Another fun day trip while Dad is in town with Sandy and David.

Kartchner Caverns

Kartchner Caverns is less than an hour away from Tucson, and has cave tours into a series of caverns that were discovered in the 1970s. The tours are accessible to all and have paths carefully laid out to protect the cave for future generations. One big rule is no cell phones or cameras allowed on the tours so we have no pictures of our adventure.

We rode a tram to the cave entrance which went by the now fenced-off sinkhole that provided the very small hole that was the only cave entrance in 1974. Bats could get in, but nothing really bigger than that, though there is evidence that there were bigger openings in the past. At one point in time, a giant sloth made his way in and left behind his skeleton when he didn’t make it back out and a modern coyote skeleton was also found. Cave entrances come and go.

Our park ranger tour guide (awesome – very knowledgeable) showed us a coat hanger bent into an oval which was the size that Gary Tenen and Randy Tufts chipped out of the rock on the cold November day they found the small opening. Warm moist air smelling of bat guano was gushing out of the bat-sized opening, and they made it just big enough for them to wriggle in and discover this pristine cavern. They kept their amazing discovery a secret for a few years, but finally told the land owners what was there. The Kartchner family agreed the caverns needed protecting, and sold the land to the state of Arizona which then created the state park in record time.

There are four steel doors that lead into the cave. Paul agreed to be at the end of our group line to close the doors after we all stepped through. These doors allow the park to monitor the air in the cave and add misting water to us right before we enter the cave to keep it from drying out. The tour we took is only offered when the bats are in their winter home in Mexico. The intense summer sun provides heat that the mild winter does not subtract, making these caverns about 70 degrees year-round. This was the warmest, most humid cave I have ever been in.

Tombstone Revisited

After the cave tour, we decided to check out Tombstone for lunch as several in our party had not been there yet. We enjoyed walking the streets again and doing a little shopping.

The town of Tombstone is at a higher elevation than Tucson, so we were happy to have jackets, though the Iowans were wearing shorts or sandals. Paul noted the excellent gas mileage Mr. Sparkles (the truck that pulls their fifth-wheel) was getting as we drove downhill all the way back to Tucson. A route avoiding I-10 gave us views of ranches and open range land. Cattle here must learn to be smart about avoiding the cacti.

Niña is such an agreeable little dog who loves to walk along and sniff everything. As a skinny little abandoned puppy, she charmed David out of his chicken salad sandwich during a roadside stop for lunch and promptly became a beloved member of their family. It’s a cute meet story!