To the Bat Cave, Robin!

The COTA I work with knew of a cave in which there is thousands of bats. Every night around 7:30 the bats swarm out to feed, and one can watch them. We decided this would be a great option for the rehab team to do while hanging out. After work one day, we headed out.

I went with my fieldwork educator, whose name is Robin, hence the name of this post, while everyone else went with the boy PT (in case you were wondering, since I didn’t tell these folks I was going to write about them, I am going to refer to them by their job title, and since there is a boy and a girl PT, I will include their gender. Robin will from here on after be called “Boss”).

The cave was much farther away than I was envisioning. Really, everything is far away in this valley. We were heading straight into a thunderstorm. It was beautiful and wild. We could see exactly where the rain started. Then we drove into the rain. It got less fun. Much less fun.

I noticed shortly before the rain got really serious that we were passing by the UFO observatory. It’s a tiny platform and a campground in the middle of the valley. It looked a lot bigger in the pictures online.
Anyway, the rain was pounding down on our car, and then we drove into an area that had recently had a large quantity of hail. All of the cars slowed down greatly, and then Boss’ car started hydroplaning. I remember thinking, “We’re going to go in the ditch. Okay. Get ready.” Boss was able to straighten the car out at the last minute.

It took us over an hour to get to the trail head. Even at the trailhead though, the view was amazing. You could see the sun setting across the valley, reflecting off lakes and illuminating fields and trees. It really is a beautiful place.

The Valley

Girl PT and COTA

The hike wasn’t bad. We all split up into groups of two or three. I mostly walked with Boss, but I was concerned about being slow. I shouldn’t have been. We hiked up at a quick but not rushed pace. At one point, we saw COTA’s bag of sandwiches sitting next to the trail. I looked to my right, and there was her head, barely visible over the brush. It was a pit stop. I’m just thankful that the brush was there.

Old well?

 We passed a sign talking about the cave, and it mentioned how the cave is named “The Glory Hole.” I kid you not. Who named this place? I think probably a teenage boy.

The Glory Hole

Flying mammals

Boss

The Valley

Beauty!

Boy PT and Boss enjoying the view

More beauty

Sure sure.

 The view just kept getting more spectacular. As we neared The Glory Hole, there was a sign warning visitors to be quiet. With this group? Yeah, right.

They didn't say anything about controlling the adults.

Old mine

Honestly? No shame!

Those are bats!!!

We were the first people up at the entrance to The Glory Hole. We parked on a bench and people busted out food. SLP’s husband had brought extra burritos, so I got to eat one and that saved me from busting out my delicious trail mix. Conversation ranged from work topics to plant life to camping trips and what people wanted done if they ever got dementia. Others started trickling in, including a group of students from the University of Arkansas. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen that many men with one long braid down the middle of their backs in one place.

As we were talking, a woman walked up and told us that she was leading a tour. The Bat Queen asked if we wanted to see a picture of a bat skeleton. We said sure, and were disappointed to find that it was really uninteresting. She was describing what the bats look like when they start to swarm when Boss said, “Like that?” Sure enough, the bats were emerging from The Glory Hole. The Bat Queen mercifully left us alone to watch the swarm (flock? Herd?)


It was a much cooler experience than I thought it would be. Most of us were silent as we watched thousands upon thousands of bats fly out of the cavern. The sound of thousands of bat wings is hard to describe. It’s like a whirring. Every once in a while, you could hear the bats’ sonar squeaking. They formed an undulating, black, streaming cloud over our heads and spiraling down into the valley.

It stopped once for a few minutes and then the second group came out. It was very, very cool. After the stream became a trickle, we decided to head down. As we were leaving the old mine area, I heard Boss say “This place has great rock energy.” I decided not to ask for an explanation.

The hike down was fun. We made a myriad of Glory Hole jokes, among other things that were hilarious but I’m not going to put down here. We freaked out a young couple who hiked past us quickly, said we were funny, and then practically ran down the mountain.

Clouds

 I joined the group in male PT’s car as Boss was going to go straight home. We were having a lovely time in the car when suddenly boy PT pulled over. His car had a flat. There on the highway right by the Crestone exit, the men of the car changed the tire in nearly pitch blackness while the women of the car discussed the merits of Facebook. Girl PT and I both thought it was awesome and convenient, but we were both younger. COTA and SLP, who are both a little older, thought it was stupid. The conclusion was that they didn’t know how to use it and didn’t check it enough.

She is leaking!

COTA and SLP supervising men

Thanks gentlemen!

Although the drive was longer than I expected, the Bat Cave was really really cool. The hike was challenging enough to be interesting without making us all want to die, and it afforded wonderful views of this beautiful corner of the state. The bats were amazing. I highly recommend this if you’re in the San Luis Valley. But plan ahead: the bat migrate with their insect food source. They are here in the summer, but they move on for the fall and winter. The Glory Hole is not nearly as interesting without them. But you’d still get the views. And of course, the obvious source of jokes.