The next day we headed to Katchner Caverns State Park. We had a 2:45 tour but was told to arrive an hour early. This was an amazing tour. Made up for yesterday, but they do not allow pictures, so I'll try to describe.
In November 1974, Gary Tenen and Randy Tufts were exploring the limestone hills at the eastern base of the Whetstone Mountains. They were looking "for a cave no one had ever found" and found it. The two kept the cave a secret until February 1978 when they told the property owners, James and Lois Kartchner. Since unprotected caves can be seriously damaged by unregulated use, they knew the cave had to be protected. They decided to approach the state park to see if they were interested in acquiring this outstanding resource.
State Parks leased the property on April 29, 1988 and acquired the Option to Purchase from the Nature Conservancy in July 1988. Acquisition of the Kartchner property was finalized on September 16, 1988. Overcoming more than 10 years of unforeseen challenges in research, planning, construction, legislative threats, mining concerns, and legal issues, the upper caverns were ready to open to the public.
This is the Discovery Visitor Center.
The workers wore protective shoes to minimize the impact on the cave.
These are Tubular Straws (also called Soda Straws) hanging from the ceiling.
The cave started forming spelothems approximately 200,000 years ago to the present. Kartchner is a iving cave with deposition and solutioning going on today. This is the Big Room which is 50 feet high and 90 feet wide.
Our tour was one hour and 45 minutes long. You could take no camera, jackets, or bags of any kind. The conservation effort here was fantastic. All the pictures in this blog came from the Arizona State Parks: Kartchner Caverns website.
Back home, we were walking the dog when we came across this beautiful moon ascent.
We love Arizona and it's many landscapes and moon ascents. Today is our son's birthday. He is 36 today. We love you Scot and are incredibly proud of you!
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