A RETURN TO THE FAMILIAR
When you’ve lived at a place long
enough, you get to the point where you’ve seen everything in the area worth
seeing, and you start cycling back to places you’ve been to previously. Sometimes you’ve also encountered places that
when you’ve seen them once, subsequent trips are not needed. This is one of the places where I’ve cycled
back to see again. My fiancée had never
experienced these caverns before (but had heard about them), so this was a
great “hot weather” activity for us to do, knowing that it stayed a relatively
cool temperature year-round.
Driving up and down Interstate 35
(which goes over where the caves are), I’d noticed the “Candle Factory” sign
had been gone for a little while. That
was always a nice marker on the cave tour to be told you’re now standing under
that sign. Beyond that, I didn’t expect
there to be any changes since my previous visit (in 2010) or my first (in
2003). Interestingly enough, there were
a few minor differences.
Now reservations are not required for
the basic “Adventure Tour,” which is the best one to start with, especially if
you’ve never experienced it before.
While there’s a fair amount of walking, you’ll also stay clean (no
crawling through mud). No food or drink
are allowed inside the cave (which keeps it free of liter), and you’re not
allowed to touch any of the formations.
That’s because the oils secreted by humans can over-time damage the
formations and keep them from growing.
If one person touches it, it won’t make a difference. But if one person on every tour, or on every
day, touches the same formation, then it’ll turn a nasty dark color and stop
growing. Please respect the cave, and
keep your hands to yourself.
On previous visits, once the tour
group had assembled, we’d board a short tram which would take us down the
man-made entrance to the tunnel, and then we’d walk up a short incline. That had been done to keep fresh air in the
case, and hot air (which rises) out of the cave. The tram had since been removed, so visitors
now walked into cave.
I noticed at that point the
interior of the cave was much hotter and humid than it had been
previously. The angle of the incline
appears to have been changed, which allowed the hot air to filter in more. I also think a major factor was there was *so
much* hot and humid air, there was no “cool” air to sink down into the
cave. Other trips this had been a nice
escape from the heat, but today it was just as oppressive as being outside.
The tour truly starts at the first
room inside the cave, after the guide has had every visitor pose for an
optional-purchase photo souvenir. This is what is referred to as a “living
cave,” which means the formations are still growing. While this looks like a bed-of-nails hanging
from the ceiling, they’re called “soda straws” because of the thin hollow
aspects of the formation. Mineral-filled
water drips down, lengthening and thickening a minute bit.
This cave was formed over thousands
of years of geologic action, and shaped by when this section of Texas was
covered by a shallow sea long ago. The
passages from one section to another were also naturally-form (although the
cement walkway was placed soon after discovery so this could be accessible to
the public without damaging the interior).
The tour takes you through these
winding passages, which can be narrow and low in some spots. Eventually you’re brought to the “Discovery
Chamber,” which was the first portion discovered. Back in the late 1960’s a new overpass for
Interstate 35 needed to be built, and the workers were drilling into the
foundation rock to build support structures.
A hole was drilled in an empty pocket, and a drill-bit was lost, so someone
was sent down to recover it. One tiny
flashlight illuminated a cavern the size of a football field. And here’s the remnant of the original hole
which was drilled in (since filled back in to preserve the cave).
And this was what that construction
worker saw. There was no way a single
flashlight could convey the size, but there were smart people that day who took
action to secure this for future generations.
The tour takes you past a giant
fill pile, which had been a sinkhole which exposed the cave to the
outside. The last time it was opened was
10,000 years ago. Bones of various
animals were found in this fill pile (no humans), and their images are painted
on a display wall. That’s the only
“artificial” wall in the place, as it also keeps the fill pile from spilling
into the cave.
The entire tour takes about 90
minutes from beginning to end. In each
room, the group stops to allow an explanation of the area, some pointing out of
various formations, and answering a few questions. Some portions of the cavern continue on, but
are too small for humans to squeeze through.
These are noted by blue lights.
Do other caverns exist a short
distance away? Possible, but not likely,
as geologic sounding of the area has been done and nothing has turned up. But don’t rule out the possibility of
something nearby, as this region is filled with various caverns of different
sizes.
The tour seemed to go faster than I
recalled on my previous visits here. I
would’ve enjoyed the opportunity to linger at the formations a bit more, but
the tour guide did note the caverns have on occasion been rented out for
special occasions (among them, a couple weddings here).
When we reached the farthest point
in the caverns (where we’d be under where the “Candle Factory” sign had been),
it was time to turn around and come back.
The return trip is mostly a quick walk through the areas we’d already
been, except for a side trip a chamber filled with some cave water. Due to the filtration created by the ground
above, you could drink the water here with no ill-effects.
At the conclusion, the tour walks
back up the access tunnel we entered in, and exits to the gift shop. There, the pictures which you were forced to
take at the beginning of the tour are available for sale. I know that’s a hallmark of many places and a
good money-maker for the establishment, but in the age of cameras everywhere in
our lives, that’s not something you should be forced to partake in. It also takes time away from the tour which
could be better spent within the depths enjoying the wonders on the
inner-Earth.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
InnerSpace Caverns: https://innerspacecavern.com/
Celebration of 50 years:
http://www.fox7austin.com/news/local-news/155996204-story
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