KARTCHNER CAVERNS STATE PARK

Kartchner Caverns named after the family that owned the hills and surrounding land where the caverns were discovered over 50 years ago by a couple of young cave explorers in there early 20's.
The caverns...are now protected...protected like no other natural resource we have ever seen...by the Arizona State Park System.



So protected that you could not bring any kind of camera...not even a cell phone along with you on the tour.



We also went through an extensive "lecture" on the do's and dont's...like what you could touch... (railings) and what you couldn't touch... like everything else.



As we entered the cavern...in the first chamber we were instructed to take our coats or jackets off (the temp inside the cavern is 76 with high humidity...outside was 45)...and roll them like a burrito and tie them around our waist.



Then we walked through a second chamber where "misters" lightly gave us a fine mist shower to remove any contaminants that might harm the controlled environment that we were about to enter.



Both of these chambers were sealed by magnetic doors...which gave the beginning of our tour an erie feel...but what we saw throughout the tour was just amazing...and not just the rock formations...stalactites and stalagmites but the way all of the caverns were preserved...amazing.



This was the second cave tour we were on this trip...and so much different because this was a "life cave"...which means it was still evolving (changing) with lots of moisture.





These pictures are from our hike on the 2 1/2 mile trail around the hill that covered the caverns.



UP...DOWN...& ROCKY...and back & forth across water...A GOOD HIKE FOR US...



SanTony