Spent the first half of the day hiking up to Harney Peak (7,242 feet) through Black Elk Wilderness. I love this place. I have fond memories as a child hiking up here when my parents were still married.
The second half of the day we went caving in Jewel Cave again. This time was with Bonny Armstrong. She took us to see the cool hydromagnesite balloons on the spelunking tour.
Western Wonderland Roadtrip
Tuesday we had Bonny Armstrong, the Park Ranger at Jewel Cave, take us on another tourist trip into Jewel. Our underground destination was to see the hydromagnesite balloons. They’re formed from a similar substance as moonmilk and look to be pearlescent bubble gum bubbles. The first kind of this speleothem was discovered in Jewel and have since been found in other caves such as Lechuguilla. These balloons are hollow inside and are very fragile. These deflated or buckled ones are called crinkle blisters.
During both of our Jewel Cave trips we heard many stories and lore concerning the original explorers of Jewel: Herb and Jan Conn. From 1959 to 1979 Herb and Jan mapped 62.36 miles of cave and their marks are present in the cave still today. Although they both have been retired from caving for over 20 years, they are both alive and in their 80s.
