One day In 1968, Jan Knox hooked herself to a rope alongside her husband, Orion Knox, and descended into a dark hole in the ground on the Wuest family ranch in Comal County. A hand-cranked winch operated by the cave owners lowered her down 160 feet through a shaft just 22 inches wide, the rock strata passing close before her face. As her boots hit the slick bottom, the darkness dissipated in the warm glow of her carbide headlamp. In front of her stood cathedral-like pillars and arches of flowstone, colored crystal and delicate formations, and the faint echoing drip of water. It was the first time a human had witnessed the magnificent formation, and the couple was there to map it.