Running from the rain

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We wake up to the sound of rain and a quick check outside confirm that it is drizzling. So we start packing and there is a lull in the rain which allows us to eat breakfast outside and to finish packing. But then it starts to rain again and we barely can see the mountain peak that we wanted to hike up to so we change our goal to the nearby River Lava Cave.

River Lave Cave is a 0.75 mi (1.2 km) long lave tube - this means that while it is a cave it has few of the features most commonly associated with caves such as stalactites and stalagmites and it is straighter with fewer side passages making it more difficult to get lost. When we get there it is still early in the morning and there are only a couple of cars outside. We park and put our headlamps on and we make the short hike to the entrance.

Looking down the entrance it is a bit discouraging as it is a field of boulders descending in the darkness most of them wet and slippery. We go down carefully as all rocks are volcanic rocks so they are sharp and any falls for sure would make for a bloody day. After a few meters we remember that we have gloves with us and after putting them on it goes both faster and safer downhill. Halfway we meet some other cavers who tell us that after the initial descent the going is better which encourages us.

And then finally it is both dark and we get to the bottom - the floor is almost smooth in places from here and there are no more big stones to speak off. We feel like in a metro tunnel with ceilings up to 30 ft (10m) in places. There are cracks and crevices to explore and interesting glittering stones caught in the lava flow. There is also a portion where the height is below 5 feet so we almost have to crawl to the next section. It is a lot of fun especially with no other people around. BUt all fun has to come to an end and we get to the end of the cave where we take a picture of the natural bench close to the end and then have to retrace our steps back to the entrance - we meet a lot more groups exiting than when we entered but most of them turn around on the way. The exit is much easier however outside it is still raining so we decide to go to Flagstaff to eat lunch and wait for the weather to improve.

As we drive into Flagstaff the rain stops but it still is cloudy outside. We decide to eat at the Pita Jungle which we assume is a fast food place but as we get there we notice is actually a sit down restaurant. Good food and relatively cheap as we get a soup, iced tea and coffee and 2 entrees (gyro and chicken tikka masala) for less than $30. We also check the weather and discover that it is not raining south of Flagstaff so we move south for the reminder of the day.

First we stop at Campbell Mesa trail system where we hike using the Continental Loop. Even though the trail is officially about 1.8 mi (2.9 km) we deviate a lot to explore this and that and explore the different views of Flagstaff and surrounding mountains. As we start it feels really hot after the morning when it was 55 F (13 C) with the sun blazing and no clouds. During our hike the clouds start to come in however and just as we start back to our car it starts raining and it really pours with quite some strong wind gusts. Luckily we had our rain ponchos with us so we avoid getting drenched but it is an interesting experience.

Again we check the weather patterns and only the SW corner of the Flagstaff area appears to be dry so we move in that direction. THe rain stops and the sun appears again as we get close to our chosen forest road. We drive a bit on it and find a great parking spot and then we do a few short hikes in the forest before it gets dark finding between others a broken down refrigerator in the middle of nothing. AS the sun sets we eat dinner and then again use our planetarium helper to look at the multitude of stars before crashing tired into our sleeping bags.

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