Tabernacle Hill Lava Tubes near Meadow, Utah

After visiting Meadow Hot Springs, it was time to check out the lava tubes near Tabernacle Hill. This is another location featured in the Millard County travel guide that I hadn't had a chance to visit. 

The day was getting late, but I knew that it wouldn't matter if we could find the entrance of the lava tubes, as we had helmets and headlamps for visiting underground. We didn't have very good directions to the lava tubes, and the roads aren't marked well, but fortunately we made it. And it was apparent we were going to have them all to ourselves (see photo above).

So, directions: From Meadow, Utah, interstate exit, head south on main street to center street and turn west. There's a sign for White Mountain. Continue on this road about 6 miles. It changes names to  W4000 S, S 4600 W, W 3900 S, S 6400 W. The important thing is to turn left at W 2300 S (this is not marked, and where it would be easy to go the wrong way; the turn is just before a big pivot (circular-irrigated field)). Go 1.8 miles, then turn left at the Lava tube sign, and go 2 miles on a bumpy road. Passenger cars could probably make it, but would have to go very slow. The lava tubes are at the end of the road, near an obvious turn around in front of Tabernacle Hill, a low hill (see photo above).

There is lava all over, but from the parking area, you can see some big entrances. We decided it was a nice enough night that we wouldn't set up the tent but would instead sleep in the back of the truck. That meant minimal set up time and let us get right into caving. We put on helmets, headlamps, and kneepads and set off towards the huge entrance to the west.

We found nice, easy walking passage, with lots of skylights.

Did I mention lots of skylights?


We kept going to see what else we would find. The kids liked being the leaders.

I was surprised by the size of the passages. These lava tubes at Tabernacle Hill are part of the Black Rock Desert (not to be confused with the one in Nevada). Here's an overview from the USGS Volcano Hazards Program.

We exited the lava tube and the kids wanted to head back, so we found a way to scamper up the lava to the top. But it was obvious that the lava flow continued, sans roof, towards the middle of the cinder cone.

Next we tried to get a campfire going, but had forgotten anything to start a fire with. Oops. So instead we looked up at the stars and I gave them a mini-constellation tour.

After they fell asleep, I went out with the good camera to get some night sky photos with the lava tubes.
 







It was tricky getting the lighting how I wanted (and I never did), but it was good practice and beautiful.

The next morning I woke up when it started drizzling. Gone were the almost clear skies. The kids didn't want to get up, so I climbed up Tabernacle Hill on my own. Looking to the north is an area of really, really black lava. This lava flow is the youngest in the state of Utah, only 600-720 years old. There were people nearby when it occurred! Wowzers. It's called Ice Springs lava flow or The Cinders. Far off in the distance is Pahvant Butte.


The view to the east was amazing. So much lava! I'd love to go back and explore more.

At the top of the ridge, I could look at the remnants of the cinder cone. This central crater used to hold a lava lake, according to the USGS website. I could see the entrances to more lava tubes and was eager to explore.

I walked back to the truck, woke up the kids, and we geared up. Here's another great entrance.

And the view the other way was where we had been the previous night.

We saw some cool spiders. At night, I also saw bats and a mouse (Peromyscus sp.). And there were also bird nests and woodrat sign. These lava tubes are home to a lot of creatures.

A cool orbweaver.

Unfortunately we found a lot of fire rings. Fires in the lava tubes are rather rude, as it's like having a fire in someone's home. The heat, air pollution, and general uncleanliness (we found a lot of garbage near the fire rings) are not a good way to treat the animals who live here. Plus, this whole area has been designated as an Area of Critical Environemental Concern (ACEC) by the BLM, so it should get some extra protection.

Please help keep these lava tubes a great place to visit plus a nice home for the native critters.


Something else that impressed me is that the skylights had such interesting life--all sorts of lichens and mosses that weren't at the surface. The protection of being in the lava tube, even though without a roof, allowed for so much more to grow.

Many species of lichens:

And cool mosses:

Back underground we found some interesting colors. Lava tubes aren't all black.

We explored until we had to leave to get to our next event. The kids were ready to go, but I could have spent a lot longer underground.

You can learn more about the amazing volcanic features in this area on the Utah Geological Survey Geosights website.

Here's an approximate route that we took through the lava tubes. We parked at the circle, then followed along the yellow line (not all in order, but you get the picture).

This is a fascinating place to visit, and I hope to return. I've been trying to find maps of the lava tubes but haven't been successful. If you know of any, please let me know. And if you visit, please treat these unique places with respect.

Moon rising over Tabernacle Hill lava tubes

Fillmore Old Capitol Arts and Living History Festival 2017

 Earlier in September, our local schools went on a field trip to the Fillmore Old Capitol Arts and Living History Festival. I went along as a chaperone. Fillmore, Utah was the original state capitol, chosen because it was geographically near the middle of the state. A capitol building was started, but only one wing was completed before it was decided that the state capital should be closer to where the majority of people were living, and it was moved to Salt Lake City.

This bit of history makes for a great excuse to go learn about pioneer history. We started with a presentation that included songs about natural and cultural history of Utah. It was interactive and the students seemed to enjoy it a lot.

Then we split into smaller groups, and each group rotated through four stations. Our group wanted to start with the blacksmith. We watched him make a leaf out of a simple stick of metal. It was quite interesting learning about the forge, bellows, anvil, and various tools he used.

Then we went to some Native American dancing. These Navajo dancers explained a bit about their culture and customs.

The dances were elaborate and required a lot of choreography.

Next it was time to learn about dyeing fabric using natural materials like berries, nuts, tree roots, and more. There are four stages to dyeing fabric (and unfortunately I don't remember them.)

We also went to a jewelry maker. Then the the kids had a little free time and we went into the Territorial Statehouse museum, my first time in. It had three floors of exhibits, mainly about pioneer life.

Next it was time for lunch. Nearby, the Bar "D" Wranglers were performing for a large crowd. Several senior living homes had brought their residents to the festival.

After lunch we wandered through the booth area, with the kids having fun how to choose to spend their money.

Then out came the big lincoln logs. The kids were so excited to start building! They didn't make much of a door, though, but they could all get in and out, so I guess that's what counts.

The stilts were available for a try. I gave them a try and found I was not a natural.

There were also horse-drawn carriage and stagecoach rides, which were a lot of fun.

I had wanted to explore the Fillmore area more, so the kids stayed with me while the buses loaded up and we went to some hot springs and lava tubes (future posts coming). The next morning we went back to the Festival, where it was raining. That didn't keep the kids from building more with the lincoln logs.

And I really enjoyed the musical performances. Los Hermanos de los Andes played some beautiful South American music.

And there's so much I didn't get photos of: the quilt show, the gun show, many more living history demonstrations, the delicious food booths, the second stage, and more. They hold this festival the weekend (Thursday-Saturday) after Labor Day Weekend every year, and you can learn more at the Fillmore Old Capitol Arts and Living History Festival website.

Backpacking Rattlesnake Creek Trail-Ashdown Gorge

 Our goal: a ten-mile backpacking trip, over two days. Mostly downhill, with about a 3,000-foot elevation loss. The second part of the trip would be in the stream, with no trail. This was Rattlesnake Creek Trail to Ashdown Gorge, located in the Dixie National Forest near Cedar Breaks National Monument. Part of the trail was in Ashdown Gorge Wilderness Area.

This was the longest backpacking trip Desert Boy and Desert Girl had ever attempted. You can see how they felt in the photo above.

Fortunately we had bribes (a big bag of M&Ms). And I was so glad my brother Ed was along, as the kids love to be with him. Plus he could carry a big pack! We took a group photo before we started.

And then we were off, following the north boundary of Cedar Breaks National Monument. The kids had to carry a sleeping bag, water bottle, garbage bag, flashlight, and some snacks.

The fence stopped about 20 minutes into the hike, and we headed south to an unofficial overlook.

A few minutes further down the trail was another great view into the Cedar Breaks amphitheater.

 Can we say shallow roots? Yikes!

Those two views were the only ones we had into the amphitheater. Then we continued down the trail, which was mostly in the forest, but occasionally opened up to meadows.

We took a casual pace, stopping to photograph interesting fungi.

And a lichen growing on moss with moss growing on lichen.

And a really cool flower.

We also climbed over and under lots of trees. I had the kids count how many crossed the trail. 65! Whoa, definitely some trail maintenance needed.

We also had to take a break when Desert Boy caught a horned lizard.

And then Desert Girl had to take a turn holding it.

A couple hours into the hike we reached Stud Flat, a huge open meadow with great views of the Twisted Forest ridgeline to the south.

From there, we descended steeply to Rattlesnake Creek. It was joined by another creek. We had heard there were waterfalls, so while the kids rested, Ed and I went in search of them. We found this one:

and this one:

They weren't what we were thinking, so we continued another mile and a half down the trail, with Rattlesnake Creek on our left.

Along the way, the kids noticed rose hips, and after a short discussion, they decided to collect them to make rose hip tea (it's rather bland). Desert Girl also mentioned that if she fell and was bleeding, she would find yarrow leaves and use them to help with her wound. Later we passed the plant, and she identified it correctly. Proud Mama moment!

The kids moved fast. They knew that our goal was the trail junction, and that was where we would set up camp.

And then finally we were there. The camping area was okay, quite frankly we were expecting something a little nicer. The next morning I woke up early and walked up the High Mountain Trail, and just five minutes away I found a nicer campsite. Now we know! And by the way, although the trail sign here says the highway is only 4 miles away, it's 5 miles according to the Dye Clan and 5.7 according to the Adventure map we were following.

The kids enjoyed making a fire. The abundant ponderosa pine needles made it easy to start.

The next morning it was chilly, but we were up and ready to go on the second part of the adventure: through the creek.

We decided against starting straight away down Rattlesnake Creek because we didn't want to walk in the water so early. So our plan was to follow the trail around to Ashdown Creek and then follow that creek down.

Trying to make waterfalls look big. Next time we may bring little people.

The kids hiked fast through the meadow. Then we went around the corner and Ed and I got a little worried. We saw tall canyon walls along Ashdown Creek. What if we got to one of those waterfalls that blocked the way? Would we have to retrace miles?

We pushed on, though, the kids delighted to be in the creek.

We found a super cool camping spot with overhanging canyon walls.

And this huge horseshoe bend under the cliff wall was also cool.

In about an hour after leaving our camping spot, we came to a creek joining us from the right (north). It had to be Rattlesnake Creek. We could breathe a sigh of relief. I sure did. We hadn't gotten trapped by waterfalls. It turns out that if we went up Rattlesnake Creek from this point, we would eventually get to one of the waterfalls, with another one up Lake Creek. They couldn't have been very far from our campsite! Lesson learned--don't totally trust your map. Our Adventure map was not detailed enough. The Dye Clan has a good annotated topo map on their website.

As we proceeded downstream, we took periodic rest and snack breaks. We generally tried to do a five minute break every half hour.

The kids were super hikers. They had various conversations that kept them so occupied that they were in good moods most of the time.

They said the water wasn't very cold--to them it was much warmer than the swimming hole we've been frequenting all summer.

My brother and I were impressed with the tall canyon walls. I felt a bit like I was in the Zion Narrows--but without the crowds. In fact, we only saw three other people the whole time we were on this route, and that was only in the last mile.

At one point, the kids picked up dry mud flakes and pretended they were waiters.

The clouds were starting to build, so we were glad we had gotten an early start. This wouldn't be a good place to be in a flash flood.

 We kept a sharp eye for Flanigan's Arch, which is actually difficult to see from the river as it's up quite high. A sign is along the river, but we didn't see it until after we saw the arch.

Each twist and turn presented beautiful new views.

I knew the end was coming soon, but didn't really want it to end!

It was nice having a geologist brother with to recognize these mud ripples! Desert Girl agreed to pose for scale.

By this time it was warm and we had packed away coats and were looking for excuses to cool off more.

After about four hours hiking each day, we reached our second vehicle, parked at the avalanche area (up a bit from MM7) on Utah Highway 14. Success! This is a fantastic hike, and I highly recommend it. The trail reports say it can be done in six hours, but with kids and backpacking gear, it was about eight for us. And it was a real treat to be camping in the wilderness with no one else around.

Happy trails!