NSS Western Regional at Lava Beds National Monument

Last September I had a chance to visit Lava Beds National Monument, and I loved it so much I wanted to take the kids back. We had the opportunity to do so in early October for the NSS Western Regional, a gathering of cavers. 

Google maps said it's about a 10-hour drive. We went to Fallon the first day, then proceeded via an alternate route the second day. I wanted to see Pyramid Lake, so we did. The lake is surrounded by Shoshone tribal land. We headed up the western side, as Google maps had shown a route that way. I was surprised by the number of anglers along the way. Then we reached the end of the pavement, and a big sign said the road was closed ahead. Uh oh. We were in the van, so I wasn't willing to chance it, so we backtracked. We took a brief stop to touch the lake and admire the cool tufa structures. Then we headed up the east side of the lake. (I guess I was pretty hard-headed about not taking the road more traveled.)

This area is very quiet most of the time. We reached Gerlach about lunch time, and I loved their welcome sign so much that I stopped to take a photo of it. After all, how often are you in the Center of the known Universe?

We ate lunch and found out that about 120 people live in the town year round, but they see about 80,000 visitors around Labor Day week, when the annual Burning Man Festival is held on the nearby Black Rock Desert.

We took more empty roads, crossed into California (without a sign, so it was several miles before we realized it), and passed through some scenic towns. Eventually we arrived at Lava Beds National Monument in time to get our caving pass (to ensure that White-nose Syndrome isn't spread), set up our tent, and register for the regional.

Our first cave was Mushpot Cave, the only lava tube that has lights and a paved trail in it. There are also nice interpretive signs explaining how lava tubes are formed and features in them.


This is the most-visited cave in the park, but we had it all to ourselves. It shows some great lava features. Can you imagine when the lava was flowing through here?


We crossed the road and went into Indian Wells Cave, which used to be a watering hole. We didn't find any water on our visit. But the entrance was gorgeous, and we had fun popping out a different entrance. The kids loved the chance to lead and explore.


We met up with friends and had a lovely evening. The next day we joined a group going to Catacombs Cave. A four-hour trip to do the loop. It involved some route-finding and a lot of crawling, but we made it! Here's one of the kids in the tight connection section.


And a cool root. Most of these lava tubes aren't very far below the surface, so roots aren't too much of a surprise. This one was cool because it had a spider web on it with some condensation.


We ate lunch in the parking lot and then headed to some more caves along the Cave Loop. I wanted to check out some caves that are usually closed due to bats. Here is Ovis Cave.


We ended up coming out a different entrance, wandered across the road, and went into Sunshine Cave.


Then we walked back down the road and checked out Paradise Alley, which runs parallel and slightly higher than Ovis Cave. There's a lookout at one point, with a strong breeze blowing up.


This may have been one of the cave entrances, they sort of blend together after awhile! It is such a fun place to explore, with cave entrances all over. The CCC improved trails in many of the lava tubes in the 1930s, making them relatively easy to walk in.


Some from our group went to the Western Regional business meeting. The kids climbed trees for a bit and then were ready to explore again. I wanted to show them the amazing Skull Cave, one of the few caves left with ice in it. About twelve have lost their ice in recent years.

The entrance is immense.


And then the passage seems even bigger. Can you even see the kids?

We went down steep staircases to get to the lower level.

And then we reached the gate. On the other side we could see the ice.

Although the ice in most of the lava tubes is shrinking, one resource manager told me that the ice in Skull Cave is actually increasing, and they don't know why. 

Next we headed further north, seeing so much more lava! We stopped at pretty much every scenic overlook to see what was there. Below we could see Schonchin Butte in the distance, and the Devil's Homestead Flow right in front of us. We also learned about the Modoc War, which started in 1872, when troops from Fort Klamath tried to force the Modoc from their tribal lands back to the reservation in Oregon. The Modoc hid in the lava. In April 1873 peace talks began, but they did not go well. The Modoc retaliated for the slaughter of 30 members of their tribe and killed two peace commissioners. For the next six months, 1,000 troops and volunteers sought to capture fewer than 60 Modoc warriors and their families. The Modoc were then sent to Oklahoma.

It was rather sad to contemplate that story, with the Modoc being forced off their lands. We found some peace at the West Wildlife Overlook, looking into Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge. Thousands of birds dotted the water.

It was getting late in the day and the light was gorgeous.

As we came back to Schonchin Butte, we could see the fire tower in silhouette.

That night we had the big banquet, a delicious dinner put on by the Motherlode Grotto. Afterwards we intended to stay for some of the entertainment, but the cold temperatures and busy day had us heading to the tent.

I woke early and went for a lovely walk along the Bunchgrass Trail.

The sun came up and painted everything golden with the sun still in the sky.

Our plan for that day started with a Photography Trip with Dave Bunnell into Valentine Cave. When we arrived, a couple tripods were already set up near the entrance.

The kids offered to be models. But they quickly decided they'd rather be cave exploring!

So as we went through the cave, they posed, but not for long.

It was fun working with other photographers seeing how to place lights. Cave photography is all about the lighting.


But sometimes the best shot is happy kids in a cave!



We found a white springtail, which made me happy.


And then on to a few more photos.


The kids found that it was really fun to make shadow puppets on the lava tube walls.


Love all this walking passage!


They eventually got tired of the cave and we headed out. They weren't too interested in doing other caves, but they thought it would be fun to climb to the fire lookout, less than a mile each way.

The views were great, and we even got to see Mt. Shasta. It's so strange seeing a big volcano rising up covered in snow and ice. (It's barely visible in the photo below.)

We still had a little time before our 2 p.m. departure time, so we went over to Merrill Cave. It used to be an ice cave, and in fact there are photos of people ice skating on the ice. But it's all gone now.

The trail through the cave was very nice. 

The kids had completed their junior ranger booklets, so we went to the visitor center. Ranger Jillian swore them in.

We couldn't resist driving the 1.5-mile long cave loop one more time. And I might not have resisted a quick stop at Blue Grotto Cave. Which just happens to be a fairly long cave. And it was extra memorable when our lights started going out. 

It was a long drive, but Lava Beds was worth it. I would happily return, there is still so much more to see!

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