There’s Caves Under Them Thar Trees!

Spelunkers have always had to carry the burden of the hobby with by far the ugliest name and some pretty rough hobbying conditions: Dark, musty, wet, dirty, dangerous, and of course – the guano. Enough with the guano already!

But every now and then, a spelunker gets to come across something beautiful and new, like when astronomers discover new planets. Of course, unlike planets, there’s little risk that the caverns you discover will one day be demoted to something lesser, like, say, just a hole. Anyway, sorry, where were we? Right. Four amateur spelunkers recently made quite a find beneath Sequoia National Park.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the newly discovered cave contains astounding formations:

Four amateur cave explorers in Sequoia National Park have discovered a vast cave formed 1 million years ago, a labyrinth that stretches more than 1,000 feet into a mountain and features some of the most beautiful rock formations ever seen.

Millions of crystals along its walls shimmer like diamonds. Translucent mineral “curtains” hang from the ceiling. Flowstones that resemble spilled paint dot the floor. A lake that might be 20 feet deep fills one of the cave’s five known rooms, and passages leading into darkness suggest there is still much more to see.