We had a 20 min wait before the next tour, so I got my picture taken with this green Dino and the little man on the Mr. Dino's head.
Some pretty blooming cactus
The tour guide said that these were a replica of the cave people who lived in the cave 20,000 years ago. They were only about 3-4 feet tall he said and lived to only 35 years old. Hmmmm..... ok, whatever.
Heading down into the cave
Down, down, down
There was something about the layers of rock and being able to tell how many volcanic eruptions there were, but I can't remember. I was too busy taking pictures.
It was raining.....Jed was happy. :)
Further down we go! And it kept getting colder, and colder!
Looking back at the opening of the cave
Inside the ice cave....it was cold...go figure!
The pictures inside the cave are not so great. It was dark and a flash made it worse so you had to hold perfectly still to get a picture without a flash and so they are mostly blurry....sorry. But in the center of this picture is the skeleton of a Grizzly bear and her cubs. Supposedly 10,000 years old, according to the guide.
Inside the cave, there was a walkway, but underneath us was solid ice. The guide said they have to pump the ice out every summer otherwise the whole cave would be filled with ice! He also said that this cave was one of the only ice caves of it's size and it stays below freezing year round.
Stalactites or mytes or whatever....sticky uppey rocks!
Ice on rocks
Me and a sea of black.....this is when we figured out the flash would not work....
Inside the cave, but blurry
Blurry Jed in the cave
Water was dripping from the ground above because the lava rock is so porous and the hole of the light is the way back out.
In the different colors of the rock formation, there is something that looks like a face and the guide called the face their "gate keeper." He said the eyes follow you wherever you are.....(insert creepy music here) :) (It's hard to describe, but it's in the center section of that top layer of rock. There's like two dark spots...those are the eyes)
Outside the cave
We enjoyed seeing it, even though it took a bit to thaw out after we got out. :)
5 comments:
looks like you guys had fun. Nice pictures too! =D
We certainly did! Come on out!!! :)
What a hoot! I particularly love the replicas of the cave people. Maybe the COLD shrunk them to 3 or 4 feet tall. I can see why their life expectancy was so short - they didn't wear enough clothing for living in an ICE cave. Maybe you should point out to the guide that what clothing the replicas do have on appears to be peeling off..... but then, maybe the visitor attendance to the cave will spike in the future if they do nothing to stop the peeling. ;)
Actually, it looks like a great place to visit on a hot day!
Ok, so I want to go to the Ice Caves, too. Although, I think I'd want to go on a VERY hot day! Too funny - I must get my picture next to the big, green dino. I'm continually amazed at all the neato stuff out your way!
Haha! I wanted to get my picture by the barely clothed, tiny cave people! :) Maybe next time! It would be a great place to visit when it's hot....however, it was quite cool the day we went...brrr! :)
The big green dino just beckons everyone to have their picture taken with him!
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