After a good night's sleep at Hemlock Lodge, I awake and head off to my final adventure of this trip to the Red River Gorge area of Eastern Kentucky. For this one, I'll be doing something completely different - kayak underground. Gorge Underground runs a guide service that offers a short paddling trip through a flooded limestone mine just a mile or south from the lodge where I stayed last night. How could I resist something like that?
I arrive early and have to wait a short time for the other participants to show up, but we start pretty much on time. The guides go through a quick safety briefing and then we're off to climb into our boats. While I have my own kayak and have paddled a fair amount over the years, this will be my very first time using a "sit on" kayak instead of the traditional "sit in" type. Additionally, this guide company has a loading shoot, which makes it easier for the inexperienced to get into their boat without capsizing it - neat!
Soon, the twelve or so of us are on the water and admiring the gigantic rainbow trout that have been stocked in these waters (presumably to make it a little more interesting). A few lights have been placed underwater and give the dark cavern a sort of eerie feel. The fish seem to like the light and swarm near their placements.
As we slowly paddle through the cavern, our guide tells us about the history of the mine, how it flooded when they accidentally hit a natural spring, and some of the interesting fossils discovered within, including the petrified roots of a gigantic tree in the ceiling of the cavern.
It's an interesting paddle though brief. I think we only paddled about a half-mile through the cavern before ending back where we started. The guides were very good and the overall experience was unique, but given the brevity, I wouldn't recommend going out of your way for it.
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