Off to the Sun: A Really BIG Cave, and Daisy Mae's Revenge

Now that's a BIG cave! Image courtesy of Michelle Thompson, Karnchner Caverns State Park

We have soda straws, columns, birdsnest needle quartz, totems, heicites, rimstone dams - and, in case you're hungry, brushite moonmilk, turnip shields, popcorn, and bacon. Unfortunately, none of these are edible, but all are truly incredible. I'm mostly a dry cave connoisseur, like the ones I visited in my trips to France and Spain to see the cave art in 2013. Dry caves are just that - open to the air, and dried out, therefore no longer growing formations such as soda straws and moonmilk. Karchner Caverns is a wet cave, and the water coming from the land above the cave continues its slow path through layers of limestone and earth to create a fantastical underscape in a series of large rooms. The formations take millions of years to solidify; first the hollow soda straws aggregate calcium and other minerals, growing down from the cave ceiling, filling out over thousands of years to create stalactites. Sometimes they break from their own weight, other times water drops on the floor below to form a cone, a stalagmite -they meet, and a column is formed. In the picture above, the massive column in the middle of the large room is one of the biggest in the world, named Kubla Kahn, six stories high.

Karchner Caverns is the most popular State Park in Arizona, and with good reason. Heroic measures have been taken to not only preserve the cave interior and its timeless work, but to make the cave accessible to everyone. It's a triumph of conservation and education, and the rangers on duty clearly love the cave and can't wait to share it with visitors. The cave was discovered by a couple of amateur spelunkers in 1974, who wriggled through coat-hanger-sized holes from room to room in complete darkness. The pair kept the cave secret until 1978. Its transformation into a State Park reads like a suspense novel. It truly is a wonder for all ages. In addition, the park is designated as a dark sky site - no ambient light topside at night for you stargazers.

Image courtesy of Michelle Thompson, Karchner Caverns State Park

And just in case you're in the market for a new stuffed toy, this ancient cave sloth (about the size of a refrigerator with legs) was found in the cave - just the bones, of course. Small openings on the hills above the caves came and went over the eons, permitting animals - generally smaller than this guy - to wander in.

No visit to the area would be complete without a stop at a cowboy (cowgirl, actually) bar. Daisy Mae's Steakhouse is a local favorite in Tucson, the kind of place that has dollar bills pinned to the walls and a thin yellowish veneer on the 1960s wood paneling, from the years when people could actually smoke inside. Now the smoke is relegated to the mesquite barbecue pit outside. Did I mention the meat? It was GOOD. My friend had the pork chop and I had ribs, both served with all-you-can-eat beans and cowboy toast, plus baked potato with butter and sour cream. Oh yes, a chopped salad to start, but that hardly put a dent in the carb/protein fest that is Daisy Mae's. A local told me the place used to be named L'il Abner's (the professional matress-tester husband/boyfriend (?) of Daisy Mae in the old comic strips). I guess Abner snoozed his way out of the partnership and left Daisy to mind the pit.

All images by Joanne Orion Miller unless noted