Cave Exploring {Travel}

I'm lucky enough to live in a beautiful country with many places to explore.  So when we recently took a Spring Break trip to Arizona, to see The Grand Canyon {click on it to check it out if you missed it}, we had the perfect opportunity to explore more of the National Forest to be found in the area.  In searching for things to do in the area, my husband found the...

Lava River Cave  {If you enlarge the picture you can see the detailed map with information}.  We were off on our adventure!  Boys were excited and girls were frightened!  I must tell you that it was an adventure just getting there.  Miles of driving on a tiny road only to see that the US Forest Service had closed the road when it states that it is open year round.  Anyways...

we look on our map and go the long way, on more dirt roads, to come around from the back side and we made it!  Quite an adventure in itself!  So armed with our flashlights...

we head down the trail!

In the middle of the forest we found a clearing with piles and piles of stacked rocks.  Once you get about 5 feet away a cold blast of air hits you.  The cave stays 32 degree F. year round. 

Then you look down into the mouth of the cave! 

At this point the girls and I are hesitant but intrigued, while someone is racing to be the first one in!  Just look at how large those boulders are.  It's hard to tell just how large they are in the pictures.

Last chance to turn around and run!  Should we be going in here?  Will we survive?

We enter inside.

It gets tricky with some parts of the cave being very tight and narrow...

with you having to bend down to get through. {Actually when you come to a fork in the cave if you stay right you have to "Army Crawl" a bit, but then it connects back to the other side}.

I saw a lot of the backside of my family {but that is better than being in there alone}!  Yes for the part of our hike my family left Chelsea and me behind!  We were petrified and kept thinking about the movie "The Descent" {which we had both seen}!  Eek!  Chelsea was singing to help, while we later heard that the rest of my bunch was just ahead listening to us and laughing!  {Gee thanks!}

There are also many parts of this cave that had ceilings of over 40 feet high!

The Lava River Cave is about one mile in length...

and was discovered by Lumbermen in 1915.

 The caves were formed about 675,000 years ago when molten lava flowed through this area and created a "tube" as the outer edges of rock hardened.

You can see many different rock formations including jagged rocks, smooth rocks, and...

 flow ripples.  The way the flashlight is shining in this picture it appears to look like actual hot lava!

There are large cooling cracks and...

water that drips down from the ceiling in areas and...

ICE!  With most of it along the outer walls.  The first 50 feet was very slippery and icy but once you got in it was fine. {Last week the area had a Spring snowstorm, that's why.}

 Finally we spot the light at the end of the tunnel! {We turned off the flashlights when we were deep inside the cave to experience TOTAL darkness!}

Who do you guess was the first one back out!  He wants to live in there because he loves COLD weather!  Yes I was wearing a velour sweatshirt and two coats {along with gloves} while my family had shorts on!

WOW!  We experienced our cave adventure in the lava tubes and lived to tell about it! {We actually found a family at the end of the cave that took our picture!  Their daughter was researching the cave for a school report.}  Have you ever explored in a nearly million year old Lava River Cave?  If not I highly recommend  it!