A Caving We Will Go

After our visit to the Native Village we headed home to fuel up and cool down with a cold shower. Feeling a little less drained by the heat but still moving slowly we headed out to Rockwood, a local conservation area. This trip was part of the series we were doing at the nature centre, focusing on caving. We hiked in with the guide (who is soooo knowledgeable-she's my hero) during which time she pointed out bat poop, pot holes (about 20 feet deep and wide) created from swirling water after the ice melted thousands of years ago. Some of the holes were intact and some had been pushed apart, but they were all incredible. The scenery at this local conservation area really is spectacular year round, its a real local gem.

We moved on to the cave. The kids energy and excitement intensified as soon as we arrived. We sat in the shelter area while our guide explained the ins and outs of caving. Then everyone tried to crawl through two holes at the entrance of the cave, giving the participants (ranging in age from 3 to adult) a chance to experience the belly crawling, small space confinement with a little bit of light before heading into the darkness of the cave. Aria, with the help of a friend braved a lot of the climbing, Elias and Ben stayed in until the end. They all commented it was a little bit scary being in the dark feeling your way around but that it was more exhilarating than scary. I sat in the shelter portion of the cave watching Phoebe birds fly in and out of a nest build on the limestone entrance. It was great seeing everyone come out covered in mud and a great smile of satisfaction on their faces. Stopping at an old mill to frog catch and run around seemed to be the perfect way to finish off the day. Oh and it was pizza for dinner, I was zonked after such a busy day and I didn't even cave!