_ we drove through new mexico and crossed the border into arizona. the sun burned hotter and more directed. we turned off the highway and drove up into the hills.
_ we were headed to the collosal caverns. at the entrance to the cave itself, we found this statue. though you'd think otherwise, the statue was not modeled on either miners in the area or members of the civilian brigade that helped modernize the cave system, but on a bartender at a hotel in town.
_ our guide took us deep into the hillside, and explained the various formations and rooms of the cave system with true excitement. when he held his flashlight his hands shook.
_ he warned us not to touch any surface, as the oils in a human fingerprint will last forever and gradually degrade the rock. touching this little stalagmite was permitted, however, and, as you can see, it has been rubbed almost translucent.
_ this creepy formation is called Witch Emma, use your imagination and you'll see the long nose and jagged teeth pulled back in a scream. even stranger, the rock jutting out in the bottom-left casts a cat-like shadow when lamp light falls across it. probably an odd sight in the first days of the cave's discovery, when all visitors had to descend on ropes and lantern light projected only so far.
_ more 'flow rock' as we stepped deeper and deeper.
_ relics left by the first batch of civil engineers. they toiled in the darkness laying slabs and wiring for subsequent visitors, and needed their equipment to stand up to the stresses of the environment.
_ there was frequent murmuring in our group about bats hanging in the eaves, and despite never seeing one, people were constantly pointing this way and that, saying mira mira.
_ the first visitors drilled holes in the rock for their ropes and hooks. visitors took the initiative and made the finger-in-rock-pull-it-out-push-it-in-again gesture of pre-schoolers.
_ near the lowest point of the cave, people peered over the edge. other, more jaded visitors hung back.
