Other than catching his belt buckle, Glen would have qualified.
Other than catching his belt buckle, Glen would have qualified.
Jewel Cave is an intricate and lengthy cave, with miles (135 mapped) of paths and caverns. More are being explored and
charted each year. To get to the level of the standard tour,
we had to take an elevator 700 feet down.
Our tour guide, Larissa.
A chunk of cave wall was sacrificed to allow visitors to touch
this sample. Normally, formations are off limits to prevent
skin oils from ruining them.
There are 724 stairsteps on this tour.
Alan pointed out this ironoxide coloration.
The jewels for which the cave is names. They cover many of the
walls and in some cases, have broken off and lie jumbled on the
floor.
A drip creates a new feature.
This drapery looks uncannily like bacon, thus earning that
sobriquet.
Looking up at the ceiling.
After resurfacing, we hiked over to the original entrance.
The cave was discovered by two men who noticed a cool breeze in the
heat of the day. The cave 'breathes' in response to outside
air pressure. There is indeed a breeze coming from inside the
cave here, as our testers are showing.
And of course I had to take pictures of the wildflowers that
were strewn abundantly about. These are thistles.