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| Coy Ainsley, CCSRP |
Don't be too afraid of the bearded wonder to the left here. That's Coy, program services supervisor and park naturalist at Carter Caves State Resort Park. Back a couple of years ago, Coy ran into a bit of a problem. After playing host to one of the most successful winter events in the Kentucky State Park system, Coy was faced with the daunting task of completely restructuring the event that had been taking place for nearly 30 years.
This was not by choice mind you, but an attempt to protect the large colony of bats at Carter Caves from the ever increasing threat of White Nose Syndrome, more commonly known as WNS. This fungal threat was discovered in colonies of bats in the northeastern part of the United States approximately 6 years ago. Since that time, there has been over a 90% mortality rate for the caves it was first discovered in. For anyone out there who has been following this plight, you may be aware that it was just discovered at Mammoth Cave January 16, 2013. For additional information about WNS and what we're doing about it here in North America, follow this
LINK.
Now back to Coy, you know, the bearded wonder I referred to at the beginning. The event that I'm talking about was the annual Carter Caves Crawlathon. With only days to go to the 28th annual event in 2009, it was decided that the growing threat of WNS was too great of a threat to have the event and it was canceled. While there was much disappointment, the environmentally conscious staph (Yes, I realize this is not spelled correctly, more on that in a moment,) and patrons were more concerned about our furry winged mammal friends than they were about the Monday morning stories about cave adventures and shenanigans during the weekend. Without delay though, the wheels began to turn and ideas began to flicker about where to go from there.
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| WAW Zipline |
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| Mountain Biking |
Enter, Winter Adventure Weekend. After an extremely brief hiatus in 2009, the twisted minds and dedicated volunteers of the former Crawlathon, once again pooled their collective ideas, with Coy at the helm to introduce the reincarnation of their beloved event now referred to as WAW. Their unwavering devotion to the park and tenacious spirit can only be compared to the most stubborn of infections....hence "staph." Well, at least it makes us still chuckle after all these years. But what they brought to the public has quickly become the premier winter event for the state of Kentucky. Nowhere else in the state can you experience as many different outdoor adventures in one weekend than you can at the Carter Caves Winter Adventure Weekend. Don't believe me? If anyone can find one venue that combines hiking, canoeing, zipline, rappelling, photography, cycling, horseback riding, orienteering, outdoor skills, backpacking, and informational lectures, then I'm willing to listen. Still don't believe me? I even forgot to mention the world famous Sqeezebox competition and corrugated cave. These are truly one-of-a-kind events. Need more? Okay, how about we throw in some S'mores to sweeten the deal? Oh yeah, and live music.
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| Squeezebox Competition |
Have I won you over yet? You'll have to forgive me, but there are so many things out there in the parks to experience and enjoy. All you have to do is take advantage of them. As for this weekend, if you haven't made your reservation for WAW yet, then you need to do so. Just follow this
LINK to the WAW website to find out more about the event. I'll be there helping out the other "staph'ers" during the weekend. If you see me and know who I am, say "Hi." If you don't get a chance to stop by this weekend, then send me an email
HERE.
