Part 28 here
In the morning we decided to try our luck at the Crater of Diamonds. It is located in the north part of Arkansas, just mud fields where diamonds, amethysts, chrysolites and some other rocks can be found. The rules are that everything that’s found on that field belongs to the finder. There are up to 600 diamonds found here yearly. The best time to find treasures is after heavy rain, when the light soil particles are washed away and diamonds can be seen on the surface.
When we came to the field. we took a shovel and tried to break dry clods, found some not precious rocks, but it was so hot there that we didn’t stay for a long time.
After lunch I took place behind the steering wheel. Our navigator led us to our tomorrow’s goal, but by country roads, not highways. The road went up to the hill, then down, with frequent sharp turns, where I should slow down from 55 to 15 and soon I felt sick because that repeated again and again. So when I noticed a big sign saying “Mystic Caverns” I gladly turned there. How nice! Let’s see, what is mystic here. And we were lucky to buy the tickets for the last tour for the day. So we and our tour guide went under the surface. There is a rumor that it is the second cave in Arkansas that was open for the public a way back.
Cave popcorn
The first evidence that there were visitors here was the inscription left on one of the formations, stating “Adam Kolbe Wilcockson April 6, 1919”. It is known that the owner installed a wooden ladder to the sinkhole entrance and admission was $.25. Tourists used kerosene lanterns. Around 1938 the state officials said that it is dangerous to use a ladder and the owner stopped taking the admission. The cave was open for everyone and it is believed that the most damages to the formations were made at that time – people broke formations, sold them to the rock shops who in turn sold them to the tourists.
“Wedding cake”
Fossils
In the Christmas Eve they sing here
If formation was broken, but still in active growing phase it looks like that
Cave Troll
In 1949 the ownership of the cave was changed and new owner wanted to commercialize the cave. For that reason he removed rotten ladder and made a spiraling path to the cave, leveled the paths inside, covered them with limestone to make them harder and added railings after. Electric lighting for the first time was installed. In 1955 the cave wanted to use as the part of the themed park and during the works another, unknown cave was found, that didn’t have an entrance on the surface before. That new cave got the name “Crystal Dome”.
Sugar Icing
Dome height is about 70 feet
Bacon
Dragon
Like a castle walls
Part 30 here