The weather was incredible. It wasn't sunny and bright. Quite the contrary. I got to experience my first Sierra thunderstorm. We spent a couple nights together, huddled in our small dome rent, listening to the rain pour down, our tent being pelted by falling debris and shaken by the wind. It was amazing.
In between the storms, we went in quite a few hikes and visited something on my bucket list: the Crystal Cave. After a bit of a drive down to the parking lot, we walked down about a quarter mile if stairs to the entrance of the cave. We had arrived a little early, so we sat waiting for the cave to start when we heard the tour guide talking on his walkie, being warned about storms in the area. He assured us there wouldn't be any problems and we went on our tour of the caves.
Crystal Cave was sparkling and beautiful. We also learned about its interesting history, including the damage that had been done during self guided tours. Considering the spectacular natural beauty of the cave, it was a little disheartening to learn just how much had been ruined by careless visitors.
When we got to the last room on the tour, our guide did the customary turn off all the lights to experience true darkness. I found it peaceful and romantic to be clutching my husband in the dark, cool cave, but a little kid did not, timidly asking for the lights to be turned back on.
As we were about to head back out, one of the other tour guides came rushing into the room, telling us that lightening had struck nearby and due to the iron rich entrance to the cave, we all had to stay put until it had passed. Another tour group was ushered in and we took a seat.
We sat around talking, and James joked about the electricity going out. And then it did. Much to the dismay of that little kid who didn't like it the first time. The guides quickly brought in flashlights and distributed them around.
And then another tour guide came rushing into the room with another announcement. The lightning had passed, but they had just received a flas flood warning so we had to leave, and we had to leave now.
So, flashlights in hand, two tours worth of people, in an orderly manner, quickly made our way out back through the caves by flashlight and made our way back up the quarter mile of stairs, now in the pouring rain.
I gotta say that Crystal Cave is beautiful and well worth the visit, but it stands out for me as that one time we almost drowned in a cave. Best. Trip. Ever.
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