A Hole-y Wonder - Part 2

Don't forget to read Part 1!

When last we blogged, we'd arrived at Kartchner Caverns State Park for a weekend camping with buddies, gotten in some exercise, witnessed an astronomical event, and watched a few football games; now, it was time to head into the bowels of the Earth!

Let's tour a cavern!

Several members of our group had visited Kartchner Caverns in previous years, but this was my first time, and I was totally impressed.  Sure, the natural features inside the cave were incredible, but I was really taken by all of the thought and effort that went into making the Caverns the awesome state park it is today.  The cavern wasn't even found until the mid-1970s, and because its discoverers, Gary Tenen and Randy Tufts (here's the link for the full history), had so much prior caving experience, they already knew a lot of the do's and don't's of preserving this amazing piece of the state's geology.  For example, instead of stomping all over the place through the caverns, they carefully followed the same routes in and out, stepping in the same spots; their footprints are so well preserved, you can still see them today.

Some of the soda straw formations in the cave - thin, hollow stalactites

When the Kartchner family, who owned the land at the time, decided to allow it to become a state park, the folks involved polled other cave and cavern parks, learning the best ways to turn this geologic marvel into someplace everyone can enjoy.  That included using only hand or power tools, not dynamite, to mine tunnels into the cavern, installing misters to keep visitors damp (which helps lessen the amount of dust and other debris flying off into the cavern), and pouring a curbed concrete walkway through the .5 mile trail through the cavern.  The walkway not only allows staff at the cave an easy way to wash down the areas people touch with their feet, but it also serves to make the entire cavern wheelchair accessible - the only cavern/cave in the world to be so.  Cool, right?

Although you can't take photos inside the cavern, the park has some great ones on their website, which I've used above and below.

These tour participants are sitting in front of Kubla Khan, a 58 foot tall column

(what happens when a stalactite and stalagmite merge with one another)

The cavern tour was incredible - we did the 90 minute Rotunda and Throne Room option, but they have another tour that was just getting ready to start for the season of the Big Room, where bats nest for part of the year.  I would say my only disappointment with our tour is that we didn't see any bats, so we might just have to come back again to do a different tour in the future.

Since all of us were up early and tuckered ourselves out hiking and biking, post-tour, it was high time for a nap.  Once we all awoke, we gathered again at Bryan and Jen's camper to watch the Auburn football game; before too long, it was dinner time, which for us was some delicious 50/50 bacon and beef hamburgers Chris found at our local butcher, Underbelly Meat Co, as well as various delicious sides prepared by Jake and Keeli.

After dinner, we wandered back to the Visitor Center; although we didn't plan things this way, the Saturday night of our camping trip was a Star Party at the park, and the telescopes that were set out earlier in the day to watch the eclipse were called back into service.  We saw Jupiter and Saturn through the scopes, and even with the naked eye, the night sky was incredible.  Kartchner is a dark sky park (you even have to turn off the outdoor lights on your rig after 8:30pm), and the stars were insane; we could even see the Milky Way itself!  Here's a shot from the interwebs - it really did look like this:

And here's my feeble attempt at capturing this magic:

Jake and Keeli's camper with the night sky

After our time at the Star Party concluded, it was back to the campers once more, to enjoy some adult beverages and make use of the provided fire ring!

Extremely important things are being discussed here

The fire ring has "Arizona State Parks" cut out of the sides

We were all up early again on Sunday morning and hitting the trails, although some of us had a rougher night than others (two of the three gentlemen in the whiskey picture above, cough, cough).  Despite this, all six of us strolled to the trailhead of the Foothills Loop and started a group hike.

Lots of big ocotillos on this trail

Keeli and Jake, working their way up the trail, with the Visitor Center behind them -

this trail ended up being just under 3.5 miles by my watch, with about 600 feet of gain

Like on the Guindani trail the day before, we tackled the more exposed side of the loop first, so we could finish on the shadier side (Bryan had mountain biked the Foothills Trail prior to our Sunday hike, so he was our guide on this adventure - the Spencers are good like that).  Although it was mid-October and cooler than at home, the sun was still beating down pretty steadily.

Not a lot of shade around here

About halfway around the loop, Jake and Keeli headed back to the campground, as Keeli's back was starting to bother her (and as mentioned above, Jake was feeling the after-effects of enjoying too many fun drinks at elevation and over 40 years of age).  They did us a solid and started breakfast, which we thoroughly enjoyed upon our return.  The other four of us headed up a short side trail to the Mountain Viewpoint; as you might imagine, although the trail to the Viewpoint was short, it was steep, and we were all gasping for breath by the time we got to the top.  It was worth it, though:

We also all added our own rocks to the stack

From here, we could see all over the surrounding area, including the trailhead for yesterday's hike.  The windmill is marked with the blue arrow:

We made it!  Time to go back down and eat!

We finished the hike on a much flatter section of the trail (welcomed by all) and before too long, we were back at camp, enjoying the delicious biscuits and gravy the Keelers made for us.

We think this may have been a tarantula nest - we didn't see any spiders, though

Time for noms!

After we ate our fill of the goodness, it was time to pack up and head out.  Chris and I initially planned to head just west to Sonoita and use our Harvest Host membership at Twisted Union Wine Company, spending the day tasting before driving back to Phoenix on Monday.  However, an email from our doggie daycare location on Saturday afternoon had us reconsidering; while Zoe loves daycare, Bea isn't super enthused about it.  She's not a huge fan of other dogs (making an exception for Zoe, of course), so when they walk by her kennel on their way outside, she smacks her little face against the door, and the door often wins.  We're used to this behavior by now - most bull terriers lead with their faces, so seeing them with scratches and scabs on their ample snouts is pretty normal - but it's not the best for her, her face, or her mental state.  We're working on what to do for future stays (we just met with the vet about anti-anxiety meds that might help), but since it was easy for us to head straight home, we chose to do so (we'll just have to go wine tasting some other time, so sad).

We made it home in good time, despite ADOT's best efforts at closing the 10 freeway on the southern side of the city, and we collected the girls around 3:30.  Back at home, everyone got baths and the kiddos sacked out pretty hard.

Poor busted snoot!

She slept for around 20 hours, give or take a few bathroom and meal breaks

Zoe enjoying the yard at daycare

Even though we had to wrap things up earlier than planned, we had another amazing camping weekend with our buddies!  It's always wonderful to spend time with them, and we can't wait to do it again!

Later!

Amy