It was all routine even if hundreds of pounds of
earth were pressing down on their heads, even though the ceiling might
potentially collapse at any moment, even if they were surrounded by a
sea of darkness and had no idea what lay in front of them.
Award-winning author Neil Miller soon tells us that what lay in front
of amateur spelunkers Randy Tufts and Gary Tenen was anything but
routine. These young men had crawled into a virgin cave, a landscape
untouched and unseen for hundreds of thousands of years. In cave
terminology, this underground oasis was
“living”—water still seeped down the
limestone walls, depositing minerals that slowly built up into
stunningly beautiful formations. In a time when countless caves had
been destroyed by vandals and looters who had defaced the walls and had
broken formations, this pristine discovery was every caver’s
dream. While duplicating that moment might seem difficult, this
fascinating account of the fight to preserve Kartchner Caverns lends us
the same sense of awe and urgency.
In an arresting tale spanning the twenty-five-year period in which
Tufts and Tenen struggled to protect their find, Miller skillfully
weaves together personal interviews, biographical information,
political maneuvering, and geological facts. Presented in full color
with dazzling photographs showcasing the natural wonder of the caverns,
this is an invitation to take in the mysterious, stunning beauty of a
cave as if discovering it for the first time. The triumph of the
conservationists and the opening of Kartchner Caverns as a state park
are known to anyone who has visited the caves as a tourist. But this
narrative offers a chance to go beyond the guidebooks with its
revealing look at this unspoiled natural wonder and the science of cave
conservation. With as much depth and colorful detail as the caverns
themselves, this page-turning account will captivate anyone interested
in caves and the preservation of natural wonders.
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Kartchner Caverns
How Two Cavers Discovered and
Saved One of the Wonders of the Natural World
by Neil Miller
University of Arizona Press,
2008
Order
a copy
Reviewed in
The Nature Pages
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