Ever Hiked Down Into A Lava Tube? Put On Your Headlight and Come Along With Us

Mojave National Preserve, California (93 degrees mid afternoon, blue skies)

Exploring a Desert Wilderness

"Man is whole when he is in tune with the winds, stars, and the hills...

being in tune with the universe is the entire secret"

Justice William O. Douglas

So when was the last time you went down into a tunnel left by a volcano flow? Interested in checking it out,? Well then this is your place.  We spent the summer near Yellowstone which was a super volcano and now we are in the Mohave Desert where millions of years ago volcanoes erupted on a regular basis and over a huge area of landscape.  

Cinder Cones

The volcanos here mostly spewed lava  straight up into the air.  The "holes' in our campground mountains are caused by these escaping gases.  As we arrived in the Lava F\low area about 2 hours from our campground you could see Cinder Cones dotting the horizon  Very little, if any vegetation was noted and the trail was sharp and jagged.  The lava here spread out smoothly and pooled near the base of the cones for miles and miles.  Some of the flow would continue moving underneath the ground creating tunnels. In this area we explored the lava flowed out the tunnel end leaving the tube. 

Trail out to lava tube

I'm not sure we would have found this place without Barry's help.  There were no signs at all. He had been here before and after going down a really rough road it ended in a small parking lot.  The trail then took us to a deep hole with a metal ladder leading down into the tube. 

John going down the ladder

We each had flash lights or a headlight and after taking a deep breath I descended down the ladder. We had to bend over and walk for a short distance and you had to be very careful not to scrape yourself against the lava because it's very sharp. Suddenly it opened up into a cave and the most wondrous thing happened. Beams of light from the roof of the cave openings shot down to the cave floor. The dust floating around helped illuminate the beam. It really was a cool experience.  

Our group except for Barry

We left the area and had a nice lunch at a Greek restaurant in Baker. Unfortunately after we were heading back our Jeep  had a flat tire. It certainly was a lucky for us it didn't happen when we were on the dirt roads but out here cell phone service was nonexistent.  John tried to change it himself and one of the lug nuts broke off. Each couple had a small tool box but nothing could get it loose.  

We called CoachNet and eventually a tow truck got us on our way.  We will be changing out these lug nuts when we get out of here. One couple, Bob and Becky, stayed with us throughout.  We were very grateful.  It was a pretty place but once the sun went down it got rather cold and scarey.  

I forgot to mention in a previous post a hike we took out to the Rock House (Bert G. Smith Homestead).  This cozy home was built in 1925 by a WWI veteran. He lived out here to recover from lung issues suffered from poisonous gases during the war. There is a pretty one mile hike which goes around the house and remnants of a fort.  While we were hiking we discussed what life must have been like for him.  He lived here for over 25 years and this area is very remote and rugged.  

Rock House

Jan and John

Pretty Lesser Goldfinches

Soldiers graffitti

We have enjoyed our time in the desert and the rally. The Mojave National Preserve is a very special place. We loved the stars at night,wide open spaces, rugged terrain, and bright blue skies. The wide variety of cactus were interesting and there are more Joshua Trees here then the National Park which boosts their name. Taking our Jeep off roading was also fun, challenging, and a little intimidating. The desert is a place of many stark contrasts and we feel in  love with its unique beauty.

We made some new friends and Barry and Jann were such great hosts and ran a very well planned rally. Until we meet again, safe travels. 

Joshua Tree