Grand Canyon Caverns

 

“You know where I’d like to explore?” There were so many possibilities. “Mars.”

I could actually hear Laureen’s eyes roll. “Really, Mars?”

“Venus?”

Turns out, the correct answer, for five hundred Alex, was the Grand Canyon Caverns.

“You tend to be a bit claustrophobic.”

“True,” Laureen replied.

“You know, the caverns are dank, dark, dangerous, and are about thirty thousand feet below the surface of the Earth.”

Laureen nodded. “I need to face my fears.”

“Then, by all means, let’s face your fears together,” I stated. Facing fears together – it is a good thing for a married couple to do.

The Grand Canyon Caverns are some of the largest dry caverns in the United States.

That actually did not sound like fun to me. I have been to some dry counties within this wonderful country of ours, but nowhere to wet ones whistle with an adult libation.

“I’d like a cold draft with that pizza.”

“Oh, this is a dry county,” the waitress would reply. “You’ll have to eat your pizza with a glass of finely silted sand.”

Dry caverns, such as Grand Canyon Caverns, constitute only three percent of all the world’s caverns. Most caverns contain water, which creates those marvelous stalagmites and stalactites -- those are the pointy thingies that either hang from the ceiling, or the reach up from the floor of the cavern.

Scientifically speaking, a stalagmite is a rock formation that rises from the floor of a cave due to the accumulation of material on the floor from ceiling drippings. They are typically composed of calcium, but may consist of lava, mud, peat, pitch, sand and sinter.

No idea what sinter is, but it sounds religious, and not in a good way

I suppose, a stalactite is the opposite of a stalagmite.

A trip was planned; we were packed, gassed up, with reservations confirmed. We were on our way to the Grand Canyon Caverns, so Laureen could face her fear. I would be there to watch.

Traveling Route 66 is a special moment – or a lot of moments if you are driving for seven or eight hours in a day. But, it is always worth the time: seeing things that speed along the typical routes such as Interstate 40, Interstate 10, or fill in the blank of Interstate X, that drivers never get a chance to experience.

On our outing, we passed through the towns of Hualapai (not to be confused with the next town), Walapai, Antares (home of the Giganticus Headicus), Hackberry, Valentine, Truxton, and Peach Springs.

The Grand Canyon Caverns are thirteen miles east of Peach Springs, a small town that has a lot to offer the thousands of people visiting each year.

A person could spend time at the Hualapia Ranch, and learn how to quick draw and other cool cowboy kinds of stuff. And then in the evenings, listen to cowboy stories and songs around a warm and bright campfire, while stuffing your gullet with s’mores.

That sounded like fun – but I’m not much of an artist, and so quick drawing something did not make sense to me.

The area is also near the Glass Canyon Skywalk, the glass-bottomed bridge that is suspended over four thousand feet above the Grand Canyon.

Beautiful, but no thanks

That also sounded like fun, if someone wants to walk out into thin air on a piece of glass while peering down between their feet at a nearly three-quarters of a mile drop to the bottom of the Grand Canyon.

Don’t count me in on that adventure, since as hard as I might, I don’t believe my arms would act like the wings of a bird if that glass floor shattered. I didn’t feel like facing that particular fear today.

All the small towns along the route have their own mystique and unique qualities. And, they all deserve a respite to explore, but we were on a mission.

There were caverns awaiting, and a phobia to conquer.

While driving, I was keeping my eyes on the road, but also looking right and left for any signs of wildlife. This was beautiful country. Thousands upon thousands of acres of grasslands hugging Route 66. It was magical – if one enjoys the solitude of empty roads and beautiful scenery.

There were highway signs warning drivers to watch for deer, elk, cattle, and Sasquatches.

Laureen was busy reading a touristy sort of magazine.

“The Grand Canyon Caverns are only two hundred and thirty feet below the surface. You told me thirty thousand.”

“Must have been a misprint,” I stated. Looking to the left, I could have sworn something about ten feet tall and very hairy had just disappeared behind a large boulder.  I think it was also wearing a bowler hat. But I didn’t want to interrupt Laureen, so I kept quiet.

“This article also says the caverns are dry, with wide well-lit pathways throughout. You said they were dank, dark, and dangerous.”

“I’ll never believe a thing that magazine publishes again.”

Turns out, about three-hundred and forty-five million years ago, the southwest was covered by oceans. This was during the Mississippian Period, and there were a lot of fishes and other ocean critters swimming around here and there. When the waters dried up over the eons, those little skeletons of the fishes and other critters settled to the bottom of the oceans. Through millions of years the calcium in the bones mixed with the mud, creating a limestone bedrock.

Another bunch of time passed, and the bottom of those now empty oceans moved up to over five thousand feet above sea level.

Then, thirty-five million years ago, rainfall flowed into that limestone creating caverns down below, the same rainfall which carved out the Grand Canyon itself.

I have no idea why – geology is complicated.

Since the tours of the caverns are so popular, reservations are a must, along with a guide.

“Without a tour guide, you could get lost down there forever,” the young woman at the reception desk informed us.

“Then a guide is fine with us,” I replied.

Our guide, Dino, was a fount of knowledge when it came to the history of the caverns, from the past to the present. He also had a sense of humor, which I would label – corny. Funny, but corny.

“What do call being in a cave disaster? Caught between a rock and a hard place.”

Turns out, the caverns had gone unnoticed until 1927, when a local miner, Walter Peck, was riding his horse across the area and nearly fell into a large hole in the ground. After exploring this unsuspected cavity in the earth, Peck learned there were labyrinths of caves below the surface. And, being a miner, he thought there may be untold riches within those cavernous tunnels.

Do not get lost in these caverns

Unfortunately, for Peck, there was no gold or silver to be found, but being the entrepreneur he was, he came up with another money making venture. For twenty-five cents, tourists would be lowered into the darkness of the caves to explore for themselves. They were lowered over two hundred feet into the earth by sticking their feet into a rope harness.

This became known as Dope on a Rope.

Some of the things found while searching the caverns

This enterprise went on for decades, and then in 1962, a new entrance was created and the installation of an elevator reaching down two hundred feet was installed.

No more dopes on ropes.

As we followed Dino, he explained this rock formation and that rock formation. Very interesting, but then a sad moment with the discovery Peck had made of a Paramylodon Harlani back in the early days of his exploration of the caverns.

This giant sloth Peck had found, is believed to have fallen into the original hole in the ground around eleven thousand years ago and died there. The name given the huge mammal was Gertie. A model of her is along the winding path in the caverns. What a sad ending for poor Gertie.

Gertie

One huge cavern contains thousands upon thousands of provisions left there by the federal government during the Cold War.

Left over Cold War supplies in the caverns

“These caverns were designated a fall-out shelter,” Dino said. “They wanted supplies to be placed here, just in case. The only thing they forgot were lanterns. Gets dark down here with no lights.”

In fact, when the dozens of lights along the walkways are turned off, a person cannot see their hand in front of their face.

Also, within the caverns there is also a suite, which can be rented for the night – rather pricy but could be a wonderfully dark experience. Ozzy Osbourne spent the night there – a great place for a guy who likes bats.

Sleep where Ozzy slept with his dog, Rockhound

I looked over at Laureen. “Nope.”

You could also choose to have your lunch below the surface of the earth, in the Grotto. This restaurant is situated over two hundred feet below the surface, and serves spectular food with your choice of beverages, including the adult variety.

John and Laureen enjoying a beverage at the Grotto

We met fellow diners, Jake and Lisa, who had traveled from Phoenix just for the experience of the caverns.

“We had to eat here, and not just walk through the caverns,” Jake stated. “Not that they are not impressive enough alone.”

“And who gets a chance to eat lunch two hundred feet down in a natural cavern?” Lisa said.

“The four of us,” I replied.

The Grotto at the Grand Canyon Caverns

It may have been the wine from the Grotto, but Laureen had no claustrophobic complaints.

Are the caverns worth a trip? Most definitely yes, and a great way to experience new adventures and meet awesome people, like Dino, Jake, and Lisa.

For more information: https://gccaverns.com/

 

 

 

 

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John and his friend, Giganticus Headicus

I was having lunch with a friend of mine, Jim, when he asked if I had ever heard of the Giganticus Headicus.

While popping another French fry in my mouth, I shook my head. “Not sure about that, and not sure that is truly a thing.”

Jim often asks me about if I’ve seen this or that while I travel.

Jim travels a lot too. And his main thoroughfare is the ‘Mother Road’, or the ‘Will Rogers Highway,’ or the ‘Main Street of America’ – all three are also known as just ‘Route 66.’

He has seen many things during his years traveling Route 66. At last count, I believe Jim told me he has traveled Route 66, all the way from Santa Monica to Chicago, about three thousand times.

That makes Jim an expert on what is and what is not on Route 66.

I’ve never been to Chicago, not even once. And, changing planes at O’Hare International Airport on the northwest side of the city, does not count as having visited Chicago.

“So what is a Giganticus Headicus?”

“It is a great piece of art, created by Gregg Arnold,” Jim replied.

“Where’s it located?”

“At Antares Point,” he said. “You’ve heard of that, yes?”

I nodded. “Of course, that’s the bar where Luke Skywalker runs into Hans Solo and Chewie.”

Turns out, there is a small village named Antares about twenty miles north-east of Kingman, Arizona. It began, as many villages did, as a railroad siding for the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad in 1883. The tracks at this point take a large curve in their design, as the rails headed south toward Kingman.

In 1910, after the National Old Trails Highway made its way through the area, the village was incorporated into what is now Antares. In 1926, Route 66 blazed along the railroad tracks, and the area became a rest stop for those visitors heading either north or south through this part of Arizona.

But, there is more to this little berg than just a fuel stop. There are over six thousand mining claims in the nearby hills, where copper, gold, lead, and silver were found in abundance. The village of Antares actually took its name from the star Antares, in the constellation ‘Scorpio.’ The word is Greek, and means ‘rival of Mars’, due to the reddish tint of the hillsides created by the copper found there.

Though, most of the mines are now closed, there are still over two hundred in operation in and around the Hualapai Valley, where Antares is located.

I found that research rather interesting, as I do most of my research – unless it has to do with how to take a dog stain off a living-room carpet.

But, it also turns out that there is a small stop along Route 66 called Antares Point. It is owned by Gregg Arnold and his spouse, Alie Reynolds-Arnold, and is a place that is truly worth a parking break.

A small A-framed building is the center of Antares Point, which offers visitors a chance for a snack, a drink, and a gaze at some awesome pieces of art work.

Both Gregg and Alie are world-renown artists, and have their studio, the Antares Art Studio, in Kingman.

Alie is known for her work in many art media forms, acrylic, oils, and whatever else great artists use to slap on a canvas to express their inner most creativity.

Tiki god at the point

Gregg, on the other hand, deals mainly in metal works. His metal sculptures appear all over the world, and the more detailed the better.

Some of his work is on display, and for sale, at Antares Point.

The camel of Route 66

 “Gregg is unveiling a new metal sculpture there in two weeks.”

“That sounds like an adventure to me,” I told Jim.

And, it was.

As I rounded the bend just south of the village of Antares, my eyes locked onto a huge green tiki-god like sculpture to the left of the A-frame visitor’s center for Antares Point.

I had to park quite a way down a dirt road from the business since there were about two hundred people milling around for the unveiling of Arnold’s latest creation. Actually, I’m not sure if they were milling, to be honest – I not even sure what that truly means.

“I was just milling around.”

“Well, I was milling better than you.”

There was a car show with some really sweet rides, and people were walking around gawking in admiration or jealousy. There was a band playing near some outdoor benches and awnings. And a man selling ice cream, singing Italian songs – no, those are the lyrics from a song by the band, Chicago.

Watch your speed through town

Anyway, there was quite a crowd and everyone was having a wonderful time while waiting for the blue tarps to be withdrawn from the newest art work created by Gregg Arnold.

Giganticus Headicus, is huge – really a big-headed cement head which looks like it is buried up to its chin in the ground. Standing at fourteen feet tall, it is impressive.

At that moment, the artist himself walked over to me. “What do you think?”

“It’s big and green,” I replied.

Arnold smiled. “Yes, it is, and the first time I used concrete in any of my artwork. The use of concrete was a new medium for me, but it worked out.”

Not being much of an art consumer, except for purchasing a couple of paintings depicting dogs’ playing cards, I asked what inspired him for this project.

“I thought of it while sleeping one night,” he replied. “I woke up and hurriedly jotted down the design. It was like an obsession with me. I’m sure being a writer, you probably get up in the middle of the night with something important on your mind.”

I nodded, but didn’t reply. The only time I get up in the middle of the night is to find the nearest restroom.

“For the entire month it took to complete it, it was all I could think of. I was totally obsessed and was physically and emotionally exhausted once I had completed it.”

Gregg is a very passionate artist. He created the large tiki-head project at the studio in Kingman, and then transported it to the site at his Antares Point location.

“I wanted something to draw a person’s eye, as they drive by on Route 66. This did the trick, and they stop, and I get to talk with them about the importance of art and also, the magnificence of this road.”

“What is going to be unveiled?” I asked.

“You’ll have to wait and see.” He smiled.

Taking my leave from Gregg, I walked into the visitor’s center and was really amazed at the pieces of art that lined countertops and shelves around the rooms. Small pieces, medium pieces, and some large metal artworks, that were incredible in all their detail. Wandering through the store, I saw art magazine after art magazine with stories concerning this highly creative artisan. 

Visitor center behind Arnold's artwork

Of course, there were also books, photographs, signs, and other Route 66 memorabilia for sale, as well as a snacks and drinks for the visitors.

As I exited the store after purchasing something, Gregg was standing on the front porch of the establishment. I asked him how he got his inspiration for such a varied array of art works.

“My art just comes to me. I don’t know how or why, but it does.”

Being as successful artist as Gregg is, his imagination must be on over-drive most of the time. 

While waiting for the unveiling, I busied myself chatting with car enthusiasts, Route 66 enthusiasts, art enthusiasts, and enthusiasts of enthusiasm.

“I’m really enthused by being here,” said one lady.

The time for the unveiling was suddenly upon us – time speeds by when everyone is enthused.

The new metal structure, which stands at sixteen feet tall, is located on the north-west section of the property as planned by Gregg, so anyone traveling Route 66 would be able to see it right away. As though, anyone driving by wouldn’t first see a giant green head tiki-god in the front yard of Antares Point.

That may slow a driver down a bit.

Gregg stepped up onto a concrete platform in front of the tarped covered stature, microphone in hand and spoke to the large crowd gathered all around.

The covered stature

He explained very eloquently why and how he created the art work.

“This metal stature is to be the guardian of Route 66,” he stated. “I wanted something very special and meaningful for anyone traveling this wonderful roadway. I also desired it to represent the strength of our wonderful nation, and to stand tall with all those who have served her and continue to serve her, no matter their occupations.”

At this moment, the tarps dropped, revealing a truly beautiful metal stature, of a female holding a shield, a crown, and carrying an American flag.

Gregg Arnold with his newest art project

The crowd’s reaction was over-whelming with clapping, cheers, and other loud noises of approval.

I looked the whole situation over, the people, the art work, and the place – and realized that not only was Gregg a very accomplished artist, but his love of this country was palpable.

It was certainly worth the drive to share in this moment along Route 66 at Antares Point.

The protector of Route 66

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is no surprise to hear many people express the wish: "I hope 2022 is going to be a better year than last year."

Of course, an argument could be made the past couple of years were nothing to place in the 'great memories' section of a personal diary - COVID-19, high inflation, border tensions, violence in the streets, and too much more to write about here. 

But, there were things to be pleased with, even in what seemed at times to be dire circumstances.

Laureen and I were blessed with the birth of three granddaughters during these times,  our daughter Jessica gave us Jasmine, while Katie welcomed Ava and Anastasia. These are the moments which make it all worth the hardships. And then we learned during the summer of 2021 that our daughter, Kelly, is having a baby in the spring of 2022, a grandson who will be named Eli.

See, even in times of trial and tribulation - wonderful things can happen.

That is why, on January 1st of each year, we all look forward to the upcoming year with hopes and aspirations that it will be better than the previous one.

Too much to ask for? Okay, perhaps it is, but what the world has gone through with the previous two years, maybe we really need the prospects of a truly outstanding year for everyone.

So this 2022, let's make it about all of us getting together, smiling, laughing, and trying to forget the past and move on with a brand new future.

Forgive the past slights.

Recall the pleasant memories.

Reflect on how we each can be a better person.

And, learn to truly love those around us with just a bit more relish.

We at J and L wish everyone a truly Happy and Prosperous New Year.