Day 16

We started the day with a short hike along the Slough Trail to Big Springs. It is the largest spring in Missouri, and one of the largest in the world. It is a beautiful, aquamarine color due to all the minerals in the water. Pictures do not do it justice. On the trail I got stung by a hornet or wasp. It got stuck in the sleeve of my tee shirt and stung me thee times—which is how I know it wasn’t a bee—before I could remove it. My arm swelled and turned a nasty shade of red. It still hurts, and it’s still red, but the swelling has gone down.

G3 was up for a cave tour, and since the park is known for its caves we headed up to Round Spring Cave. En route we came across as tortoise crossing the road. I swerved to make sure I didn’t kill him. I then pulled over and carried him across to the other side in hopes that he would avoid getting squashed by someone else. It’s something Dad always did. He was conscious of saving the tortoises he encountered in the middle of the road. I have many memories of him doing so in Long Island.

The cave tour was spectacular. The guide was amazing and the cave formations were beautiful. The guide was informative and G3 kept her engaged with his curiosity and questions. He was very observant, pointing out things in the cave and asking for explanations of what they were or how they came to be. The guide was impressed by his knowledge and inquisitiveness.

There are 7,000 caves in Missouri and 400 of them are in this park—along with 300 springs that will someday, when the water runs dry, also become caves. The Round Spring Cave was discovered in 1863 by a Union Civil War surgeon. For a period, it was privately owned and offered commercial tours. Then it became a state park until the 1970s when it fell under the National Park jurisdiction. Part of the cave is a biological preserve. It is closed to tourists and the animals—specifically bats and salamanders—are studied by scientists. Sadly, white nose syndrome—which has up to a 95% mortality rate amongst some species—has decimated the bat population. We saw several salamanders on the cave walls and in the streams but no bats There were piles of guano—bat poop. Scientists tested the guano in one pile and found that bats were present in the cave 7000 years ago. When they do make a cave home, they roost in places where there are no stalactites because that indicates a dry section of the cave.

As we walked through the cave we could hear and feel water dripping from the roof. It has produced hundreds of stunning stalagmites and stalactites. These formations grow, on average, a quarter of an inch every 100 years in the midwest. Some of them are a shinny white that looks almost like ice. It’s not. The caves are rich in calcite and in certain areas, where the calcite concentration is higher than other minerals, the formations resemble snow or crystals. A greater presence of iron will turn them various shades of yellow, orange, or brown depending on the level of the concentration.

The skeleton of a female short face cave bear was found in the cave. It had been curled up as if it had been hibernating when it died. Cave bears became extinct during the last ice age. Also in the cave were claw marks that evidence indicates belong to the same species. On bear paws, between the claws, are scent glands. When bears scratch, sometimes it is intentional in order to mark the territory with their scent. Inside a cave it is completely dark. Bears can’t see. But if they leave a trail of their scent, they can find their way out.

When the tour was over, we went to Alley Spring because the Visitor Center there has a gift shop. It might have been the worst National Park gift shop we’ve ever been to. They hardly had anything. G3 wanted to get matching hats, but the only color we liked was sold out. The other two were ugly. Even the shirts weren’t great. But G3 wanted us to get shirts, especially since we couldn’t get hats. I liked one design. G3 liked the other one, so we went with his preference. I was just happy he wanted something that matched me.

At Alley Springs, I wanted to hike the overlook trail. It was only a mile and a half, but G3 had no interest. He wanted to sit in the shade and read instead, so he took one of the camping chairs out of the trunk and set it under a tree. He’s reading Misery and not liking it as much as he liked the other two King novels he has read. The hike was peaceful. It was hot, so few people were out. The spring, like the one we saw this morning, was a pretty aquamarine color. Beside it is a red mill that used to grind wheat. There is also a historic one room school house near the mill. A ranger was inside to welcome visitors and answer questions. But she was aloof, and seemed to have no interest in talking or discussing the school. I made a comment about the students just learning three subjects—the three Rs—and she argued with me saying they learned more than that. So I pointed to the interpretation sign right outside, the one I read before entering, and told her she was giving information contrary to the sign. She shrugged and said, “Oh.” Most of the rangers here—the guy who ran the program last night and the tour guide were the exceptions—have no personality. I’ve never encountered so many rangers at a park who so blatantly either dislike their jobs or possibly just hate people.

G3 and I had not showered or swam since the hot springs and we have been sweating profusely. Getting in the water today was imperative. Therefore, we drove over to Rock Falls to go swimming. The falls were disappointing. They weren’t much more than a gentle stream rolling over the rocks. I’m sure it’s amazing after a heavy rain, but it’s been relatively dry. The water was pleasant—a perfect temperature—and it felt cleaner than the lake at Chickasaw. G3 had fun climbing up the rocks and exploring.

We got back to the campsite after dark and since the heat wasn’t as bad as it has been I started a small fire. We brought wood from home—really dry wood that burns nicely, wood I took from Mattituck when Mom sold the house. It seems silly to bring it back home, especially since it would just be more for us to move. As I pulled into our site we realized G3 never put the chair back into the car. I had brought the old camping chairs because they are slightly smaller than the newer ones, and since we don’t need the old ones anymore, the plan had been for me to leave them behind at the end of the trip. It’s a good thing or I’d have been angry that G3 forgot to put it back into the trunk. But without a chair he didn’t enjoy the fire as much because he had to sit on the ground with the bugs.

Quiet hours started an hour ago. Of course there is one large group that is being loud. I don’t understand why people are so rude.