Caverns of Sonora TX

Leaving Austin we head west back towards home in California. The skies are cloudy and heavy with rain. I keep looking out the windshield scanning the clouds. Peter wonders why. I tell him that you never know what's going to drop out of Texas storm clouds. He teases me about being paranoid. Two weeks later after this area gets hit hard by floods, tornadoes and monster sized hail stones, I remind him storm clouds in Texas are not to be taken lightly.

Cloudy skies driving through limestone hills

Those clouds are getting darker

We stop for the night at Sonora RV Park in the town of Sonora TX. Although this park isn't the most scenic, it does have easy access off I-10, quiet spacious spots with good hook-ups and WiFi.  Mike, the owner, is a real sweetheart. He's delighted we're going to see the Caverns tomorrow and tells us we're in for a real treat. We set the alarm and make an early tour for the Caverns of Sonora. Leslie and Al the (couple from Rhode Island we met in Death Valley) have tipped us off about this stop. A great benefit of being on the travelers grapevine is sharing must see places as well as the avoid-at-all-possible-costs.

These caverns are located 15 miles southwest of Sonora off of I-10. Even though this cave system is on private ranch land (owned by the same family for over 100 years), it was recognized as a National Natural Landmark in 1966 by the Department of the Interior. The Mayfield family first discovered the cave sometime in the early 1920's when a dog chased a racoon through a 20" opening in the rock. However,  it wasn't until 1955 when three speleologists, Bob Crisman, Bart Crisman, and James Estes went further into the cave and discovered the first large cavern. As the word got out, other cavers delved even deeper to emerge with tales of amazing formations with breathtaking beauty.

After parking at the Visitors' Center, we buy tickets for first tour of the day. Getting up early was worth it. We are in luck as the first tour group is small enabling us to take a little longer to see more of the cave. We have about 15 minutes before tour starts so we wander around the grounds where we meet a magnificent male peacock. He's friendly but only seems interested in food. When none is offered he wanders off.

Caverns of Sonora Visitor Center

Hungry Peacock

The tour leaves right on time. Our guide is a local lady named Madeline (I believe) who grew up in Sonora and has been guiding people through the caverns for many years. She leads us out behind the Visitor Center and through a series of two locked hermetically sealed doors while explaining how these doors seal the cave to keep it alive by preventing any loss of moisture. Unfortunately, careless loss of moisture was precisely the demise of Carlsbad Caverns National Park. In the 1950's the park rangers pumped cool damp air from the caverns below into the Visitor Center as air conditioning not realizing they were drying out the cave thereby "killing it." You gotta wonder about the wisdom of the National Parks system sometimes in "protecting" our natural wonders.

With over 650 stairs descending into depths of lower oxygen levels, this tour is not for the feint of heart or short of breath.  I ask Madeline if she's ever had any problems a person not handling the stairs and lower oxygen. She laughs and says yes. The worst case was an enormously over-weight man who insisted on coming on her tour. She pleaded with him not to and even promised to give him her tips if he skipped the tour. He accused her of being prejudiced against fat people. Sure enough, well within the deeper reaches of the caverns the man had a heart attack. It took a large team of EMTs to haul the man back out of the cave. Even though he survived, the staff are much more careful about allowing only people in good enough health to manage the tour safely.

As we descend the first flights of stairs, the cavern walls are smooth dry limestone. Then as we get deeper into the cave, we begin to see stalactites hanging from the ceiling. Then more and more of them with stalagmites coming up from the floor to meet them.

Entering the first staircase

Initial stalactites and stalagmites

Ohh - lots of them

As we descend, Madeline points out cave popcorn forming on surfaces.  The deeper we go, the cave popcorn gets larger and larger, growing into Christmas tree shapes several feet high. Before we know it we round the next corner and are astounded as cave opens up into the first cavern.

Cave popcorn grows on surfaces of a boulder

Christmas trees made by cave popcorn

First cavern - wow

Deeper still the air becomes noticeably more humid and with more evidence of water seeping through the many layers of limestone.

Looks like an Extraterrestrial

Small pond surrounded by popcorn

Sea creature from outer space

Wishing well with money

Farther still, the formations become more amazing and the ponds grow larger. Madeline points out one pond with money in it. She tells us that people used to throw coins in different ponds to make a wish, but the metal tainted the ponds and harmed surrounding formations. Besides cleaning the ponds was difficult.

Try as they might they couldn't get people to stop throwing money into the ponds. So the staff designated one pond as the "wishing well" to preserve the others. This pond is cleaned out about once a week with proceeds helping to pay for maintenance.

Rooms of stalactites,  stalagmites, and cave popcorn

Translucent formation

Small lake

We love this tour as the path is quite narrow allowing us to see the formations up close and personal. Madeline stresses not to touch anything and anyone not complying will be forced to leave the cave at once.
Deep in the cave we see more unusual formations, some are named after food.

Cave applesauce

Cave cupcake

Cave bacon

This cave is world famous for it's rare and extremely delicate helictite formations, also known as fishtails. The most famous was a perfectly formed set of "butterfly" wings - the pride and joy of the owners and staff.  In November 2006, an unruly visitor purposely broke off about a third of the right wing and then ran laughing out of the cave.  Although he escaped without getting caught, he was apprehended later after bragging about his exploits on Facebook. At his trial, he showed no remorse for his actions and even his parents refused to testify on his behalf.  Talk about b-b-BAD to the bone. The judge sentenced him to the maximum time in jail allowable at that time and then added a fine of over a million dollars. Since then, the State of Texas enacted legislation enforcing stronger penalties for destroying natural treasures.

Butterfly formation

Delicate soda straws some many feet long

Dracula's cape

It's not only the fabulous formations that make this cave so intriguing, but also the dramatic lighting. As word spread throughout the cavers community, Jack Burch from Oklahoma explored these caverns in 1956 and fell in love with them. He was dismayed by damaged he discovered caused by careless amateur cavers and offered to develop a plan to the Mayfields to open the caverns for the public by creating pathways and lighting the formations to their best advantage. Work began in 1959 and the Caverns of Sonora was first opened to the public July 16, 1960.

Worldwide, Burch revolutionized cave development through his "conservation through commercialization."  We are completely impressed by his work, a clear a labor of love. He not only lit formations to put them in the best possible light, but he also effectively used broken formations to disguise lighting fixtures. Currently the Mayfields are planning to convert to more modern LED fixtures, which will not only save on electric bills but also help preserve the cave's moisture.  Below are some examples of Burch's dramatic lighting.
Everywhere we look, we marvel at the many ways water and limestone have interacted to create such an amazing array of different formations. It all depends on the amount of dissolved minerals and how the water flows, drips, or pools.

Popcorn and Lilly Pads

Thicker rounder formations were once under water

Above & below water formations

The over two hours we are in the cave fly by and all too soon it's time to climb back out. As we ascend, we notice both more oxygen for our lungs and drier air.
As with tours in general, we exit through the gift shop.  Tip: The prices are quite good here. We purchase a nautilus fossil which we learn later can go for as much as three times the price we paid here.

Lights made from crystals

Fossils of all kinds

Gift Shop entrance/exit

Hello - what's your name?

As we leave the gift shop and start to drive off, we notice the friendly peacock has found a lady friend who he's working hard to impress.  She's simply not all that interested or maybe she's just playing hard to get?

As we turn the corner to drive off, Peter's able to catch him in full display. What a fitting end to a great stop.

Look at me. Look at me. See how handsome I am. Regarde moi!