Trip to S.P. Cave

   To understand this goal you must go back a couple of years to Kartchner Caverns, where we were one of the first people to ‘tour’ this grand and beautiful cave, just shortly after it had opened. I had been to Colossal Caves before, but had seen nothing compared to the beauty of what was in Kartchner. I was amazed by the formations I saw, still growing and untouched. I was hooked on it the minute I smelled the moist earth and saw the awesome ‘bacon’ formations inside. My family had the same sentiments, and as we were excitedly sharing our thoughts and feelings about what we had seen, we came to the conclusion that we wanted to do this more, and see more of these beautiful wonders. And not just walk through large ‘public’ caves, but to actually get down in the mud, squeeze through cracks, and get as close as we could to these giant monoliths. We wanted to get involved, not just as observers or adrenalin junkies, but as conservationist and supporters of what is right with caving. We wanted to see these beautiful monuments be preserved and saved for future generations, to see these wonders continue to grow in magnificence, and most of all to see to it that other people became aware of not only the beauty, but of the importance of saving these caves.

   We had read about one specific cave in an Arizona Highways Jan. ‘93 magazine which had beautiful pictures of formations in a cave simply called, S.P. The article had mentioned that tours were given and that this was not anything close to a ‘public’ cave. This was exactly what we wanted, exactly what we were looking for; freedom to explore and view a beautiful cave on our own. Here our goal was born, to tour S.P. and to learn the required knowledge for the trip.

   Jerry Trout was listed as a contact to get information on taking this trip, and so we excitedly called him. He directed us to another awesome person, David Joaquim. Dave explained everything we needed to know, what the cave would be like, what equipment we would need, as well as what experience we should become knowledgeable in. We planned to get the needed equipment, learn the required skills, and be prepared to tour S.P. the next year. During that time Dave took us on several trips to Camelback Mountain to learn the required rope work, and also to several ‘walk-through’ caves that would help us become acquainted with cave travel. Throughout this experience, Dave was an excellent and trusted teacher, showing us the basics and amazing us with expert knowledge and awesome stories. He not only taught us how to navigate caves and wall faces, but also taught us the importance of cave conservation and tips on how to keep the caves protected.

   After a year of study and learning, we were prepared to enter S.P., the only problem; Jerry Trout had forgotten to leave the key to the gate with Dave. Sadly we didn’t get to reach our goal that year, but Dave did take us to some other quality caves in the state to make up for it, and it was definitely worth it. We also got to meet the awesome ‘cave-monster,’ Ian, Dave’s son. A sweet and smart little boy that had more caving experience than my family combined coupled with the knowledge his father had bestowed upon him over the years. He made the trips even more fun, and helped diminish any fears I had of caves, because I felt, ‘If this little boy can climb and crawl through caves like nothing, surely I can.’

   It wouldn’t be until another year later that we would get another chance at S.P. This time Dave had made sure plans were in place and that everything would go off without a hitch. The plans were set and on May 25, Saturday morning we left on the long drive down south, where Dave, Ian, and another fellow caver we had met before while learning to rappel, Kevin, were all camped out waiting for us. We arrived shortly around 10 am and met Dave and his group and proceeded to get prepared for the descent, little Ian bouncing with his usual happiness. At the cave entrance Dave explained the basic rules: stay on trail, no touching formations, etc. We made final checks of our gear and ropes, and my step-dad, Jim, was the first to enter. Then the rest of us anxiously rappelled in.

    Once off rope and stripped of my harness, I finally looked around. We were in the first main room with not much area except the ‘rock zone’ where we had rappelled down to. We crawled through a few tight squeezes and came into a small room with a few smaller formations, exactly what I was expecting to see. Nothing too special. Then we made a few more crawls and squeezes to where we entered a big room with amazing columns I had never expected to see. There were huge formations towering over me at least thirty feet, and not just one or two, but everywhere. You look at one, turn around and see one right behind you, close enough to touch and examine. From this room we were lead into another smaller room by Ian, the trail master, where we saw more examples of nature’s beauty and grace. From giant waterfall and shield formations to smaller helictite and ‘carrot’ formations, the amazement increased throughout our group.

   We traveled through the rest of the rooms with growing excitement, stopping to take pictures what seemed like every two steps, and never stopping to rest, just occasionally getting a drink of water and moving on to the next wonderment. Dave explained some history behind the cave and some geology about what we were looking at and how it had formed. I was amazed seeing the mud that had never been touched compared to the mud trail. It was obvious the dramatic effect that humans had when we ‘trampled’ through these beautiful structures. It became clear to me why this cave was so protected, and I appreciated that fact. I was glad to see that such care was taken with such a work of art. It did however make me feel sad to know that other caves, especially Kartchner, were not being preserved in this way. I feel that is the only way caves will continue to grow and be saved for generations to come.

   Alas, time was running out and we were getting tired. Plus our camera had run out of battery power, so we decided to start the journey back out of the cave. Going down is definitely a lot easier than going back up, but we all made it back through the cave safely and up the rope with no problems at all. Sad to leave, but a tremendous feeling of satisfaction of finally completing our goal we traveled back down to the campsite and prepared to travel back to town. We emphatically thanked Dave and his companions for the journey and said our goodbyes, traveling back down that dirt road that had brought us to the completion of our goal, with smiles on our faces, and stories to tell for years, even though words would never be able to do justice to the beauty that can only be understood by seeing it in person.

   Now that our goal has been reached, I know that this is something very important to me and that I will continue to do and learn and at least spread my knowledge of what I feel is right about caving. Once again I would like to thank Jerry Trout, the CAG, and most of all, Dave, for this wonderful experience.