That cave mouth was so wide it looked like the hillside had yawned. I had driven out on a warm afternoon expecting a quick roadside stop, and instead I found cool air rolling out of the dark before I could even see the water.
What surprised me most was how easy the whole thing felt, because the path is smooth concrete the entire way and there is not one stair to climb. That half mile took me past fossils older than anything I can wrap my head around, past initials scratched into stone, and past pale little creatures that have never needed eyes.
I walked out squinting into the Missouri sunlight with the strange feeling that I had just been let in on a local secret. The walkway winds through the hill without any of the crawling or squeezing you expect from a cave tour…