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Living cave at Cumberland Gap

Visited Cumberland Gap National Historical Park, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Mammoth Cave National Park on June 26, 2008

When I visited Cumberland Gap as a 13 year old back in 1962 with my parents, I was awed by the scenery. At that time there was a cave there called Cudjo's Cave that was a private owned tour. My parent's motto for vacations was if it not "National Something",we passed it by. I always appreciated that sentiment because it allowed me to see our great National Parks,Monuments,etc. and now that we have started taking our 2 granddaughters on vacations with us, we follow that same idea.

This year we took them to Great Smoky Mountains, Cumberland Gap and Mammoth Cave. I was greatly surprised to find that Cudjo's cave was now part of the park and I immediately reserved tour tickets for this along with tickets to Hensley settlement. As we hiked through the cave with flashlights, my 13 year old granddaughter said to me that she was so excited to see a living cave that was being turned back into a natural state. I was too and as the rangers told us that taking lights out of the cave was helping to get rid of the algae and help the cave to survive. Of course the girls were very impressed by the scenery and the hike around Hensley settlement was very informative and inspiring.

I just hope that we can instill in our granddaughters the love of the history and beauty of all "National " places that I have. I know we have made a great start because when planning next years vacation counting how many more Junior Ranger Badges she can get is first on the 9 year old's list and finding out what wildlife we can see is first on the 13 year old's list.

Sandra Blackmon
Wichita, KS, US