It was a short-drive day, as we moved to Cochise County in the southeastern corner of Arizona. Our campsite is at Kartchner Caverns State Park. Arizona has done a fantastic job in building and maintaining their parks and campgrounds. This park, located at the caverns site, is no exception. The limestone caverns were discovered in 1974 but did not open to the public until 1999; after the Arizona State Park department had built facilities to preserve and guarantee the delicate ecosystem of the caves. The general public is restricted via tours that cap the number of visitors each day. Fortunately, some guests had canceled, so we lucked out to get on an afternoon tour. There are two caves connected by a very narrow opening. The Big Room cave was closed, as it is every year at this time, because the bats arrive and will occupy the cave for the next three to four months – sort of a timeshare between bats and humans. We took the Throne Room Tour, which was fantastic. The colors and limestone formations are amazing. Our favorite was cave bacon limestone formations. I guess that’s as close as we get to bacon these days – certainly not on our breakfast plates!
Kartchner Visitor Center
Kartchner Caverns is on the leading edge of science to preserve caves. After the team visited cave sites around the world, they developed a plan based on all the lessons and recommendations. As as example, the only entrance for air is the original entrance through which they discovered the cave. They built a separate entrance for researchers and the public. This new entrance employs leading-edge technology, including double lock doors and a misting system to insure that the humidity level in the cave remains constant (99%). Rules were developed and pathways built to minimize the introduction of foreign matter- no loose items, including cameras, cell phones, water bottles, etc. could be brought into the caves. We passed through several chambers of air-tight doors to retain the cave moisture. One chamber included a misting system to moisten us and reduce the probability of ‘stuff’ flacking off our skins or clothing. They wash down all walkways every night. There are no places to sit. Any rock or wall touched is marked for special cleaning. It is an impressive system, even though there was a Disneyland-like feeling when we were transported to the cave opening in a multi-car bus tram, on specially constructed pathways, with the driver a few points of interest along the way.
Cave Bacon
Cave Straws
Because of the no camera policy, the ‘inside the cave’ photos below were provided by the Park Service, as was the artistic depiction of the Shasta Ground Sloth that lived in this area 86,000 years ago. When initially exploring the cave, they discovered only a single sloth skeleton, but a lot of scat. It seems they used the cave mainly as a toilet, and somehow one got trapped or couldn’t find his way out. This can easily lead to a conspiracy scenario where his group wanted to get rid of him and closed off his exit, leaving him to die.
Shasta Ground Sloth
The two caves are inside two mountains. A hiking path loops around the mountains providing a scenic overview of the land occupied by Indian people from 4,800 BC to 1300 AD. This is Chiricahua Apache Indian territory and includes part of the Chiricahua desert. In the various historical markers, little if anything is mentioned about Mexicans in the area. It’s all about Indians, Anglo cattle ranchers, and the US Army to suppress the Indians. Fort Huachuca was the base of a regiment of black soldiers, referred to as Buffalo Soldiers by the Indians. They played a key role in preventing Indian raids.
Overlooking the Chihuahuan Desert
Roselie and Sandi ventured out on the three-mile Foothills Loop Trail that encircled the top of the mountains containing the caves below. Since the site is at almost 5,000 feet, their effort rewarded them with some great views.
Indian’s mortar to grind various grains ~ 2,000 BC
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So far, I’m not finding overwhelming support for the idea of cultural integration that is the center piece of the El Norte nation concept. The Indian component appears to play a greater role than I had expected. My goal for Bisbee is to get clarity around cultural integration, or the lack thereof. Is Woodard’s proposal just another Shiny Object that I’m chasing? I’ll learn more tomorrow as we head to the border town of Bisbee.
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