Stop for a second and listen. What do you hear? Is music playing in the background, are there voices in the other room, is the heater buzzing, did your phone just ding? What about in the distance? Is it windy, do you hear cars or trains whizzing by, is that stress you hear inside your head?? I would guess that if you're like me, you've grown accustomed to the consistent ambient noises around you. And maybe the voices in your head too. You may even get a little freaked when it's super quiet - you know, like pen dropping silence. But even then, it's not true silence. True silence doesn't come around very often, but if you've ever been on one of our cave tours, you know what I'm talking about. There's a part of the tour where we experience total silence (my favorite part). Everyone stops moving and sits on the floor of the cave. We turn off all our headlamps. Whether your eyes are opened or shut tight, you're in complete darkness. We sit there for 30 seconds and for some it feels like and eternity. It's unbelievably refreshing and life-giving. It's a place where I feel like I can finally rest. I don't have to work hard to tune everything out because everything is tuned out for me. I would wish for everyone to have that experience at least once.
We hope you enjoy our new caving video! We hope to capture the variety of the underworld from boulders to tiny pebbles, from huge caverns to crawl spaces. However, nothing matches the first-hand experience. So come out with us and share in the wonder, and silence, of the world under Bend, OR!
Our Cave Tours are available throughout the year and are a great family activity! We ask that kids are at least 5 years old and can walk on uneven ground on their own.
