A Journey to the Center of the Mountain

When Ben first approached me (late 2006) about leaving our home in the city and moving to the farm and ranch lifestyle, I remember him joyfully trying to convince me by saying, "C'mon! It'll be an ADVENTURE!"

I wasn't amused.

And I still hear those words echo in my head today.

Oh, but it has been so much MORE!

I have grown-up and struggled and learned so much about myself.

It has made me a lot stronger than I was before.

It has been a whole bunch of adventures, wrapped-up into one ginormous adventure.

During the process, I have been repeatedly forced to face some of my biggest fears out here (sometimes even on a daily basis and for long periods of time). Some have been known fears. Others are things that I never knew I was afraid of in the first place.

My newest self-realization:

I'm Speluncaphobic

(I'm not making that up...it's a real word.)

*NOTE: Technically we weren't in a cave; We were in a mine shaft, but according to Google there doesn't seem to be an existing term for "fear of mine shafts" so we'll just make-do with what we've got.*

Spelunking is the term for "Cave Exploring."

This area could be considered a Spelunker's DREAM (and actually IS a popular local hobby)! There are geological spots everywhere and mining is a HUGE deal: Copper, Uranium, Silver, Gold....the list goes on.

Bisbee has been a Copper mining town for over a century.

Tombstone was a hot spot for silver.

Even the ranch we now live on has a Uranium mining claim.

If you are ever near Benson, make sure you visit Kartchner Caverns: Discovered on our friend's private land (in the late 60's) by a couple of college Geologists, it is now the only state park in Arizona that actually MAKES money. The cave is alive, and takes 4 days to (literally) inhale and exhale.

So, late yesterday evening, Ben came home and announced that we were going to have another adventure that day. We packed up the kids and he drove me to a spot not far from the ranch. We climbed the Dragoon Mountains (by way of a goat trail) and ended up on a tiny perch, over-looking the valley.

Ben had already been here, so he led the way....
(They are actually preparing to "run" cows out here, so they are trying to set-up a way to get water. There is a natural spring in the "cave" that they are running a hose from and down to a storage tank below. The hose is visible in the photos. That's pretty much the only way to get water out here. Good luck trying to drill a well through thousands of feet of granite mountain...it's just not going to happen.)

Do you see the mine shaft yet?

Eureka (We found it)...

I thought the rocks around the mouth of the opening were cool....

Hayden stood at the entrance of the shaft. All of a sudden, as I looked in the black hole I felt an unexplained fear. I thought this was the end of the road (for me at least), until Ben returned with three big flashlights. He gave me the million-candle-powered spotlight; Maybe he thought it would make me want to enter the cave....





I still didn't want to, but they made me. I'm usually a good sport about "exploring," but for some reason just peeking-in at all the tunnels and crevices started to really scare me...

...and for the first time in my life, I felt claustrophobic; to the point of actually feeling panicked. Dizziness followed. It was a strange new feeling. Now, I've been a little aprehensive about situations with heights once in a while, but never to the point where I would choose NOT to get on the gigantic rollercoaster (for example). THIS was the first time in my life that my body seemed to freeze and refuse to move forward (but I forced myself onward)...

I tried to keep my lamaze-style breathing quiet. I was just trying to breathe through it and focus on taking pictures. Ben kept asking me, "Are you okay?"

"I'm okay," my loud words echoing against the stone, "Just learning that I finally have a phobia of something!"


Ben pointed out some veins containing gold deposits ("So, why don't you just chip some of that out while we are here? What? It isn't our claim? Aaaaand?")

Another old shaft: Now being supported with railroad ties....

(Just the sort of thing that would come crashing down--in the movies--and block our exit. I doubt we would have a cell phone signal in HERE! "Um, does anybody out THERE know we are in here right now? No? Fantastic.")

We finally made it to the back of the shaft....

Hayden has a "thing" for science. He had recently returned from a field trip to Kartchner Caverns, so my little science guy turned into "Hayden the Geologist" and started pretending as though he was giving me a tour of the "cave"....

I was actually very impressed because he started pointing out Geological formations. He sounded quite convincing because, well, he was RIGHT!

First, he pointed out a "baby" stalactite...

He then pointed-out a "fried egg stalagmite" which he found all by himself....

I recieved explainations about the definitions of various formations and how they develop. It was quite educational, but I was mostly concentrating on NOT passing-out.

He kept reassuring me: "You don't need to be afraid of this cave, Mom." Then, he would shine his flashlight around and look for more things to explore....

Yet, I was relieved when we started to leave the mine shaft/cave.

Everywhere that is marked with pink paint is where the miner thinks there might be gold deposits (although I don't know how old these markings are OR when the last person was in here)....

Hayden points-out another shaft filled with spring water....

Then, my two adventurers decide to take a closer look....

Ben gripped Hayden's arm tightly (just to make sure he didn't go for a swim)....

"Thanks for the adventure, Ben (and Hayden). Now, that I'm sitting on the couch and again in the comfort of our home, I AM glad you made me walk to the very back of the scary, dark, damp, stinky mine shaft. Good times....Good memories!"

FYI

FACT: Hayden's friend's dad is a Spelunker. He says that they carry plastic spoons with them (labeled 1-100) and as they journey into a cave, they wedge the spoons into rocks (in numerical order). They are then able to find their way back out, thanks to the trail of plastic spoon "bread crumbs."