On Sunday, August 6, as a newcomer, I entered Cave of the Bells with other Southern Arizona Grotto members.  I’ve told many of my friends about joining SAG. Half of them quiver in fear. The other half are amazed that caving is available remotely near to Tucson. Thankfully our grotto opened this experience to me.

The cave was different than I expected. Some parts of the cave were quite humble, though generously glittered with aragonite. It was everywhere, sometimes a little too close to where your hand needed to go! When I say humble though, I mean the formations you were privy to without rappelling didn’t include a lot of big formations. Forgive my amateur’s evaluation, but though the cave was moist, there wasn’t a lot of new growth. One of the most striking, though plain formations, was at the beginning.

A real treat was when we were in the thick of our adventure. After some wiggling through tight spots, there was a small, but lovely display of bacon. While some members took a little break to do some vertical work, the rest of us sat and enjoyed the cave. We even shut off our lights a bit. No one fell asleep, though Craig was eerily laughing ;) Ahhhhhhhhh! Near the end of our experience, some of us went off to see some fossilized shells. After that became the tricky area called the birth canal, I believe. It was pretty exciting! There were a few standing tight squeezes. At one point you needed to straddle a thin rock. It was fun having to twist and balance your body.

When we finished, it was great to see the sky, except for the fact it was looking a little too gray. It sprinkled, but luckily for us, it didn’t continue. Then we took our happy, bumpy car ride home. Thanks guys for the great opportunity!

Rachael Drozdoff