Lechuguilla Trilogy

"The Firefall" is the second installment of three eBooks that chronicles the exploration and human history of Lechuguilla Cave, New Mexico from approximately 1985 to 2005. These two decades represent one of the most exciting and important chapters of original geographic exploration in our time as a vast realm of sublime beauty, which had lain hidden for countless centuries, was finally revealed. Universally acclaimed as the world's most beautiful cave, the wonders and unique geological discoveries of Lechuguilla Cave provide a window into a part of our planet we know the least about. The climactic conclusion of "Elusive Majesty" leaves Lyle Moss at the top of the Aragonitemare climb on the threshold of a vast new cavernous realm yet to be explored. "The Firefall" continues this story as our explorers discover regions of large somber caverns in the "Outback" and great halls of cascading flowstone including the crown jewel,"Firefall Hall". Great accounts of daring climbs are recounted which result in the discovery of "Ghostbuster Hall" and a major extension of the cave called the "Northwest Passage". Disaster strikes when cave explorer, Emily Mobley, broke her leg deep in the system resulting in one of the largest cave rescue efforts in history. Political battle also rage as tensions flare between Carlsbad Caverns National Park and the Lechuguilla Cave Project shaking the project to its core. As the era of ePublishing dawns, this trilogy is also an unparalleled opportunity to showcase the power of the emerging medium of the eBook. How hard it is to truly appreciate the splendor of these great halls and sublime formations without the magic of the visual image. While dauntingly expensive to print in standard book form, images of this world can be presented to the reader with lavish generosity. Visit www.whatafinecave.com to view the full photo collection. There are many ways to tell a story. The premise of this book was to tell the human side of this great adventure by following the exploration careers of five of the most important cave explorers active in this endeavor during this time. This is an original history that should be considered a primary historic source for this subject (except were noted). These writings are drawn from the direct experience of the authors as well as numerous other literary sources and interviews with the key parties. The beauty of this approach is that it allows for a grand narrative of these great discoveries as seen through the eyes of the original explorers in a well developed, coherent and dramatic way. And while this is a book of adventure, it is also a book about friendship as ordinary (if perhaps eccentric) people worked together to reveal a truly extraordinary realm previously unknown to humanity.

I pulled off my boots, shaking ever-present grit from the toes, and stripped down until my only attire was a headlamp. "Now there's one for the fashion runways," I thought wryly. More aging adventurer than willowy Milan supermodel, I eased into the impossibly cool, aqua water and felt the floor quickly fall away. My buddy Neil followed behind. We stroked across the Olympic pool-sized lake, which at its center seemed to be 20 crystalline feet deep, maybe more. Ahead of us the water dove around a blind corner, reaching into who knows where. Or what. Then we saw it. Or rather, it chose to reveal itself to us. We were at the gates of an enchanted kingdom that no fairy tale could conjure. A broad avenue, splendidly decorated with pagoda towers and rich draperies, rose out of the lake in front of us. Exchanging wide-eyed glances, we stepped onto the promenade, passing lily pads and long ribbons rising from the lake on either side. The path terminated in a broad platform seemingly designed for royal audiences. We found ourselves in a magnificent ballroom, our shadows rippling distantly on its walls. We were in Lechuguilla cave, 800 steamy feet below the earth's surface in New Mexico. And we weren't turning back. Called "the Jewel of the Underground" by its devotees, Lechuguilla is a wonderland of sublime vistas, its secrets unrolling in more than 135+ miles of passages – and that's only what has been explored so far. It's both the deepest limestone cave in the U.S. and, so far, the fifth longest in the world. No one, however, has chronicled in detail the secrecy, exploits, victories, accidents and inevitable politics surrounding the cave's emergence into public consciousness. This book entitled The Mother Lode is the fthird and final installment of The Lechuguilla Cave Trilogy and chronicles the final years of this two decades long adventure. This is a landmark work aimed at a broad audience that enjoys armchair adventure, vividly told, regardless of whether they've ever set foot in an REI. Quick background: Two decades ago, Lechuguilla was considered an obscure pit near Carlsbad Cavern that could be thoroughly explored in less than an hour. Yet visitors repeatedly noticed a howling wind beneath the dirt floor, indisputable evidence of a great cavern beyond. A determined team of "cavers" dug intermittently for 18 months before breaking through to one of nature's grandest mysteries – one that Indians had known of at its mouth, but that had lain anonymous for who knows how many generations. We've taken a dual approach to the book: high adventure and obsessive attention to factual accuracy. The former describes five of Lechuguilla's most significant and colorful explorers, nearly all of whom participated for the entire 20 years. The collection of personalities and "real" professions is, to put it mildly, eclectic: a genius Mensa beekeeper, an exuberant emergency room physician, a Luddite hermit, a gung-ho rock climber and myself, an optometrist and onetime goldmine operator. The narrative includes our agreements, revelations, arguments, near-fatal accidents, partings and coming together of ways with an intensity that only a first-person experience can. Yet the real main character book is the cave itself – a splendorous, world-class natural treasure by virtually any definition. It's hard to imagine anywhere as stunning, magnificent, ethereal and simultaneous alien as Lechuguilla. Knowing that words can't possibly do it justice, Elusive Majesty has been lavishly endowed with photographs and maps from internationally recognized cave photographers and graphic artists. As one of the most important and interesting exploration stories of the last century, Lechuguilla Cave's story deserves to told – and brilliantly illustrated photographically – in full. This is the book to do it. I am most pleased to pres...