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(near Sonoita, Arizona)
Young caver Margaret Harrison and her dad visited Cave of the Bells in Arizona during her spring break from school in March 2002. The cave is very near her grandparents home in Green Valley, Arizona. They were guided by Pete Fine, a member of the Southern Arizona Grotto from Tucson. It was a welcome beginning to the new caving season because most Colorado caves were still snowed in.
Following her return from Arizona, Margaret found out that her caving adventures were to be featured in the June, 2002 issue of Jack & Jill magazine. She completed a photo shoot for the magazine in several caves in Williams Canyon, near Manitou Springs, in April, 2002. Read the four-page article about Margaret, Hazel Barton, and caving in the June 2002 issue of Jack and Jill Magazine!
-- by Wayne
Harrison
 View Margaret's Guestbook Have you caved with Margaret? Sign Margaret's Guestbook |
Cave
of the Bells is located at the end of a long four-wheel-drive
road in the Santa Rita Mountains, near Sonoita. Pete brought
along a couple of local cavers and everyone got ready for the
underground adventure at the start of the short trail. Since
the cave temperature was 75 degrees (cool to the Arizona cavers,
but hot to Margaret and her dad), the group did not wear coveralls.
Margaret wore a helmet with two light sources, jeans, a t-shirt
and knee pads. She also had her cave pack, with an additional
source of light, extra batteries, canteen and cave snacks.
The
cave is gated and Pete got the key from the Forest Service before
the trip. Rather than opening both bars of the gate, Pete only
opened the bottom one to save time and aggravation. Margaret
had no problem crawling through the gate. The metal plate above
the gate contains instructions for getting through the gateway
without a key. That's in case someone loses the key during the
caving trip. Unlike Colorado caves, which have combination locks,
this cave gate is opened with a key.
The
cave is more vertical than horizontal and Margaret found herself
chimneying down a lot. Here, you can see her carefully making
her way down, with her trusty cave pack around her neck. This
was the first trip that Margaret got to use her new caving helmet
and her extra helmet light (an LED configuration that has three
intensity levels and two flash levels to save batteries.) Now,
Margaret had a second source of light readily available, should
her first headlight go out (like while in the middle of a climb,
for instance). The extra light adds only 3 ounces to the helmet,
and is also handier than pulling out a flashlight during rest
stops, to give the batteries on her her main light source a break.
Pete
was eager to show us the beautiful speleothems in the cave. Here
he is looking at formations that are taped off to warn cavers
not to touch them. Pete has been in the cave many times and said
it was his favorite "local" cave. Margaret's dad was
having quite a time trying to adjust to the heat and humidity
in the cave. Unlike the 39 to 42 degrees caves he was used to
in Colorado, so he was sweating profusely in the 75-degree Arizona
cave.
The
cave descends for several hundred feet, and Margaret found herself
honing her rock-scrambling skills. Pete was a good leader, and
showed Margaret where to put her feet as she climbed down. Pete
explained that many kids, like Margaret, are good cavers -- they
just don't have the same reach as adults and sometimes need a
hand negotiating climbs.
The
formations in Cave of the Bells are very pretty, and still growing.
Although there is some evidence of vandalism, many of the formations
appear to be untouched. The cave gate, and the Forest Service
monitoring access to the cave, helps keep vandals out.
This
view is looking down a crawlway (a "hole" to non-cavers)
that leads to an underground lake. The bottom lake is actually
warmer than the average cave temperature, so it's thought that
it is being heated thermally.
Margaret
found herself drinking more than she normally does in Colorado
caves. She and her dad brought along canteens filled with Gatorade
to replenish the salts and minerals they were losing by sweating
so much. Responsible cavers are very conscientious about not
contaminating the cave, and carry their own waste out of the
cave, too. (We've yet to find a bathroom in a wild cave).
After
a break, Pete let Margaret lead down a crawlway. That's her disappearing
into a hole to the right of Pete. She had a great time seeing
how different this cave was to the ones she's explored in Colorado.
In
other places, Margaret was right behind Pete as he showed her
the underground wonders of Cave of the Bells. She had a great
time, but the 75 degree temperature of the cave made her long
for the coolness of Colorado caves. She and her dad thanked Pete
for the guided tour and they made plans to explore more Arizona
caves when she returns next year during the spring break.