Every year Bob and I have the blessing of celebrating both our anniversary and Father's Day on the same weekend, and sometimes the same day! I am so grateful for it and this year was especially fun.
Our last adventure day was a slow start. I let the family sleep in and read my book with coffee in hand in the quiet of our little cabin. I daresay there is nothing quite like that feeling of peace, quiet, coffee, and a really good book.
Once everyone was up and moving we had our breakfast, packed it all up, and said goodbye to our little hideaway in the mountains. Our last adventure spot before heading back to the valley was the Lava River Cave.
Again, this little spot is an underrated gem of an adventure. I had read articles about the lava river cave that is marked simply by a blip on the map, a small parking lot, 1 horribly smelly bathroom and 2 signs. I mean it is quite literally back in the woods 4 miles off of a Forest Road, and the entrance was marked by a sign, and a pile of rocks.
So lets talk science. What in the world is this thing? Its a 3/4 mile underground long tunnel cave that was formed hundreds of thousands of years ago when magma erupted out of the ground and formed a tube as it flowed and cooled. I mean the science is way more involved, but here are a couple of graphics that helped me.
I guess in my mind I envisioned a cave where you could crawl down inside and see the tube then come out. Little did I know that we were going to go on a 2 hour trip inside a pitch black lava formed tunnel. The experience was unreal.
It was 90 degrees at the top of this thing. Once you got right to the mouth of the cave the temps dropped by 50 degrees instantly.
And as you can see, the mouth is not far from the top.
We all should have had headlamps but thankfully the girls had bought flashlights and I had we had our phones. I mean, there are zero lights down there. You literally enter and walk at your own risk. Thankfully there arent any ways to get lost so that helps.
We traversed the rocks on our way to the more level tunnel and were all absolutely astonished at what we were seeing and experiencing.
Some sections of the tunnel were small and required some crawling, while other sections boasted 30 foot ceilings.
The poor flash on my camera was working extra hard to attempt recreation, but there was just nothing like seeing it in person with a light.
We stopped in one section of open tunnel and the acoustics were magnificent. I of course sang "Ave Maria" and had a few fellow tunnel walkers grateful for the performance. So much fun.
We made it to the end to find a tiny little opening into another itty bitty space. The hole from which the lava initially spurted out!
Bob, Evie, and Lily managed to squeeze themselves through the hole, but honestly, I didn't need to.
I was very content to let them have all of that experience and take pictures of it. I am not a spelunker.....
The trip back was long and we all got tired and cold. Working to navigate the uneven terrain with only so much light was tiring and we attempted to twist more than 1 ankle. Thankfully we did make it out mostly unscathed!
We had chosen the perfect timing on the whole thing because the cave entrance was packed while we were crawling out. It didn't seem that steep coming down, but man was this perspective amazing.
The Lava River Cave was an absolute win. It was an experience I will never forget and put such a fun bow on our wonderful adventure in Arizona! I cannot wait for the next!
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