Nine
Skyliner hikers visited Lava river Cave near Flagstaff on Saturday,
01 October 2011. We met at the Cottonwood Safeway Parking lot at
0700 and car pooled from there, traveling to Flagstaff via Hwy 89A
and stopping at Coco’s for breakfast.
The
following information is excerpted from Wikipedia:1
Lava River Cave
is a lava tube cave in northern Arizona's Coconino National Forest.
At approximately 0.75-mile (1.21 km) long, it is the longest cave of
this kind known in Arizona. The cave was discovered by some lumbermen
in 1915. The cave has also historically been referred to as
"Government Cave" due to its location on the eastern edge
of Government Prairie and southeast of Government Peak. Today, Lava
River Cave is freely accessible to the general public.
Geologists believe
the cave was formed sometime between 650,000 and 700,000 years ago
when molten lava erupted from a volcanic vent in nearby Hart Prairie.
The top, sides and bottom of the flow cooled and solidified, while
lava in the middle flowed out, leaving a hollow space to form the
cave. Examples of both ʻAʻā and Pāhoehoe basaltic lava can be
seen in the cave.2
The cave is mostly
dry, but due to the temperature change, there is a lot of
condensation on the walls, ceiling and floor near the entrance, which
makes it slippery. Temperatures inside are around 40°F (5°C) during
the summer, and it is not uncommon for some of the rocks to be
covered with ice. The cave can range in height from 30 feet (9.1 m)
to only 2 to 3 feet (0.61 to 0.91 m). There are no light sources
inside. It is recommended visitors have sturdy hiking boots, warm
clothing, and multiple sources of light.
Litter and graffiti
have been problems since the late 1960s. A major restoration effort
was organized in May 1991. Almost all the litter was packed out and
much of the graffiti removed at that time. Dogs should not be taken
in the cave since there are only limited and very slow biological
processes to render their urine and feces unobjectionable.
The
entrance to the cave is around 14 miles (23 km) north of Flagstaff,
Arizona. Being in Coconino National Forest, the cave is managed by
the United States Forest Service. While the cave is open year round,
the dirt roads which lead there may be impassable to cars in winter
months or during wet weather conditions. There are no entrance or use
fees.
I
found the following descriptions for Lava types ʻAʻā and Pāhoehoe:
ʻAʻā (also
spelled aa, aʻa, ʻaʻa, and a-aa; pronounced /ˈɑː.ɑː/ or
/ˈɑːʔɑː/, from Hawaiian [ʔəˈʔaː][6] meaning "stony
rough lava", but also to "burn" or "blaze")
is one of three basic types of flow lava. ʻAʻā is basaltic lava
characterized by a rough or rubbly surface composed of broken lava
blocks called clinker.3
Pāhoehoe (also
spelled pahoehoe, pronounced /pəˈhoʊ.iːˈhoʊ.iː/,
from Hawaiian [paːˈhoweˈhowe],[8]
meaning "smooth, unbroken lava") is basaltic lava that has
a smooth, billowy, undulating, or ropy surface. These surface
features are due to the movement of very fluid lava under a
congealing surface crust.4
George
had left Wally the tripod in the truck and there was no good place to
set the camera for a time delay shot, so George, the photographer, is
not in this group shot.
 |
Left to right: Loren Pritzel, Virginia Driscoll, Ellis Price, Gordon Bice,
Kwi Johnson (front row), Daisy Williams, Dolly Yapp (front row)
and Lila Wright – photograph by George
|
Two
signs were posted providing information about the cave. These are
shown on the next page.
 |
General information
|
 |
Interpretive sign
|
Upon
entering the cave, the first fifty yards or so slope steeply down and
the way is very rocky. It would be very rough going in the winter
when ice could be expected near the cave opening. As it were we
found that the rocks were wet and slippery as we descended. However,
we were soon past the steepest, rockiest part and the going was
somewhat easier.
Gordon
was leading the way and George was bringing up the rear to make sure
no one was left behind. I was following close behind Gordon and
whenever we noted that we could not count seven lights behind us we
stopped and waited for the rest of the party to catch up. The below
photograph was taken during one such stop and shows George and Daisy
appearing out of the darkness. Until they were close enough to be
illuminated by our lights all we could see was their flashlights,
like two large fireflies drifting in the breeze.
 |
Left to right: Dolly, Daisy and George (appearing out of the darkness)
and Kwi
|
Somewhere
along the way we came to a section with a relatively smooth floor
that provided for somewhat easier walking. The floor surface here
appeared similar to a very, very rough sidewalk with oversize gravel,
or pre-hardened lumps of concrete, imbedded in the surface. I
learned later that it was probably type ʻAʻā (meaning "stony
rough lava", but also to "burn" or "blaze")
lava, one of three basic types of flow lava. I took two photographs
of the floor, one also showing some sort of fungus (or mold) growth.
 |
| Section of cave floor showing ʻAʻā lave (I think) |
 |
Section of cave floor showing ʻAʻā lave (I think) along with mold
– Gordon’s hand is seen at right
|
About
¼ mile from the entrance the cave splits, a smaller branch leading
off to the right and reconnecting with the main branch a short
distance ahead. We decided to take the smaller branch on the way in
and then follow the larger branch on the return trip. Gordon is
shown below entering a low section; about here I was wishing I had
brought knee pads.
 |
Gordon entering a section of the side branch with a very low overhead
|
After
rejoining the main branch of the cave, we continued for approximately
another ½ mile before we reached the end. Not quite convinced that
this really was the end, George wormed his way on through a small
opening to explore further.
 |
George was determined to make sure we were indeed at the end of the cave
|
It
really was the end for all practical purposes and George soon came
slithering back out to rejoin us for a group photograph before we
started back.
 |
George returning from exploring further than the rest of us cared to go
|
 |
Left to right: Loren Pritzel, Lila Wright, Gordon Bice, George Everman,
Dolly Yapp, Ellis Price, Virginia Driscoll, Daisy Williams and Kwi Johnson
– picture taken by a hiker from another group
|
We
had reached our goal, but we still had the three-quarters of a mile
trek back to the entrance before us, and we wanted to reach the
surface before eating lunch, so without further ado we started back.
The
trip back out of the cave was uneventful and we knew that the last of
our group was safely out of the cave when George emerged from the
opening (below).
We
stopped for lunch under the Ponderosas and then headed back home. We
took a different route back from the cave and I will describe both
below.
 |
George emerged from the cave mouth and we knew that we were all
accounted for
|
To
travel to the cave we used the directions provided by the Forest
Service: “Drive 9 miles north of Flagstaff on US 180 and turn west
(left) on FR 245 (at milepost 230). Continue 3 miles to FR171 and
turn south 1 mile to where FR 171B turns left a short distance to
Lava River Cave.”
On the
return trip we took FR 171B back to FR 171 and then followed that
road for 7.4 miles before turning left on the frontage road for I-40
at Camp Navajo. We followed
this road for about 0.8 miles before taking an overpass over the
freeway and then turning onto I-40 heading back to Flagstaff.
3
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lava
4
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lava
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