Saturday Cave, California

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!

Kings Canyon National Park, California

One of our favorite spots in the world is Kings Canyon National Park in California.  The beauty has held it’s spell on us for what feels like forever.  Don and I spent part of our honeymoon in Kings.  We were lucky and landed jobs at Boyden Cavern in the canyon on our honeymoon.  The first seven months of our marriage we worked there as cave naturalists.  Living in the forest, we really got to know the area.  We have gone back almost every year to visit the canyon.  Our kids Dani and Josh have grown up seeing the many sights the park has to offer.  It’s like a second home to us.

The Zumwalt Meadows trail located towards the Roads End in Kings Canyon offers some of the most glorious views.  The beauty is immediately enjoyable, from the parking lot overlooking the Kings River surrounded by marble and granite cliffs.  Get out of your car and head along the right side of the river.  Play close attention to the right side and you will see some grave sites.  Head over to the bridge to begin this easy one and a half mile trail that follows the river to the edge of the cliffs to the meadow and back to the forest.

We, the DeLucia’s have seen Zumwalt Meadows in many forms of weather.  One of the most captivating was our last trip there right before the roads closed for the season in late November to late April.  Having lived in Southern California all our lives we wanted to experience the essence of Fall and the legendary colors of the leaves.  Our family knew what to expect, but we were all still blown away by the beauty.  The vibrancy was amazing, equivalent to nature’s own fireworks display in textures, colors and patterns.  And we pretty much had the entire place to ourselves.

We continued our trip to Knapp’s Cabin and took the obligatory photo opp with the kids.  Don and I figure if we put those years of photos together, we’d have a photo montage of the kids growing up.  Something to think about, insert mental note here.

Of course we had to visit the caves along the way.  And we saw the wildlife we have grown accustomed to seeing.  But what we didn’t plan on, and it has come into play before, was a flat tire we got on the steep canyon road.  Fixing the problem at hand, we all had to admit that it was a positive to work in such spectacular scenery.  Flat tires and being cavers just seem to go together we have learned.

Our next stop proved to be even bigger.  We planned to end our trip venturing into major tree territory, to see the giant Sequoia trees.  These majestic wonders resemble melted candles and can give one a stiff neck peering up too long to awe at their magnitude.  The Sequoia trees can measure up to 300 feet in height and are the largest living trees on earth.  The reddish brown bark can measure up to four feet deep and is fire repellent.  The age of the Giant Sequoia trees are believed to be more than 2,000 years old.

We invite you to join us on our hike of Zumwalt Meadows, waterfalls, poking our heads into small caves, visiting the biggest trees in the world, and the most impressive colored leaves we’ve seen.  It’s just another one of our adventures where we like to go “OutDoors And not…”  Guaranteed you’ll have a good time, any and every time.

Let’s go!

Groaning Cave, Colorado

Before I got married, the only reason I visited Colorado was for the snow skiing. Now I know there’s much more to this mountainous state, and for me it’s for the underground. Picture this, the most beautiful hiking country… that also leads to an impressive wild cave named Groaning Cave.

Don and I were there for a caving regional and excited to see Groaning, the longest cave in Colorado. The cave at that time was surveyed at six and one-half miles and protected by the U.S. Forest Service.  To enter the cave we had to get a permit and sign a waiver of liability.

Groaning is a phreatic cave meaning it was made by solutioned water under the static water table.  In speleogenesis, phreatic action forms cave passages by dissolving the limestone or marble via the cracks or joints in the rock in all directions.  So in other words the cave passages were carved underwater.  The action left behind passages resembling a grid that makes it easy to get turned around.   It’s a high altitude maze that is confusing and easy to get lost in.

The cave was discovered in 1968 and was officially surveyed in 1975.  By 1995 it had 8.8 miles of surveyed passages.  On the 2010 World’s Longest Cave List, Groaning Cave came in at number 242 with a total surveyed length of 11.15 miles/17951 meters and a depth of 149 feet/45.4 meters.  The cave sits at an elevation of  9800 feet and has a temperature of 38 to 42 degrees.

The flowers on our hike to the cave were incredible with my favorites, Columbines in purples and yellows, all growing wild on the mountains. I was in Heaven before we even ventured into the cave, our reason for the trip.  Of course living at sea level and hiking in the high country makes for a more difficult climb while trying to catch my breath.  But there is something to breathing all that fresh mountain air that can rejuvenate the body and spirit.

A Colorado caver who knew the cave well led the trip for us.  We got to see the highly decorated rooms that are filled with gypsum and dripstone passages. The names of these rooms are descriptive:  Serenity Hall, White Forest, the Black Cathedral, Snowball Hall and the Land of the Inverted Mushrooms located in the farthest reaches of the cave.  Groaning then was mostly a horizontal cave with the largest room the Shattered Hall requiring a 28-foot rope drop to get to the farthest reaches.  The cave has since been pushed many more miles as evident by the longest caves list.

Let’s go!

DeLucia continues caving tradition

By Kelsey Chung

Reprinted from “The Anchor,” January 15, 2010

Her heart beat loudly under her shirt as she stretched her body and hand out to the small foot hole in the wall.

In her mind she questioned herself, “can I seriously do this?”  Her dad was tiptoeing to hold his daughter’s foot while she reached for the hole.

It was obvious that it was too far of a reach when she grasped the little ledge.

Half dangling in midair and her body stretched out diagonally, her heart dropped when she lost her grasp on the wet, slippery rocks and started to slip down.

Without any harnesses to secure her or a helmet to protect her, she slid down four feet into the unknown and fell on her butt.

Unhurt, she laughed as she stood up from the wet and dirty rocks.

Although it may sound like a nightmare for some people, for Senior Daniella DeLucia, this was just one of her many trips to caves.

Spelunking, or caving, is exploring caves and the different rock formations and crystals that are made in the caves.

“It’s like walking into a mine but one that is made by nature,” DeLucia said.

After her parents married and became passionate about caving, caving has been part of DeLucia’s life even before her birth.

“I started caving basically before I was born.  My mom actually led an expedition when she was pregnant.  Everyone told her that she was crazy but she still did it.  I first went in when I was three weeks old,” DeLucia said.

Caving for DeLucia has become more than an unusual hobby.

“Once I started, I was like ‘Whoa! Cool!’ but now it’s more like when my parents talk about really hard caves, I want to go because it’s a challenge to do it and it feels pretty amazing when you come out of a challenging cave,” DeLucia said.

For DeLucia, caving offers her the challenge and excitement she needs in her life.

“I love the excitement and thrill of it; and the mystery of not knowing what’s in each cave.  Every cave is different.  Some are just walk throughs but some have big drops and you have to crawl around,” DeLucia said.  “Most of the time, I’m excited but I do get nervous when there are drops.

Caving also shows the many natural wonders of the world.

“My favorite place is Church Cave because it’s really pretty.  Inside, there’s a part called the Cathedral Room.  It’s like a big granite room.  And in the middle of it, there is an alter looking thing that shines and sparkles.  And it’s all nature made,” DeLucia said.

Although caving offers beautiful scenery, the nature made caves can also be a dangerous place.

It’s definitely a hobby but it’s also one of those things that I’m serious about.  You always have to think and you have to be serious about it because you could not come out from a cave because of one bad move,” DeLucia said.  “It’s dangerous because there are sharp rocks everywhere and if a rock from above fell, it could bring you down and you could fall.  You always have to be alert and aware of your surroundings,” DeLucia said.

Because of the dangers, the buddy system is required when caving and communication is critical in case of an emergency.

“You have to respond to other people.  My dad’s thumb was crushed one time because the person above him failed to warn him that a rock was falling,” DeLucia said.

DeLucia’s family try to plan at least 2-3 trips every year.  Although it is possible to sleep overnight in some caves, their trips are mostly one day long.

“I hope that I continue to do this when I’m older.  When I have family someday, I would want them to be involved in it too,” DeLucia said.  “The beauty and challenge of caving is just amazing and also humbling knowing that nature created this stuff.”

Wupatki National Monument, Arizona

Wupatki National Monument in Arizona is one of those places where you can easily lose your frame of time walking among what is left of the once largest Pueblo from nearly 800 years ago.  Located on the Colorado Plateau, Wupatki was known as the meeting place for several Native American Indian cultures.  Even then, this area was dry and very warm making it not the most comfortable environment for living or growing crops for food.

To this day, no one knows why Wupatki flourished despite the harsher conditions of the land.  But it did, and that could be one of the reasons why the ancient Pueblo survives today.  Visiting the national monument is a joy to reconnect with the old ways of life.  It is also a great way to delve within your inner self, as this monument is the least traveled and easy to lose yourself in the past as you walk along quietly, usually only with your own group as company.  That is what makes visiting Wupatki so special to our family.  We love to feel as if we’re the only ones out there and that can happen at Wupatki, even in 2010.

The hikes are easy.  It is only a ½ mile round trip to see the largest pueblo in the park which is named Wupatki Pueblo.  Records indicate that about 100 people lived in Wupatki Pueblo around 1182.  Then it was the largest building within 50 miles.  The thousands of people who lived in the vicinity at that time, had a day’s walk to get to the pueblo.  The stories of the Wupatki Pueblo are passed on among the Hopi, Zuni, Navajo, and other tribes who understand the importance of remembering and sharing the history of their generations.  Hopi Indians believe the people who lived and died at Wupatki remain as spiritual guardians.

Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park, Arizona/Utah

A place that is sure to leave a lasting impression on your soul is Monument Valley located on the border of Arizona and Utah in the U.S.A.  That could be the reason this place is the most used for filming movies on location.  The beauty is stark, dramatic and so riveting it’s hard to take your eyes off of the splendid nature in front you of you spanning 360 degrees.  If Mother Nature had indeed created her own art gallery, it would be the impressive sandstone monoliths sprawling in every direction in Monument Valley.

Our family recently went to Monument Valley to celebrate the beauty of life.  Don and I wanted to share this special place with our children Dani and Josh now that they are older and more aware of the emotional ties that make us who we are today.  I lost my oldest sister a few years ago.  When her husband told me that Monument Valley was their favorite place in the whole world, it made me want to see the red cliffs even more.  I knew then that just standing among the beauty of the valley would make me feel a bit closer to her spirit.  And that thought alone made my own spirit soar as we traveled.  I just couldn’t wait to get there again.

Monument Valley is a special place.  The quiet is so still there you can actually hear it within your own beating heart.  The valley is infused with the rich traditions and tranquility that personifies the Navajo Indian spirit.  Driving in the Monument Valley Tribal Park gives you the flavor of what the Navajo way of life was in the past and up to the present.  The Navajos have seamlessly bridged and preserved their old ways with the new ways without losing their rich cultural traditions.

The park has a visitor center, campground, restaurant and a lodge.  There is a $20 entry fee to take the 14 mile graded loop drive which takes you to the famous monoliths:  the Mittens, Totem Pole, and the Yei Bi Chai among others.  These are the ones that have become the landmarks of the area and highly recognizable from movies, TV shows and commercials.

As you drive keep a good look out for the livestock.  The Navajos who still live in the monument and have for generations, raise sheep who graze in the open lands.  The Navajo way of life is preserved and sheep wool is spun and woven into native rugs which are sold in the valley and in surrounding stores.   The weavers raise the sheep and sear, wash and spin the wool in the traditional ways of their old cultural ancestors who passed on the methods through the generations to preserve the art.  It is not uncommon to see a weaver sitting on the floor in front of a Navajo log loom as they spin their tradition.  This is most exciting to see near a Hogan, the ancient Navajo dwelling, which are still used for living in the valley.

Our family loves to visit Monument Valley and see the rich ways of the Navajo life.  The sandstone orange and red hues are vivid any time of day and make for spectacular photos.  If you are ever in the valley, we hope you will stop and visit the Monument Valley Trading Post.  We are proud to say our “OutDoors And not…Arizona” travel DVD is on sale there and your purchase helps the Navajo way of life endure.  As the Navajo people perceive their homeland, this strong spiritual belief in the land of Monument Valley requires that Mother Earth be treated with the deepest respect.

Let’s go!

Rhyolite Ghost Town, Nevada

The charm of Rhyolite in the state of Nevada has always made it one of our favorite ghost town destinations.  Don and I have been going there for decades.  We have taken the kids many times when they were younger. It was to their surprise when we were getting closer to the town that they remembered the place.  We could hear the enthusiasm in their voices as the memories came flooding in.

Rhyolite has changed a lot since the first time we ever saw it.  The ghost town remains in its’ own little world, with hardly any new buildings or amenities surrounding the once active gold rush activities of its heyday.  The few remaining ruins look like something more out of a movie set than real.  The building facades are about all that remain in a few structures.  The school is still intact thanks to the Friends of Rhyolite who have done restorations to slow down the decay.  They have even put up a few signs to call out the remaining ruins.

The best building is the Train Station which is privately owned and now has chain linked fencing around the facility.  In the midst of the gold rush era, it was common to take down buildings, or move them, or reuse the building materials, when new mines struck it rich, or when old mines were depleted or stopped producing.  Legend has it that the old town buildings of Rhyolite became the new foundation for the town of Beatty in Nevada, when Rhyolite went bust.  But that’s getting ahead of ourselves.  This is how the actual town of Rhyolite came about.

When a well-known gold prospector in Death Valley, California, named Shorty Harris and his friend E. L. Cross were prospecting in the nearby Nevada area in 1904, they found quartz all over a hill. Shorty described the scene as “… the quartz was just full of free gold…”

Only one other person lived in the area at that time.  He was known as Old Man Beatty who lived in a ranch with his family five miles away.  Shorty and E.L.’s discovery was all it took and word spread quickly.  The gold rush was on. Soon there were 2000 claims in a 30 mile area.

The most promising, the Montgomery Shoshone mine, prompted everyone to move to Rhyolite, named from its silica-rich volcanic rock. The town boomed. Buildings sprang up everywhere. But this was not just a mining town, it was a significant town.  One building was 3 stories tall and cost $90,000 to build.  A stock exchange and Board of Trade were formed. The red light district drew women from as far away as San Francisco. There were hotels, stores, and a school for 250 children (which still stands to this day), an ice plant, two electric plants, foundries and machine shops, and even a miner’s union hospital.

The town citizens had an active social life including baseball games, dances, basket socials, whist parties, tennis, a symphony, Sunday school picnics, basketball games, Saturday night variety shows at the opera house and pool tournaments.

In 1906 Countess Morajeski opened the Alaska Glacier Ice Cream Parlor to the delight of the local citizenry. That same year an enterprising miner, Tom T. Kelly, built a Bottle House out of 50,000 beer and liquor bottles.  The Bottle House still stands to this day and is one of the most viable attractions in all of Rhyolite.

In April 1907 electricity even came to Rhyolite, and by August of that year a mill had been constructed to handle 300 tons of ore a day at the Montgomery Shoshone mine. It consisted of a crusher, 3 giant rollers, over a dozen cyanide tanks and a reduction furnace.

The Montgomery Shoshone mine had become nationally known because promoter Bob Montgomery once boasted he could take $10,000 a day in ore from the mine. Learning this part of the history of Rhyolite made our entire family laugh out loud.  For decades Don and I have known a caver named Bob Montgomery, whom is actually our best caver friend to this day.  So it was funny to us to learn someone with his same name was responsible for the fame of Rhyolite’s most productive mine, and not because of his boasting, but because it did out-produce them all.

The Montgomery Shoshone mine was later owned by Charles Schwab, who purchased it in 1906 for a reported 2 million dollars. The financial panic of 1907 took its toll on Rhyolite and was seen as the beginning of the end for the town.  The town and its people may be gone, but the history and its mines live on.

Let’s go!

Queen of Sheba Mine, Death Valley National Park, CA

The mine is befitting of her title.  Of the hundreds of claims and strikes in the history of Death Valley, the Queen of Sheba Mine out produced them all.

The mine was originally staked by Chester Pray whom named it Carbonate.  Chester found a vein that would assay at 15 percent lead, five ounces of silver and traces of gold per ton.  The ore in the mine was good but transporting to the nearest smelter to melt the iron was way too costly.  In time the price of lead rose with speculation of war.

It didn’t take long for the mine to capture the attention of Jack Salisbury, a Death Valley promoter who was well known.  The two men entered into a partnership in April of 1913.  The Carbonate mine was now in direct competition with other mines in the vicinity.  With names like Silver Queen, King Solomon, and Gold Crown, the men renamed the Carbonate to a name better suited for her and she became The Queen of Sheba Mine.

Jack returned to San Francisco to attend to his business interests and Chester oversaw the mining operations.  Business was good so it was a complete surprise when Chester Pray was found dead at age 40 with a few bullet holes in his head just two months later on June 7, 1913.  Mine worker Jack Gallagher testified in court that Chester’s body was found a few hundred yards down the road from camp.  His death was ruled a suicide, a case of mental derangement brought on by sunstroke he suffered years ago in the sun.

Jack took sole proprietorship of the Queen of Sheba Mine.  In her hey day, the Queen yielded 40 tons of lead a week, enough to supply the demand when WWI broke out and prices of lead ore tripled.  The legend of the Queen of Sheba Mine was forever sealed when her story was made into a Hollywood film in 1921.

We, the DeLucia family, stumbled across the Queen of Sheba Mine on our vacation last week.  It was the last day of our trip and naturally you always find the best last.  We were exiting Death Valley in California and saw a sign that read Queen of Sheba Mine and Don did a quick turn and off we were.  He didn’t have to ask me (Lisa), Dani or Josh.  He knew the answer.

The road was rough to say the least.  It only got worse the more we drove on it.  You can not do this road without a 4×4 vehicle.  It is the scree slope of the mountain and full of rocks that keep getting larger and larger and the road gets more dips as you drive.  Think of a wild roller coaster on horseback, only we were going slowly, and you couldn’t feel it with the rocking and swaying.

The closer we got to the mountain the more we realized it was worth the pain to get there.  A hole in the mountain became evident, so did some cabins.  You could see the small trails that lead to the mines and what was once a main road in the area.  As we got to the Queen of Sheba camp you could see plenty of ruins and rusty kitchen appliances, bed frames, auto parts, and mining remnants.  It’s in pretty good shape as far as ghost towns go.  We just kept walking along and exploring everything we came across, impressed by this little diversion on our drive home.

Without planning we found ourselves in front of some holes in the mountain.  We naturally had our lights but not the right footwear or clothing.  It didn’t stop us from exploring the mines.  Those sorts of things attract us like magnets.

The hike was lengthier than it looked but worth it.  The mines were more extensive than we imagined.  There was a deep shaft that we looked down with our flashlights, not equipped with rope or helmets to do it right.  We did all the horizontal passages which were impressive and some had light rail tracks on the ground.  There were sluices with rocks in them.  The mine had multiple entrances, climbing in some areas, and a big room that had a beautiful sunbeam streaming in.  You can enjoy the beam of light ­­no matter what time of day it is in our slideshow.  And the best part, you don’t have to suffer the painful road back, but that’s part of the adventure when you go outdoors and not.

Let’s go!

Mitchell Caverns Natural Preserve, California

Mitchell Caverns has two distinctions.  It is known as the commercial cave en route to Las Vegas from California on Highway 40.  It is also the backdrop for the film “The Doors” starring Val Kilmer where he goes on a drug induced trip in the cave.   Located at an elevation of 4,300 feet in the Providence Mountains State Recreation Area, Mitchell Caverns Natural Preserve offers a tour of the only limestone cave within the State Park System.   The preserve temperature remains mild throughout the year and the cave temp is a steady 65 degrees.   Most popular months to visit are between October and May when the weather is more comfortable in the desert.

Today Mitchell Caverns tours are led by Park Rangers who guide you through two cave systems that were connected.  Mitchell cave gets its name from past owners Jack and Ida Mitchell originally of Texas.  During the depression, Jack Mitchell left his business in Los Angeles, moved to the desert and eventually began operating a tourist attraction from 1932 to 1954, now known as Mitchell Caverns Natural Preserve.

In Mitchell’s day, Jack led tours with flares into the two adjacent caves which he named “El Pakiva,” meaning the Devil’s house, and “Tecopa,” in honor of a Shoshonean chieftain.  The two caves were bought by the State of California in 1954 are now connected by a man-made tunnel for a total of a quarter mile of cave passage.   The actual building in which the Mitchell’s lived in is now the visitor center and there are other buildings nearby.  Wear good shoes when you do the cave tour as the total trip up the mountain, tour and back is one and a half miles of steep terrain.

Mitchell Cavern is the commercial cave opened to the public and there is a fee to enter.  There are also other wild caves within the Providence Mountains Recreation Area.  When you are there at the Preserve in the gift shop take a good look at the map they have on sale of “Cave of the Winding Stair” (or on their website).  This a non-public cave that we both helped on the survey project of the cave.  Look closely and you will see our names Don and Lisa DeLucia on the map.   Our friend Bob Richards drafted the map.  Now that was a fun trip, but this cave is on the most technical level and involves lots of deep pits to do and rappel drops.  But that was Winding Stair and another story for another time.

We invite you to follow along on our trip of Mitchell Caverns Natural Preserve.  Guarantee our way will save you packing time and gas money.

Let’s go!

Roppel Cave in Kentucky

It was the second trip back East for Don and I when we went to Kentucky for a National Speleological Society (NSS) Convention.  We were lucky to get in on a caving trip to Roppel Cave, one of the premiere wild caves in the state.  We did the connection made in the 80s by a blast in a tight area that opened up the cave to miles of new exploration.  The cave is in close proximity to Mammoth Cave National Park and the cave connection discovery linked the two caves together.  It was always a caving joke then that the commercial Mammoth cave would pass the 500 mile mark.

Roppel Cave became an official project of the NSS.  In early 2004 the cave had 70 miles of surveyed passage.  At present, the cave maps out at 96 miles and continues to grow.

This cave has tight areas where you must pull your body through that lead to huge passages and walking borehole, a caver term meaning big wide open underground space.  Borehole is also a caver’s payoff for working your body underground, as it always generates an “Oh, Wow!” reaction every time.  The cave formations are also a treat as you can see from our slideshow.  Roppel is known as being a pretty cave with delicate formations neatly tucked under ledges and in wide open spaces.  Cave velvet can be found and beautiful helictites and gypsum flowers.

Roppel was always one of our favorite caving trips.  We had a stellar caving group underground that day.  Our trip consisted of:  Ron Simmons, Ward Foeller, Dave and Andrea Futrell, Dave Bunnell, Carol Vesely, Bob Richards, and Don and Lisa DeLucia.  This is one of those caves expedition cavers were always big on.

One of the coolest parts of caving in Roppel is entering the cave via a Roppel entrance and exiting via the commercial Mammoth Cave with its paved cave passages and hand rails.  That was a different feeling underground but welcomed after a sporty caving trip and made the way out very easy.  Roppel is a caver’s cave and is closed to the general public, but you can see its beauty right here.  And visiting the nearby and commercial Mammoth Cave National Park, is always worth the trip and a real treat.

Let’s go!