Tag Archives: cave tour

Heavyweight Boxer in the Cave

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Joe Harris was on my cave tour today. Joe is a retired heavyweight boxer nicknamed “Cut and Shoot.”

“Joe was a heavyweight contender during the 1950s. He won his first 23 fights, including consecutive wins against Willi Besmanoff, Bob Baker and Willie Pastrano, and was named Ring Magazine‘s progress of the year for 1957.

Before the bout Roy was on the cover of Sports Illustrated.[4] In August 1958, Harris was given a title shot by world champion Floyd Patterson. Harris knocked down the champion in the second round of their fight, but was himself knocked down four times…” (Wikkipedia)

After the cave tour, Joe and I sat and talked about boxing a bit.

“Joe, give me one piece of advice about boxing,” I begged.

“Duck” Joe replied without missing a beat.

He went on to give me some of his best boxing advice, and I was thrilled.

You never know who is going to be on your cave tour. What fun.

Poor Grades

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National Children’s Book Week is almost
coming to a close, and so is my Blogathon 2010. If you haven’t
guessed by now, I give cave tours in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. I’ve
also written and illustrated a new children’s book entitled “Dad,
the Tooth Fairy Didn’t Come!” www.jerrybegly.com/tooth. What else
is going on in my life? I teach skiing in Aspen, Colorado. I’m
building a 3400sf. Log chalet off the grid high in the Colorado
Rockies. My 7 children, my wife, and I are building it all
ourselves. Literally all of it (with very few exceptions). I enjoy
jeeping, hiking, mountain climbing, fishing, playing my banjo, and a
multitude of other pastimes. When it comes to grading me on life, I
get all “F”s. Faith, Family, Friends, Fun are the mainstays of my
existence. Oh, and Food. Thanks for the Fajitas, today, guys…

The Beauty Channel

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Who comes on my cave tours? Everybody. That’s what makes it so fun. Today, I had guys with tattoos all over their body standing next to Amish tourists. I’ve had Adult, educated, Europeans standing next to runny nosed little American kids. Somehow, we all are able to come together and enjoy the incredible beauty underground. I like that. It’s not like we have to fight over what channel to watch. We only get one channel underground-the Beauty Channel. Let’s all explore it together.

The Ground Drops Out

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Today, one of my tour groups ran into another tour group at the top of “The Barn”. We’re talking about 40 people here. That guide said, “Jerry, do you guys want to do a complete ‘lights out’ with us since nobody’s down below us? ”
“Sure,” I said.
The guide reached for the main breaker which is not supposed to be used for turning out the lights and was getting ready to flip it off. I yelled “No not that one!” as I ran toward her. “That’s the switch for the trap door where those people are standing!” I exclaimed. I heard some nervous laughter from the group. When we switched off the proper light switch, the lights below us were still on. It didn’t get dark. Not wanting to appear completely ignorant of the switches, I said, “Oh, somebody didn’t turn off the lights off below us. Nice joke.” With that our groups parted. Tour guides have more fun than you’ll ever know.

Cave Love

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Today was a blast. I got to give 4 cave tours. On one of my tours was Phillip. He was in charge of the construction inside the cave a little over 10 years ago. He told me about 2 of the workers discovering over a mile more of unmapped passageways back when the construction was taking place. The “Wedding Platform”, is a wooden platform that was made larger than normal, so 2 cavers could get married in front of a stalactitie that was composed of 2 stalactites growing together to become one. Now that’s cave love. Also, over 10 years ago, the current owner, Steve Beckley, took what was then his 2nd date with Jeanne through an 8 ½ inch squeeze named “Jam Crack”. Later, the two got married, and bought Fairy Caves, opening up Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park. You’ve got to come up here if you ever get a chance. It’s an amazing place, and I’d love to take you on one of my tours.