, the only caving allowed today is in the name of science or education.

But most cavers would love to cave there. These individuals would do almost anything to spend a week caving at Mammoth. Anything, including volunteering for the physical demands of restoration work—just for the possibility of a reward trip to areas not seen by tourists.

It would be impossible to recount every aspect and activity of the restoration camp. Therefore, what follows is a recounting of my personal journey of cave exploration and my involvement in the Restoration Field Camp at Mammoth Cave. I can happily report that when those volunteers and I leave this world, a small part of it, Mammoth Cave, is better off because we visited there. It is our legacy.