Day 6 Spelunking

After days of farms & fields, we explored caves in Iowa today. John & Sara took us to Maquoketa Caves State Park. We basically had the place to ourselves. Massive rock formations jut out of the flat Iowa terrain. The age of the caves are estimated to be approximately 500,000 years old. As groundwater flowed through the cracks in the rocks, it mixed with carbon dioxide in the air creating a weak acid mix that dissolved the rock. As the rock is dissolved, cracks enlarge letting in more water, where overtime, it expands into a cave. This is known as solutional karst, a topography found predominantly in Iowa. Around 1930, the Civilian Conservation  Corps installed walkways and electrical lighting making them easy to investigate today. Afterwards we went to the very interesting Hurst Interactive Center. Out front was an amazing log chewed & “carved” by beavers. On the way home, we toured the Hurst Lime Works built in the late 1800’s. The kilns were used to produce lime from local stone quarries and this was used to make lime mortar to build structures such as the local “insane asylum”. Before returning home, we walked the local dam. Marveling at the high water in the Mississippi River and all the driftwood and garbage that has washed up. The flood this year was the third highest in recorded history. A fire in the chiminea was all it took to bring on heavy eyelids. Turning cold tonight.