their Brownie troupe and I was able to take the tour with Lia (the older) while Emi and Dave sat it out - she got to freaked out with the darkness. I had explained to Dave that this cave was unlike any we have gone in - we need to go on our own some day - and today was it. We were not allowed to take pictures, weren't even allowed to carry anything or have jackets on - they don't want anything touching the sides of the cave due to dirt, lint, etc. being introduced into this living cave. We saw where bats roost, saw where an 80,000 year old skeleton of a sloth was found - they don't know how it got in or why, saw so many different formations and colors, just truly astounding. And this cave discovery is new - was discovered by two men back in 1974 and kept it a secret for a couple of years while they tried to figure out how to keep the
cave pristine and not let vandalism take over. They contacted the family (Kartchner) who owned the property and explained what they found and the family decided to get help financially to formalize the cave and allow the public to view it. In 1999 the first of the two large rooms was opened to the public and the second room (Rotunda) - we did not see this one because the bat colony was active in there and they don't allow tours while the bats are active - was opened in 2003. Some day we will come back and see the Rotunda Room. We said in South Dakota when we visited Wind Cave National Park and was very disappointed in that cave and the tour guide that enough caves already! However, Dave agreed with me that this cave was definitely interesting, amazing with colors and shapes, and worth the time to come. I think also our tour guide was so interesting and informative, and he kept encouraging questions - made our tour well worth our time and money. We will come back some day when the Rotunda room is open and do that tour.
Afterward we decided to hike the trails of this state park. We are in the desert so it is not pretty per se this time of year, and the trail was rated as moderate to hard - and they were right. Again, we had to keep a lookout for rattlesnakes and for tarantulas - thankfully we didn't see them. Did see lots of scat (deer poop) and bugs and cacti and vegetation, but we stopped half way through because it was really steep and hard to climb and we were loosing the daylight and didn't want to get caught hiking in the dark. Ended the day with a great Mexican dinner right near our campground - and paid for it with indigestion from the spices and peppers. But was still good food. A very good day in Benson! We still have lots to do before we leave on the 10th of December. Weather has been good - daytime about 74, nights in the low 40's but we have heaters and furnace when it gets a tidge too cold. Campground is still not full - they said by the 1st a large group will come in and then another the 1st of January. We are waiting.
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