When we arrived at Fairbank, an old mining settlement, the schoolhouse/museum wasn’t open (weekends only) so there wasn’t much opportunity for background or history. There were only a couple old buildings still standing, including a “two-holer” outhouse.
The two-holer. This was set on a concrete base, so it may not have been all that long ago when last in use. Makes one appreciate the bathrooms currently in our homes.
We saw a small sign pointing to an old cemetery about 1/2 mile down a path, so we headed in that direction, watching out for rattlesnakes as we went.
We passed some old abandoned mining equipment along the way.
Then we found the cemetery on top of a small hill.
From the cemetery hill, there was a view of the desert and mountains in the background.
Then there were the graves…
There were a few with old wooden, and still barely-standing, crosses.
There were only a couple that had any kind of name markers, such as this one.
This one has some names, but were hard to read. The date was around the turn of the century.
This one also had names, but were completely unreadable.
There were about 50 or so graves on top of that hill. Most were just indicated by piles of stones.
A couple were, or had been, fenced.
We saw another one of those non-moving, "flying saucers/blimps," like we saw in New Mexico down near the Mexican border. We determined, correctly or not, that it is probably surveillance of the border.
The next day was our tour reservation at the Kartchner Caverns. There are two tours through the Caverns. We took one last year and were so impressed we wanted to see this one also.
The visitor center is right off Highway 90 near Benson.
One would never guess that these amazing caverns are hidden under the surface of these hills behind the visitor center.
In 1974 Gary Tenen and Randy Tufts were exploring in the area looking, “for a cave no one had ever found,” and they found it.
The two kept the cave a secret until 1978 when they told the property owners, James and Lois Kartchner, about their awesome discovery. Since unprotected caves can be, and have been, seriously damaged by vandals, they knew the cave had to be protected.
The two spent several years keeping the cave a secret while exploring ways to protect and develop it.
There were numerous highly clandestine efforts to this end, including taking a blindfolded Arizona State Parks officer to the cave late at night. This officer turned out to be too large to get all the way into the main part of the cave, and ended up having to see a slide presentation of what was inside.
To make a long story short, through an arduous 10+ year process to keep it a secret and still find a way to get it designated and funded as a state park and then developed, the Upper Caverns opened to the public in 1999 and the lower Caverns opened in 2003.
This cave is probably the most highly regulated and cared for to insure it’s protection, of any cavern in the world. This is an amazingly huge cave and has areas that still have not been explored.
For more on Kartchner Cavern's history, go to www.pr.state.az.us/parks/KACA/history.html
The beauty of this cave is almost overwhelming and of course, they do not allow photographs anywhere inside the cave. I found some pictures on the web to give you an idea of what it is like, but trust me, there is no way to even begin to show the beauty of this cavern without seeing it yourself.
Unlike many caves that are very cold, this one goes straight in from the side of the hill, not down deep. It is 88 degrees and 98% humidity inside. It's a little sticky, but not really uncomfortable for a tour. The part of the tour that is inside the cave lasts approximately 1-1/2 hours.
“Soda Straws” stalactites hang from the ceiling.
Those taking the tour stay on the concrete walkway designated by
the handrails in the picture.
One of the things not obvious in the pictures, is that the ceiling is 40 to 60 feet or so above your head. You are not squeezing through tight spaces like the original explorers had to do to get into the cave. They don't call these "caverns" for nothing. They are truly cavernous!
Pictures are totally inadequate to show the majesty of this place. If you are coming to the Tucson/Benson area, you will be very happy you made this stop and then, like me, you will struggle trying to find words adequate to to tell your friends about it and talk them into going as well.
No comments:
Post a Comment