Exploring caves in the southern Huachucas

Susan invited me to join a small group of Sierra Vista Hikers for a late Saturday morning exploring a cave.  She didn't post the message as a cave exploration, though.  She simply said to "bring a flashlight."  I'm not a passionate spelunker, but came along to do something different.

I had no trouble picking the dog of choice.  Sahne had squeezed herself through the six-inch gap at the gate and came running toward me.  She seems to have (thankfully!) grown out of the dashing-down-the-street-to-fence fight-neighborhood-dogs stage. She came right up to me with her tail wagging.   She made it easy for me, as I usually have to open the gate and quickly close it when the first dog rushes out.  Often more than one dog makes it out and I end up taking more than one dog on a hike.

We met at 10:30am at the Coronado Visitor's Center.  The parking lot was packed because of hikers taking advantage of the shuttle to Montezuma's Pass, so we had to park at the nearby picnic area parking lot. We were a group of six people:  Susan, Ellen, SteveD, Chris, Terri and Corinne.  The drive to Cave Canyon Road was 30 minutes of winding mountain road before we could start the hike, parking by an old water tank and walking north.

We hit Happy Jack's Shacks at the mile mark.  I had been here a few times in the past but never explored the area around the shack.  Water was rushing nicely and Sahne took advantage of it.  We had only hiked a mile on the trail. 

I came along for the hike and the camaraderie and was willing to wait outside the cave with Sahne while the others were inside.  A sign outside the cave said it was closed 1 April through 1 October for bat breeding. 

Once we got to the first cave I saw the spacious cavern and went inside.  It was Ellen who sat outside the cave.  She had been in this cave many times and wanted to avoid breathing in the dust.  She agreed to hold Sahne for me while I went down with the others.

The walk down was slippery as the rock was well-worn by past cavers.  My Pixel6's flashlight works well but is not very bright, however, the flashlight turns off when I use the camera.  All the shots that turned out were due to the light of the other flashlights.

Graffiti from the late 1890s, a dead turkey skeleton and an underground pool were some of the attractions.  Sadly, many of the cave formations had been broken off by previous explorers.  

We didn't stay long. There are many smaller crawling spaces, but that is best done with a hard hat and proper gear, which no one had.

To add some mileage, we explored a second cave and this one was protected by a heavy iron gate. But it wasn't locked.  Ellen said  people should not be posting the location of this cave, so I won't.  This cave was steeper and deeper and I opted to turn around because Sahne was panicking without me. Terri stayed outside with her and said she was very well behaved.

The entire adventure was 2.75 miles  Weather was ideal, in the upper 60s and overcast.

Ellen and I met at Culvers for a late lunch.  She confessed that soon she is leaving for Washington, DC for six months.  If this trip works out for her, she may get transferred there.  Oh man, I'm going to miss her.  She will enjoy the many great trails of northern Virginia, though.

I also found out that my nephew is finally pregnant!  His wife is due in October.  They have been trying since their May 2017 wedding to conceive.