30 Years in 52 Weeks – Week 19 – Year 2
Hello, we’re the DeLucia family and we like to explore caves. It has been a passion that has led our lives filling it with geology, beautiful scenery, physical activity and quality time. As parents we wanted our children to share our love of the outdoors so we started them early.
Saturday cave was the perfect trip for the kids at the time. They were small and very gung-ho so we figured we’d test how well they listened. The cave is very small and kid friendly, the surveyed traverse of the cave is less than one thousand feet. The hike to the cave is much more demanding than the cave itself. We were able to spend a couple of hours in it taking pictures, video and exploring. The cave connects to a much larger cave system in the area, but unfortunately human access to that connection is impossible due to the size. The access to this particular area now requires a wilderness permit to be anywhere on the trail.
Our love of caving goes hand in hand with camping, backpacking and hiking. Caves are not conveniently located to the creature amenities such as hotels or restaurants. Everything we packed in, we packed out. It was instinctive to us as cavers to leave the area better than we found it.
As we move forward as a “green” society, some would say our caving lifestyle has enabled us to leave a lower carbon footprint on the planet. We just know that there is nothing better than being outdoors, loving nature and seeing caves with our family. In celebration of Earth Day on April 22nd, let’s all vow to get out more and enjoy the scenery.
Let’s go!
