Cave Day

What originally sparked our interest in a trip down to Tucson was the opportunity to go visit Kartchner Caverns. These caverns are about an hour south of Tucson. They are living caverns that were discovered only forty some years ago. These caverns are carved out of limestone and speleologists estimate that this cave has been growing for around 50,000 years. 

These caverns are home to one of the world's longest soda straw stalactites which is approximately 21 inches long! We took a tour of the Rotunda-Throne Room and although we were not able to see the largest soda straw we were able to see an impressive 58 foot tall column called the Kubla Khan. Unfortunately, we were not able to take any photos inside the cave, but it was so sparkly, wet, colorful, and beautiful inside. It was so neat to be inside the cave and listen to the water dripping around us forming the beauty that we were surrounded in.  Ben and I have been inside a living cave when we went to San Antonio, however, they had more stringent rules at Kartchner Caverns. It is always a rule on all the caves tours we have been on not to touch anything inside the cave. In addition to that rule, Kartchner Caverns had us report to our tour guide if we accidentally touched anything so they could mark it. At the end of the day they would send a crew in to wash down the flagged areas that had been touched. They even went as far as not allowing us to carry any loose jackets or blankets. If we did have extra clothing we had to roll it up into a ball and carry it under our armpit so that we would not drop any extra lint off the material. 

After our tour of Kartchner Caverns we drove to Colossal Cave for another tour. Ben and Jocelyn took a short nap in the car while we were waiting for our time slot. Bridget and I enjoyed some snacks and a beautiful view of the Sonoran Desert.

Colossal cave was the absolute opposite of Kartchner Caverns. This cave is no longer living. It was dry, dusty, and many of its structures were broken.

It may not have been as beautiful, but it has quite the history. It was used by many ancient people such as the Apache, Sobaipuir, and Hohokam Indians. It also has been the location of quite a few films and was even on an episode of Sesame Street.

Our tour guide informed us that Big Bird was in the cave and saw the rock in the photo above and believed it was a T-Rex.

Big Bird was so terrified that he ran straight through the cave wall and left a big bird shaped hole in the wall which Ben and Jo are poking there heads through.

Jocelyn was having a difficult time on our second cave tour. Once she heard that Big Bird had been inside this cave she got excited and enjoyed the rest of the tour.

It was really awesome to be able to see two very different caves in the same day. We had a wonderful time.