Nov 19 -24 Kartchner Caverns State Park to Gilbert Ray Park

Nov 19
We got up fairly early and I took my bike over to the visitor center to see about tickets for the cave tours. The "Big Room" is booked but we can do the "Rotunda/Throne Room" at 11:30. That works fine. I rode back to tell Leslie and we let Dianne & Steve know too. They are working on their blog while we will be in the cave but we all decided to do a little walk around in the park. It's another beauty day. We all went into the visitor center to look at the exhibits.  

Borrowed this image from Google.

This one is fairly large and they have some good history etc plus the usual gift shop and a small theatre showing the park movie. They have some information about the bats from cave but we won't see any because they have migrated south already. Canadians find it odd that you migrate south from Arizona! We did get to listen like a bat.

That's a nice look Les....

I can finally hear what Les is saying!

Thanks for the pics Steve.

We'll check out the video later. When it was close to our time (they want you gathered outside 15 minutes early) we said see ya later to Steve & Dianne and went outside to catch our tour.

A small explanation of the cavern.

Unlike Carlsbad Caverns, you aren't allowed to take pictures on this tour unfortunately. Probably to keep the tours on a schedule. I'll add a link to some images and you can browse if you like. link The guide does a brief history of the caves and how they were found and takes questions from people and then you board a cart train to ride up the hill to the entrance. They show you the original entrance that was discovered and it is just a large hole in the rocks, nothing spectacular. Of course there was something spectacular beyond that opening.(Link to cave history) 
We gathered at the cave entrance for a quick talk about the air locks at the entrance that we will go through. They don't want to let the dry desert air in the cave or it will do damage. We walk in the first section and they close the door to outside and give you a minute in there. Open door #2 and you move forward and wait a minute, the guide checks that everyone is okay with the space and explains that next we walk through a "mist" of water in the next section to help with lint etc coming off and sticking to the cave walls. This also kills the formations. Pretty fragile environment really. All good this far. Next we open the door to the Rotunda/Throne Room and step inside the actual cavern. Still all good. We all gather around our guide to learn about the cave and Leslie grabs my arm and says "I have to go, NOW! I of course answered with"are you sure?" which is the wrong thing to say I found out afterwards. I interrupted the guide as Leslie started toward the door. He understood of course and we quickly determined that I will stay but Les is getting out. I apologized to the rest of the tour and they all said it was nothing. Another couple said they liked the chance to just get used to this spot anyway. This cave is smaller and more claustrophobic than Carlsbad absolutely. Our guide returned and told me Les was okay and she will be returning to the visitor center with another group going back. Some anxious moments but it will be alright. Phew.
We continued our tour and as long as smaller spaces don't bother you this place is spectacular! There is even a track in the mud still from the first time they entered this part of the cave back in 1974! They showed us a large black mound that is actually bat poop/guano from 45,000 years ago. The bats don't come in that section anymore because the entrance/exit is too long and narrow but they did before. Please use the link above to check out some images of the cave. It's incredible. The finale of the tour is when you reach an area named "Xanadu" and you sit on stone benches in a small amphitheatre for the show. They black out that section for 10-15 seconds to show what absolute dark looks like and then a recorded voice comes on and the lighting shows the features that the voice is explaining. The highlight of the show is when they fully light up a column named "Kubla Kahn". It's massive. It's 58 feet tall and probably 20 feet around, I forget exact thickness, but the way they do the show, it's amazing. This would have taken thousands of years to form, hundreds of thousands, so cool. I really enjoyed the tour, very different from Carlsbad. It was shorter and the roof is lower but the features you can see, I'm out of good words to describe it. If you are near Tucson just go see for yourself. Well worth it. ( I have a pass I'll sell at a discount that's good for 1 year from Leslie's return :( .
I walked back to the rig to see how Les is doing and she's embarrassed but she's okay. I assured her that it was all good but she was disappointed to have to have bailed out. Maybe next time, we'll see.
We had some lunch and then Leslie, Dianne and I went into town for groceries and propane. Steve is going to hang out and edit pictures some more for their blog. I dropped the ladies at the grocery store and drove back up the hill for propane. I had Margaret in the truck so we waited in the parking lot for the shopping to be done. Once back at the park we had a happy hour and some dinner and relaxed for the evening. 
Nov 20
We got together with Steve & Dianne and decided on a hike today. I rode over earlier to the visitor center and got a free pass for Leslie's return. I tried to get a tour of the "Big Room" but they are booked solid and we are leaving tomorrow. This is Thanksgiving weekend in the States so it's crazy busy and kids are out of school. We'll come back another time I hope. We have a year to use it.
The four of us toured around the desert gardens and then found the start of the Foothills Loop Trail up into the hills and back. We added some distance to the loop by taking an offshoot trail and then getting back on the Loop.

A wash we walked through.

Some parts of the trail were challenging with big rocks and slopes but it's a fairly easy hike.

Some great views from the hills.

Cool flat top mountain. Our trail behind us.

The back of Dianne & Steve's head at a photo stop.

The trail seemed longer than what we expected and we thought about turning around but we soon got to the top and a sign that pointed back to the visitor center. 

Taking a little break at the top.

Haha actually captured the lick.

The sign that we showed earlier explaining the caverns is up here and now we can show how it fits against the actual hill that contains the cavern.

The caverns are in the hill behind.

We hiked back down to the visitor center and had a look at the gardens on the way by.

Their trails and gardens are so well maintained, very nice.

We put Margaret in the rig and jumped in the truck to find a late lunch out. We found a little gem off of highway 10 called Mescal Bar & Grill. Just the name is intriguing right? The server was really nice and it wasn't very busy so the service was great. Good food and cold dark beers. We're happy.

Nice gorilla..... exterior isn't fancy but it was a good stop.

We drove back to the park and had a short happy hour at Steve & Dianne's place. We are moving again tomorrow but it's a short move. We packed up the bikes and other outdoor stuff then just relaxed for the evening. 

Nov 21

We did our usual morning routine and leisurely packed up to move to Gilbert Ray Campground. We wouldn't have known about Gilbert Ray without our travel guides ;) This is a county campground that they knew about and it's a first come first serve park. We'll be there early enough to get a good shot at sites.

Interesting rolling hills road in but what a beauty place.

So many cacti, that's the word for lots of them.

When we arrived at the Park, Steve asked some of the workers where we should look and they directed us to "C" loop. Steve & Dianne hopped in our rig and we did a drive around to scope out sites. We found that C 19 & 20 would work well for us. We paid for 4 nights at $20/ night for 30 amp power and we can fill our water tanks at one of the several potable water taps in the loop. Steve took the super long drive thru site #19 and we backed into #20 with plenty of room between us. This will be great for a few days, it's far off the road and should very quiet.

C 19 & 20 loads of room for us.

We both did our set up and unloaded the bikes again. There is easy access to trails and Old Tucson is not far away. We all went for a long walk with Margaret around the other loops just to see if we had missed any better spots but we'll be fine where we are. We got together at our site for happy hour at 4:00 and enjoyed a frosty beverage and the afternoon sunshine.

Beautiful warm afternoon.

Supper will be at our house tonight. Leslie took some time earlier and built an awesome Greek salad. Add barbecue chicken and rice and we have a great meal with great friends to enjoy.

How awesome is this??

We watched an amazing sunset and enjoyed our dinner. We are so fortunate to be able to do this and see everything that we are seeing. Feeling pretty happy. Life is alright ya know.

Beautiful sunset.

We stepped out after supper to let Margaret out and Leslie snapped this pic. Awesome sunset to a full moon. 

Nov 22

Some friends of Steve & Dianne had recommended the Brown Mountain Trail just outside the campground as a good one. We are going to give that a shot. We took Margaret with us and drove to the trailhead. Turns out it was really close. Could have walked but whatever we are here now. We set the dog down and she wandered around a little and Leslie noticed her limping right away. She had a cholla cactus needle in her paw. We tried to pull it but it wouldn't come out. We hear they have barbs on them, not sure. Steve had nail clippers so we snipped the needle half way down to see if it would release like a porcupine quill. It didn't right away but after about a minute it pulled out super easy. There are a ton of cholla cactus ahead of us so I just drove Margaret back to the rig and left her there. Turned out to be a wise choice.

Taking Margaret back was the right choice. Holy pokies!

I think the trail is rated as moderate but I don't know if that's quite right. It is about 8km/5 miles long in a big loop up, over and around Brown Mountain. The first couple of miles was regular trail but we had to start going up and over the mountain.

Steve and I in the wash 

Dianne on the steps

Leslie with a monster saguaro

Group selfie!

Long trail but great hike.

It got steep and the worst part for Leslie it had steep drop offs to one side. We didn't get any pictures of the steep part because we were walking slow and Leslie had a really good grip on my hand. She had a tough time for a bit but she never gave up and I'm proud of her for working against her fear of heights. We had a chuckle afterwards but she was pretty emotional on the mountain part of the trail. Dianne doesn't really like heights either so her and Steve weren't hurrying either. The view from the top was great though.

Our campground down below.

The trail coming down was not bad but it was steep and had the big steps which beat up your knees. We stopped a few times to rest and give our knees a break. If you are in the area it's a great hike but be prepared for a fairly strenuous day. We went counter clockwise around the trail which left the hard part for last. Might be easier to go the other way and go up first. Whatever, it was a good hike. 

We drove back to the rig and got cleaned up for happy hour. Everybody was ready for a relaxing evening after our hike so we went back to our trailers and relaxed.

Nov 23

Today is chore day. We all loaded up our laundry and grocery lists and headed into Tucson. We found a laundromat and got started on that. After we finished it was time for a trip to Costco! Oh yay. First we need a quick bite. Steve and I got the Costco staple, hot dog and a pop while the girls ordered frozen yogurt cups. We split up for shopping and hooked up again at the checkout. I couldn't resist as we were shopping and bought a pack of Costco hot dogs, yumm. I'm cooking supper tonight !

So excited ! Leslie not so much.

Steve & Dianne wanted to show us a local brewery here called Thunder Canyon Brewery so we typed it into the GPS and away we go. Whoops we pulled up in front of Thunder Canyon Brewery at the mall. Didn't know there was 2 of them here. We typed in the other one to the GPS and before long we were at the real brewery downtown.

Got the right one this time.

Very cool place, good food and beers.

What a cool place that was. Great server too. The brewery is in one of the old buildings that is all brick and beams, I really like seeing the older construction methods. Great place if anyone is in Tucson.

We drove back to Gilbert Ray and unloaded the groceries and the laundry and met outside for happy hour. We stayed out until the sun went down and it cooled off. Supper is at our house tonight, you guessed it, barbecued Costco hot dogs!! Not fancy, just fabulous lol.

Nov 24

We all had a leisurely morning and then got out for some exercise. We are doing the trail here at Gilbert Ray that goes around the park outskirts. Don't need a big day after the Brown Mountain hike. Before we left the park we walked past a site where there was a really cool dog. I asked the fella if I could take a picture and he said yes. He had told us previously that his dog was not real friendly and it was only 9 months old but it's so cool looking I wanted a picture. Like an idiot I walked toward the dog and his owner and of course the dog reacted. Totally my bad. I had a White Shepherd for 12 years and you just don't advance on spirited dog like that. I back pedalled quickly and the owner held his leash and avoided a worse situation. Leslie got a picture from further back.

Nice puppy!! Look at the size of that dog. What a face.

He's an Akita, beautiful.

Alright then, let's move along. We walked through the campground and found the trail that goes out into the desert around us. It was a nice walk and Leslie noticed a small snake behind me that slithered across the trail. Steve identified it later as a striped whip snake, not poisonous. I didn't even see it until after. We looped back to our rigs but decided to check out a trail just past our trailers. I was in the lead with Steve behind me and the girls walking behind Steve in single file. I noticed something at my feet by a small bush and jumped like a fat cat to the side. It was rattlesnake coiled under that bush!! Steve identified that one too, a western diamondback rattler.

Great picture Steve! Sucker made me jump.

He slithered right in front of Steve and if you look close he has 

something in his belly. Likely made him less aggressive.

We had enough of hiking at that point. We went back to our rigs and changed into shorts to relax a bit. Leslie cleaned up inside the rig and I took care of some caulking on one of the slides. We got together again with Steve and Dianne for a short bike ride around the park and then happy hour in the sun. We finished the day with a joint effort steak dinner at our friends place. Lots of talk and laughs about a crazy day.

Good friends, steak dinner and wine, life is great.

Short travel day tomorrow so we went home after dinner and relaxed in front of the TV.  Really liked Gilbert Ray Campground. Pretty reasonable at $20/ night and great location.