The gear.
The tour started with us going down a 1/2 mile trail, into a dry wash, then climbing down a 7' ladder in a hole in the ground. Then came the hardest, and least fun part of the tour (in my opinion)...the belly crawl... I have done belly crawls in the past...but never ones this long, with no break were you can do no more than lift your head. At points you would actually have to turn your head sideways to get the helmet through the opening. It was tough, and the next day I was covered in bruises on my forearms, shins, thighs, and hips, as were my sisters. I am not sure about Andy, but then he wouldn't show me any piddly bruises, even if he had them. There were either 3 or 4 of these very tight squeezes, seperated by about 4 feet of a little wider tunnel. In one of these tunnels I had the chance to pause and look around (while lying on my belly in the gravel), and I noticed the reason that the cave got its name. Now, when booking the tour I just figured that the name was most likely due to a formation, or possibly the shape of the cave itself. If you know me at all, you know of my fear of spiders. Well, while lying in the gravel on my belly, in a tube of rock barely big enough to fit an adult human, with Jennifer's feet sticking out a the next tight squeeze ahead of me, ans someone else from the tour right behind me...I noticed 4 giant, the-size-of-my-hand daddy longlegs. I did feel a little paniced, but there was nothing I could do but try to stay a low as possible and hope the giant things wouldn't fall on me as I went through the squeeze. I also dreaded returning through that same tunnel the entire 2 hours we were in the Spider Cave.
The belly crawl. Look how releaved I am to be getting out of that spider tunnel.
The formations. Calcite flowstone with iron staining.
Columns. Called "The Untouchables". To keep people from touching them. Although they are strong enough to support the weight of the average human, in this wet part of the cave, the formations are still growing ("alive"), and touching them leaves behind dirt, oils, and lint that can "kill" them.
The high water mark, several feet above our heads, in the "Mace Room".
White calcite stalagtites and columns.
Argonite bundles.
Very fragile calcite columns with argonite bundles growing on them. The surrounding red soil is from the iron. Most of the cave was pretty red, so the bright white calcite formations really popped!
The very narrow columns are often called soda straws. They are usually hollow inside, and are about the diameter of an actual soda straw.
The gnome. No, not me, the formation.
Coming back out into the light!
The end!
