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| El Capitan Passage |
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| Awww |
El Capitan Passage is the northwest end of Prince of Wales –
clearly the best is last. The 25 mile
channel, north of the aptly named Sea Otter Sound, is in fact, littered with
otters. Traversing this passage is like
playing whack-a-mole, no matter which way we turn the boat to avoid them, they pop
up in front of us. When we’re not
dodging them, we take in the breathtaking beauty of this cliff and forest lined
passage.
Our first anchorage is in a beautiful bay just northwest of
the El Capitan Cave. We are here to take
a guided tour of the underground cave that was discovered in the
mid-1990s. Over 2 miles of it have been
mapped by archeologists and paleontologists.
Our guides are two interns for the National Forest Service, both studying
to be geologists. Ana and Matt are very
knowledgeable and since we are the only two people on the tour, we get to plumb
the depths of this knowledge.
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| View of our boat from top of the stairs |
We meet at the bottom of the 370 steps for the steep ascent
through the forest to the cave. We don hard
hats with lamps and rain gear since this limestone cave weeps water. It is a 70 degree day and when we get to the
entrance of the cave, you can feel cool air pouring out. Ana said you seldom get to feel the cave
“breathing” because it is usually too cool outside to notice this temperate
difference.
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| Ready to enter the cave |
Upon entering, we encounter a locked gate to prevent
intruders from trespassing. Matt opens
it and after we go through he pad locks it behind us for reasons unclear to
me. Matt assures us he has bolt cutters should we
need them. Suddenly, I wish we had asked
to see their IDs, anyone can put on a green shirt and claim they’re a
ranger. Come to think of it, neither of
them is wearing a ranger uniform or insignia.
Well, too late now – we’re locked in.
The floor inside the
cave is uneven and rocky and the only light inside this tunnel is cast from our
lamps and flashlights. There are crawl
spaces everywhere leading to other levels of the cave, some fan up, others
down. Our guides have spelunked some of
them.
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| Yikes |
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| Our guides look so harmless now that they have unlocked the cave gate |
The limestone walls are covered with mineral deposits that
look like frosting. Parts of the ceiling
have hundreds of water droplets that glisten like diamonds. These are filled with minerals that will
eventually harden to become part of the stone surface. At the head of the cave we turn off all our
lights and “listen” to the cave “talk.” I don’t hear it say a thing but I do hear some
dripping water and feel a splat of it on my face. Even though I am slightly claustrophobic, we
have loved the tour and are sad when it’s over - but greatly relieved when the locked gate is
opened.
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