One of the things that we didn’t visited enough in Arizona it seems are caves. There are multiple commercial ones that can be visited but somehow we never made it to any of them. We have plans to rectify this though so we decide to visit Colossal Cave this extended weekend, it is relatively close to us, just a couple hours away from us close to Tucson. And on the way we have the opportunity to get some sweets from Mona’s bakery which comes highly recommended for its Danish baked goods.
After enjoying the views from the parking lot for a while we walk to the gift shop to pick our tickets. It is a short walk and we pass an interesting through, likely for gold panning for kids but no one else is around today so we can’t be sure.
While we booked online a few days earlier we thought initially this was not necessary as there is no one else around when we arrive. But while browsing in the gift shop we hear someone else trying to buy tickets and being shunted to a slot one hour later so I guess we were wrong. When our tour time comes around there are only four people besides us and the guide and that seems a bit low for a cave tour. But then after the guide explains everything another large group appears – that was what was missing.
The cave entrance itself doesn’t look that impressive but the map seems to imply multiple rooms and we can’t wait to enter to see if the cave is interesting or not.
The tour actually is quite informative and interesting and the cave itself has some beautiful formations. We learn that many stalactites and stalagmites were taken by early tourists before someone noticed the tourism benefit and settled nearby and protected the cave.
As we get deeper into the protected area the formations are getting better preserved and more beautiful. We quite enjoy this section of the cave as we continue descending towards the bottom.
Some of the formations are named and those are fun, we especially like the witch that can be identified by the huge nose.
The lowest part is where the caretaker lived for some time with his family and while we ascend on a different path we see the location again at the bottom, supposedly this was a shortcut for the children when they lived here. While exiting we also get the opportunity to try to make a song while hitting the stalagtites and stalagmites ever so slightly, which is fun.
For the rest of the day we have planned a visit to Saguaro National Park, East section and we start with the very short Desert Ecology Trail. It is a good way to stretch our legs but it ends way to soon and it is time to move on to the next stop on the loop.
The next stop is literally down the road, it is the Cactus Forest Trail. It was not our first choice but we noticed that there are some historic kilns at the midpoint which made it a lot more attractive for us.
The trail is easy going and we see lots of cacti as the name implies but not that many saguaros, a lot more chollas and prickly pear it seems.
Interestingly there is a ruined cabin along the way where a rancher lived and then rangers moved in for a while when the park was created. Now only the foundation remains, along the trail.
There are two kiln ruins both relatively well preserved and interesting to see, it even seems that most hikers don’t see them as they are just a little bit off the main trail.
There is one more trail we want to do before exiting, the Freeman Homestead Trail. We have to exit at a specific time as the park closes at sunset which is a bit annoying but there is nothing we can do about it. This trail has a bit more up and downs but we enjoy it especially the part through the wash with caves on the cliffs above us.
Interestingly the homestead remains here are in a worse shape than the ones on the Cactus Forest Trail, you can barely make out the foundation and we cannot even find all four corners. Still it is a nice place to stop for a while, there is even a bench here to watch the sunset. Oops sunset…it is time to hurry to get out before the park closes.
We get out safely and to celebrate our visit we eat at a nearby roadhouse. The food is quite good and very filling and as a bonus we even get to see a few quails at the nearby feeders, all in all a great ending to a beautiful day.
