STILL DESCENDING INTO THE DEPTHS OF TEXAS
This was a continuation of the
birthday treat to myself, taking day trips on my staycation. Near the small town of Boerne (southwest of
Austin), I’d already explored Cascade Cavern, and had a great time doing it, so
after a lunch break, I headed on to my second cave destination of the day. It was called the Cave Without A Name. A rancher discovered some cool breezes coming
out of his well, and after some investigation, found there was a sealed cavern
there. The story goes “through the use
of pick axes and some dynamite,” the cave was opened up to allow
exploration. Understanding this could be
an attraction, a more-accessible entrance was built to allow visitors to come
in.
The cave operated for a period of
time as a contest was held to find the most appropriate name for it. Out of all the entries they got, they chose
the one submitted by a little girl, and that was the name the cave was officially
given. My tour guide, Alec, noted that
he believed the little girl was related to the ranch-owner, thus had some more
influence on the contest.
The entrance which was built
resembled a mine shaft, as a set of stairs circled around the original
well. The top of the well of course now
had a grate on it to keep people from falling in (as well as to keep critters
from using this for a home). There was
only a couple of us on the tour, as places like this are the best when visited
by small groups.
INSIDE THE CAVES
The first room we entered, as we
passed the well section was a huge, domed section. Considering some dynamite had to be used to
even gain access to here, I was very surprised none of the formations had been
damaged. Parts on the ceiling did show
evidence of bat habitation (as per the black marks created by their feet), but
there hasn’t been any critters living in here since it became a commercial
cave.
There was a grand hall just pass
the entrance room. One thing I noticed
here was much of the floor had been paved over to allow people to walk
around. Usually only small paths are
done to preserve the original portions as much as possible. Keeping in mind Alec was only an employee,
not a policy-maker, he informed us the original owners had come up with an
alternate use for the cave besides tourism.
It was rented out as a meeting hall, as it stayed around 72 degrees all
year round. That’s why large portions
were paved over. Since Texas can get extremely hot during the
summer, it made for a nice venue, because you didn’t have to air condition
it. People rented these caves for
gatherings, and a few weddings had been held down here. There’s a certain novelty in that, but I’m
sure that wears off when the guests have to trek back up to the visitor’s
center to use the restroom.
(The partial column in the picture
below comes up to about waist height, so that gives you a sense of size of the
grand hall. The red light is not a
mystic orb setting on it, but a light which is set a ways behind the
column. It was by accident I was able to
get the shots to line up this way.)
The grand hall is kind of an
L-shaped room. Off the shorter section
where two smaller antechambers, which were a small T-like junction. The section where the spot light was in this
picture was about equal to my shoulder, so you can there is a decent amount of
height here. While the idea of using the
cave for gatherings was interesting, the big question how do you keep from
dozens of unwatched people from reaching out and touching the cave walls? Alec commented that it’s done on an “honor
system, which was basically his way of saying nicely that they don’t. While I’m not every one who comes in touches
parts of the caves, and probably not in the same spots, I’m sure there has been
some cave growth slowed by that.
Once we came back to the grand
hall, we went down the larger section of the area. Spot lights next to various formations
provided some light, and a stack of plastic chairs provided a size reference. I could see the relative flatness of the floor
would allow for these gatherings taking place, although I would love to see
pictures on an actual wedding done there.
The bubbly-like columns space around were goo examples of nature’s
handiwork.
Past the grand hall is a railed
walkway past a group of small cave pools.
As there is an underground river nearby, which formed much of this cave,
it wasn’t a surprise it was wet in here.
It kept the cave cool, but not very humid.
At one point, the pathway made a
slight S-curve and went up elevation slightly.
It wasn’t much, and the railing was no longer present. As I wandered down this section, my mind kept
replaying some of those fantasy novels in my head, and I expected a little
creepy guy to come along to ask if I wanted to play “Riddles In the Dark” in
exchange for a ring.
Alec explained this section usually
wasn’t utilized as much when the cave was rented out for gatherings, although
he was sure that guests still came down this way. Some of the most interesting features which
can be found in living cave systems is what is called “cave bacon.” As the sediment-filled water drips down and
forms new layers, discoloration happens during periods when the mineral content
changes. This gives it a ribbon look,
and the veins resemble the food product before you fry it up. Eating cave bacon is only recommended if you
want to lose your teeth. Alec was
gracious enough to provide his head for a size reference. >grin<
Past this section was the final
part of the cave tour. The underground
river which flows through this section comes in and out. It’s below the main walkway, so when the
water levels are higher, this section can still be visited. Although if the water levels are extremely
high, then this whole section beyond the great hall ends up being closed
off. A lighted trailed follows the edge
of the river as it flows out of the came, although that portion of the trail
becomes rather muddy, and ceiling drops down a bit (so standing is not possible).
I did mention that Howe Cavern (in New York ) has something
similar, and has turned it into a little boat ride as far as the cave will
allow. Alec thought that was
interesting, but not very feasible in this section, as the water wasn’t very
deep here.
As we headed back to the grand hall
to complete the tour, Alec did mention that last summer some University of
Texas students spent evenings filming a movie within the caves (after it closed
for the day). While that was a nice
tidbit of information, Alec wasn’t able to provide any more details than
that. It was someone’s film class
project for sure, but no idea what the movie was about. I mentioned that would’ve been something to
have gathered that information, to see if the film later was put up on
internet. No matter how the cave was
used, it would be great advertising to be able to say “John Smith’s Short Film
Made Here.” Alec’s reaction was hard to
gauge on that. Not sure if it didn’t
interest him personally, or if the cave owners had already tossed the idea out.
Cave Without A Name was nice little
privately-owned venue, and worth checking out if you’re in the area. There was a third cave I was going to try to
hit this day, but since that was over an hour’s drive northward towards Marble
Falls, I’d have to hit that one on another day.
More information could be found at: www.cavewithoutaname.com
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