I was wondering where/who you guys got permission and
a guide from for exploring the Cave of Bells and Onyx
Cave? I have recently gotten into caving and want to
check them out (especially the cave of bells).

-Seth

Hey Seth,
Thanks for the comments.
Bells is pretty easy to get into. All you have to do is reserve the key in
Tucson at the Forest Service office. Just a deposit and your in. You won't
be bored in there and you won't come close to seeing it all on your
first or even second trip.
Onyx is where it gets tricky. I kinda slipped through the red tape on that
one and found a good guide. Then I had to listen to some crazed head honcho
tell me how lucky I was to have even somehow received permission in the
first place, how it was a "world class cave," how I could die in there, and
did I mention how lucky you are, for a good half hour on the phone. That
almost made it not worth it.
Anyway, you have to have a guide to get into the cave and you'll need a
harness b/c there are plenty of time you will need it.
If you want a simple, but fun cave to explore, Peppersauce has a lot of
passages to explore. It's not gated.
Email me if you have any more questions. How did you find our site?
Thanks,

You know what, I can't remember now how I originally
found your site. Although, I'm pretty sure it was
probably googling for one of the trails you guys have
have a trip report on (maybe Desoto?).

I have always been into exploring mines and ghost
towns, and have just recently taken up interest in
caves and rocks/minerals. Do you have any other
recommendations like Peppersauce (somewhat easy and
not gated)? Have you guys ever checked out any of the
lava tubes up around Flagstaff?

Here's my rig:
http://seth.phizz.net/stuff/my_taco

And my trail reports:
http://seth.phizz.net/stuff/adventures

Oh, and thanks for the information man, I really
appreciate it.

-Seth

Cool, I checked out all your pics. Nice work.
The Ajax/Woodpecker one were way cool. Love seein' the Yota's flexin out.
Ya, we had an old report on Desoto.
If you get really into the caving, there's no reason not to hit Bells. As long as you have a solid group of 3 or 5 you'll be fine. You don't have to use ropes or anything. There's more than a mile of passages and at least one really gorgeous lake inside. There's a good bit of formations still in tact. Peppersauce has been pretty raped but it's still a good cave to explore and learn in and it's actually about the same size as Bells, but most of the regs don't make it back that far. A lot of the cave passages are like 4wheel trails, there's usually an easy way and at least one hard one. You can make the trip what you want. Haven't been to the tubes. Isn't it way too public up there?
Anyway, nice Taco man. Let me know if you need anything else