NSS 2016 Western Regional, aka Caving with Friends in California

When I heard about the NSS Western Regional being the second weekend in October, I thought how much fun it would be. Then I got busy and didn't think much more about it until some friends asked if I would be going. I decided it would be worth it to see some caves in a part of California I had never been caving in before. I took the kids, and we headed off towards Sonora, California, with fun stops on the way (see this post). We arrived Friday evening and set up our tent, then a big group of us went out to eat in Sonora, a very touristy town in the Motherlode area in the foothills of the Sierra.

The next day, we met our trip leader and group to go to one of the Western Cave Conservancy (WCC) caves. The WCC works to protect and conserve caves. I've been a member for years, but had never been to one of the WCC caves, so was eager to go. The cave entrance was easy to negotiate, and we let the kids go first. They have quite a bit of cave experience. Plus, this trip for me was all about making sure the kids were having a good time and enjoying caving.

The kids loved being the leaders, but they gave up on tight passages a little too quickly. I'd have to tell them to keep going, and then they would get to a bigger room. They got better as we went on and showed us how easy the challenge crawl was (only one adult made it, and she had to take a shoe off). I was glad to see the kids interacting well. The cave was quite dusty and full of belly crawls, so I didn't get many photos. But we spent most of the day there. And then, on the way back, we stopped for some promised ice cream, and that made the day even better!

 The kids and I skipped the business meeting to go to church, as that ends up being difficult to get to where we live. Then we returned to the Motherlode Fairgrounds for a delicious dinner, followed by a slideshow presentation of caves in Spain and Vietnam. Then came an entertaining auction. The party continued, but the kids were ready for bed and I decided to join them in our tent on some comfy grass.

The next morning was a little leisurely, but eventually we got breakfast and packed up and headed to another cave. This one had a limit of six people, so our group was much smaller. We drove down a long gravel road with amazing views, then had a short hike to the hidden cave entrance. We belayed the kids at the entrance.

Then we were exploring the cave, along with some big millipedes.

The cave had fantastic decorations.

This time I took a couple extra flashes and from time to time got inspired to try to set up a cave photo. The pros make it look so easy! (I still have a lot to learn!)

Desert Boy was glad to follow Ron into a secret passage.

We all enjoyed the beautiful speleothems.

Some were nearly translucent.

We saw teeny tiny crystals as well.

And beautiful draperies.

This interesting area might have been a streambed that had washed away during a flood event. Katrina made a very nice mode.

The draperies almost looked like teeth!

Even though the kids were the only ones on the trip, Ron and Teresa made them feel extra special, and they were having a great time.

Desert Girl checked out more speleothems. She seemed happy to pose for photos.

We got out of the cave while it was still light, but not by much. We passed signs for tourist caves that would be very fun to visit. In fact, I would have really loved an extra day in the area! We ate dinner at a tasty place in Murphy's, and then decided to spend the night there before beginning the long trek home the next day.

...to be continued...

Enjoying a Cool Getaway - Cedar Breaks National Monument

 

Last week I had planned on going up Mount Rainier to survey some glacier caves, but due to some bureaucracy, the trip was delayed for a year. I had already requested the time off, and decided I might as well enjoy it. On Sunday, the whole family went to Cedar City and then up to Cedar Breaks National Monument. We set up camp in the 10,000-foot high campground and then set off for the Alpine Pond loop trail, a distance of about two miles.

The kids were not happy hikers, but we made them do it anyway. The pond was pleasant, but not exactly thrilling. I enjoyed being at 10,000 feet on a nearly flat trail.

We got some smiles by the end of the hike.

My husband had to head back to the ranch, so we headed to the ranger program at the campground. They have programs Friday and Sunday nights, with astronomy programs Saturday night near the visitor center. This program was about bug kill, and Desert Girl took a close look at the spruce bark beetles responsible for killing so many trees.

It was fun going to a classic ranger campground program.

In addition to the high elevation of the campground, something else I really like about it is that it has hot showers! Woohoo! And it didn't fill up any of the nights we were there. And the wildflowers were amazing.

We were in a monsoonal period, so the skies got very dark and threatening at night. In fact, it rained every night we were there, but we were mostly prepared. We only did get a fire stared once, though.

Desert Girl and I took the half-mile long to the visitor center in the evening to check out the neat clouds and distant lightning. We could see the glow of Cedar City in the distance.

That night I woke up in the middle of the night and knew I wouldn't be able to get back to sleep, so I went out and took some night sky photos. The stars looked so close!


The next morning we woke up to beautiful fields of flowers just outside our tent lit by our nearest star.

We walked over to the visitor center and checked out the sun through special solar telescopes.

Then it was time for a hike to the Ramparts Overlook, a little less than two miles each way. Desert Boy packed a book, and whenever he was waiting, he pulled it out.

We started down the trail through the woods, then soon came out along the rim, looking into the magnificent hoodoos.

Soon we arrived at some old bristlecone pines. They were magnificent.

Desert Girl posed for a photo with me. Then we had a reading/snack break.

I had a lot of fun taking photos.

The kids decided they wanted to take photos too, so I took a photo of them before and after their set of photos so we could keep it all straight. They're going to enter a couple of their photos in the fair.

At the Ramparts overlook, we had some outstanding views. We ate lunch, worked on Desert Girl's junior ranger booklet,  and then headed back.

While Desert Girl and I tried to find the marmots we had seen earlier, Desert Boy took the opportunity to read a little more.

Storms were expected that afternoon, and the building clouds made for some even more dramatic views. We finished the hike, all happy to have had a chance for a slow-paced, fun walk.

 When we got back to the campsite, Desert Girl wanted to find a friend to play with. Fortunately, other kids were camping, and she and Desert Boy played a couple hours. It started raining, and I just wasn't feeling like cooking in the rain. So we drove to nearby Brian Head and had pizza. On the way back, we decided to drive up Brian Head Peak.

The van made it to the top of the three-mile gravel road to over 11,000 feet. We checked out the hut bit by the CCC at the top.

On the way down, we stopped so I could check out the view. I heard a squeak and saw a pika! Pikas are small mammals that look somewhat like rabbits. They live high in the mountains, but surprisingly don't hibernate. They collect grass all summer long and make piles of it, called haystacks, in talus fields. In the winter, they find those grass caches and eat them.

We still had one more more day of adventure on our trip, but that needs its own post. It was great spending some quality time with these super kids.

A Little Hike in Cathedral Gorge State Park, Nevada

 On the way back from a family reunion, we stopped at Cathedral Gorge State Park to stretch our legs. This is one of my favorite places to stop on the drive along Highway 93 to/from Las Vegas. We parked at Miller Point and enjoyed a nice view of the gazebo.

A new trail map with lots of info is now available.

We took off down the stairs into the badlands.

Along the way are some gaping holes. You wouldn't want to fall in one of these, as getting out it would be very difficult.

The trail is so much fun to follow.

I have to admit, I took a lot of photos!

It had rained the night before (we had been planning to camp, but wussed out and got a motel room in Caliente so we didn't have to pitch a tent in the thunderstorm), and remnants of the water were present in the form of mud. We all took off our shoes and enjoyed walking barefoot.

Usually I turn around here, but we had some extra time, so we kept going and came across this sign about the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) and Cathedral Gorge State Park. They made several structures that still stand.

One is this covered picnic area.

Then we came up to more badlands, and narrow passages beckoned.

Desert Girl was so excited to lead the way and have choices.

We found a board high up one. We don't know what that's for.

Then we exited and checked out the old wellhouse.

Then it was time to visit more badlands.

The kids spotted a narrow crack and headed that way.

It was tight on them, so I didn't get too far!

Fortunately other passages were bigger. We had a fun game of hide-n-seek.

The walls have interesting textures depending on how the water flows down them.

On the way back we paused to watch some foxes play. They were such a neat sight!

To keep things interesting on the hike back, I told the kids that the person with the muddiest feet won. Here they are trying to get muddy.

It was a nice hike back up.

And winner of the muddiest feet? That would be Desert Boy. And that probably wasn't the greatest idea for a contest given that those muddy feet then had to get in the van and ride for another couple hours.

I am hoping to camp at Cathedral Gorge soon. They have a campground with hot showers and it would be so cool to see some of the badlands at night. To learn more (I've totally skipped geology, geography, and more in this post), check out Cathedral Gorge's website.