We had a day off on Sunday, so we went for an adventure to the New Glarus tunnel. This is an old railroad tunnel that has been converted for walkers and bikers. But as we approached, I started to get a little frightened.

Clutching his doughnuts in fear, Kenton suggests that
it might be nice to go home and hide under the bed.

As we drew closer, the tunnel beckoned like some maw in Middle Earth that led straight into the mines of Moria.

Bravely we stepped forward . . .

We had heard that most people were sensible and brought flashlights, since the tunnel is long enough and curved enough that you will encounter some serious darkness inside. We, of course, had no flashlights, and when you have no flashlights, you're bound to encounter ghosts. Sure enough, as we stood there, we could hear a deep and eerie moaning from inside. We tried to distract ourselves by observing the small stalactites growing through the bricks above. We judged them to be a rather pure example of calcite, since they seemed to have no color at all.

                    We were pretty surprised to find these.
Inside, the darkness closed around us, and the ghosts began to howl in earnest. They made strange chittering sounds, and deep, hollow moans, and long, tortured gurgles. It was clear that we were not going to come out the other side alive. Foolishly, we walked deeper into the dark.

         A light at the end of the tunnel.

After a long and rather hesitant journey during which we had to stop and vote numerous times (Kenton: I vote to run for our lives! Rebecca: Let's just go a little further . . .), we finally saw light. However, the strange sounds were building up so that they surrounded us, echoing off the walls. The ghosts were closing in from behind, but they were guarding the entrance as well. There was no escape.

          A goblin, clearly. At least it's not too big.
We walked slowly forward toward the light, and there we saw the first of the ghosts.

A few more steps, and the comforting light fell over us. And there, on the wall, the ghosts were revealed.

                                                                                                Pigeons can make very spooky sounds.

Outside, Rebecca climbed to the top of the arch, and we discovered some beautiful moss.

When we made our way back through the tunnel, Rebecca took a last picture of me walking with relief into the light. This might give you a better perspective of the size of this tunnel.

This thing is HUGE!

It is truly a great adventure, if you're ever down this way. You can learn its location at the trailhead in New Glarus, and from there it's only a few miles to the tunnel.  Woohooo!

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