Crystal Ice Caves

Singing " " in Church today, I had to smile as we went through the last verse, "...Shout salvation full and free, Highest hills and deepest caves...." Seems like that's all this blog is about - high hills, deep caves and a FULL and FREE SALVATION! Oh, and can you name the tune? If not, you'll just have to go through all these pictures to find the answer!
Ever play "Guess the number of jelly beans in the jar"? Well if you think you're good at that, guess the number beets in this pile. That's a rail car on the left if you're looking for a frame of reference.
And when you get through with that pile, don't forget the piles behind it, or this lot down the road with many more piles! But this time, you'll have to use the Port-A-Potty as reference...
...or some kid that climbed to the top for a handstand...
...and lost his shoe on the way back down.
Oh, and did you notice the snow?!? I was so excited to wake up this morning to a guy blowing snow off the sidewalks. I'm not sure life gets any better then sitting in a hot tub and watching snow fall gently outside. Oops, we aren't to that part yet. First I have to tell you about the latest adventure under this wonderful canopy of snow and not so wonderful dead desert.
Here's the crew (after a day of caving): (L to R) Chris, Tyler, Shayna, Ryan, Alysia and Joe.
The lower entrance to the Crystal Ice Caves (refer to the 10/21/09 "Underneath Nowhere" blog post for the upper portion). It was only 140 feet to the bottom...
...which is why I'm checking to make sure the rope reaches the bottom. "Joe, you're scaring me!" Dad (aka Chris) would say.
Peek-A-Boo (some games never grow old or is that some people...)
Alysia expresses her concern while Tyler smiles and nods and Shayna pretends to be confident while hiding behind a pink bandanna.
Our anchor (the rock... not the shivering Shayna).
Chris heads down first to make sure the rope reaches the bottom.
One 12mm rope + one metal bar = no fear (or is that no brains?) Shayna about half way down.
One last grimace and a hand shake and Alysia heads over the edge.
Ryan rappelling down.
After rappelling down, we immediately crossed some ice that was dammed up when a section of the ceiling collapsed, creating a large hill of rocks. Here, you can see Chris and Ryan gathering rocks for a bridge after they inadvertently discovered the depth of the ice, errrr.... water! (Remember "Crotch Lake" from the Darby Wind and Ice Caves?)
Tyler shows us how to traverse down an icy slope...
...and I can't remember if this picture is just before Chris went bottoms up or just after...
...I decided to just slide down feet first...
...while Ryan chose head first - or is that just how he ended up?
Shayna takes out Tyler at the bottom.
Shayna being cute...
...Ryan being, hmmmm... can't use cute.
Alysia checking out the cool (yes cool) ice formations.
Remember the name of the cave - Crystal Ice Caves? Well, there was plenty of ice in formations that can't be described. Maybe these next few pictures can give you a glimpse into the beauty found hundreds of feet underground.
How did that picture sneak in there?
A frozen whirlpool...
...in red.
Pretty cool ice!
Ice...
...Ice...
...Baby, wait... that's Ryan.
More ice crystals.
Alysia heading down into a little room.
I definitely failed going back up the ice slope - good thing for helmets, fellow cavers risking their lives for a broken headlamp, oh and spare headlamps too.
The crew takes a break after crossing the ice.
This little tunnel was one of the highlights because the walls and ceiling were covered with...
...bazillions of ice crystals...
...so beautiful...
...yet so fragile. The crystals had grown out from the walls and ceilings in indescribable patterns. As we sat fascinated by their beauty, they started crashing down as our body heat melted their base...
...but they tasted lovely.
Making use of the bridge we built earlier.
The ice isn't thick enough to walk on, but you're determined to explore the tunnel on the far side? Yup, this is how you do it!
Shayna swims across the ice.
It's a narrow luge run!
Alysia fearlessly heads up, prussiking for the first time!
Shayna does some rock climbing.
While the rest of us try to get some feeling back into our fingers, Ryan contemplates his final moments.
Shayna, Tyler and Alysia watch the sunset across the desert.
Idaho seems like an unlikely place for the Taliban...
...and terrorists.
Alysia seems a little distraught over her helmet-hair.
Proof that we all made it out alive and in good spirits - but only Chris didn't play along for the goofy shot.

After all that, can you remember the name of the tune quoted at the beginning? The answer is "Jesus Saves".