Cool cave destination gets a warm welcome

FREEDOM — Jim Sander was only five minutes into a tour at Alabaster Caverns State Park when he reached for the blue and red jacket draped over his left arm and slipped it on.

Yes, a jacket in Oklahoma on Tuesday.

And yes, it was 104 degrees at nearby Freedom.

But yes, Sander, a 65-year-old cattleman and retired coach who lives at Seiling, would have had a hard time picking a cooler place to be "outdoors” in Oklahoma on Tuesday. He was taking the tour with wife, Elaine, and grandson Marshall Gose, 7.

The temperature in the cave — 58 degrees.

Opal Marshall, 21, of Woodward guided the tour of 11 people, six of whom were wearing a jacket or a sweatshirt.

Marshall, a seasonal tour guide, said when she's outside in July and August and her friends say, "Gosh it's hot,” she smiles and replies, "I've got to go to work.”

Consider that her first stop on the tour is at the deepest point in the cave, 80 feet below the surface.

The humidity is 100 percent, but the hottest it gets is 60 degrees. In the winter, it only dips into the 40s.

That wouldn't be too bad at any time, but on this early August day the feel of cool air on the face, the arms and the back of the neck is exceptional.

"This is the best job,” said Marshall.

Hot, hot, hot
Freedom, in northwestern Oklahoma, is only six miles north of Alabaster Caverns State Park.

A 110-degree temperature recorded there at an Oklahoma Mesonet station Monday marked the highest temperature for any of the 120 Mesonet sites this year, said Gary McManus, assistant state climatologist for the Oklahoma Climatological Survey.

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