Away from the Canyon

(Monday, June 7th)
Today was an intentionally late morning.  Altitude, sun, heat, and attitude all helped us decide to sleep in.  That and I had to work...  I was up much earlier than everyone so I could work, but everyone else slept late, it was a good arrangement.  By the time laundry was done and lunch was over, I was done working!  The 3-hour time change worked in my favor here.  Lunch was a huge hit for the pies!  A little restaurant in Williams makes homemade pie.  They were massive, homemade pies of all varieties.  Very memorable!

After lunch, we headed for a day hike.  This came highly recommended from two of my cousins.  Tammy even had a nice map of the trail and directions to the Lava Tube.  It is a short distance from Flagstaff, but about an hour from Williams.  The drive was good up to the point where we entered the National park.  That is where the dirt road began.

I never consider Flagstaff a winter area, but driving to the Lava Tube made me rethink that impression.  There were plenty of signs for winter activities in the area!  The elevation was surprising, especially in the park.

The dirt road took us to the entrance to the trail of the Lava Tube.  The parking lot is a non-descript general parking, not many cars or signs.  Since we followed the published directions, we knew the trail was near, so off we went.  Of course the trail directions warn of the temperatures involved (all were below 45 degrees), but someone forgot their sweatshirt.  It is easy to understand if you consider that the temperature outside was 80 degrees.  The short hike to the cave entrance brought us to the realization that the temperatures were NOT a misprint.  The cool air coming out of the cave was certainly below 50 degrees.  So it ended up that only Ali and Dad went into the Lava Tube cave for the hike.

This is not a 'Show Cave'.  The entrance into the cave was dark, cold and very rocky.  The rocks were, oddly enough, large volcanic boulders.  We did a flashlight check (Ali brought her Carlsbad Caverns souvenir cap) and descended carefully.  Planning our early route around the ice that had formed on the rocks and careful not to fall and cut ourselves on the rough rocks, we went slowly.  After the first several hundred yards or so, the cave was less large rocks and more smaller, rocks.   The path was also less of a steep climb and more of a downward slope.  

Now, reading about the cave ahead of time, there is no way to get lost , however, it is still a dark, enclosed space.  I had not studied the 'map', but was confident that we could go in and get out without any trouble.   That does not mean I had any idea where I was in relation to the map.  I was completely lost in relation to the start, end, and any features on the map.  Ali, however, knew exactly where we were at all times!

The hike was fun, but uneventful.  The cave really IS a tube.  The ceiling was smooth, but the floor was like 'popcorn' carpet of rock. The volcanic rock caught on our shoes and made walking fast impossible, but we made good time anyways.  We just had to pick up and place our feet carefully with each step.  I still rolled my ankle a few times.  There were a few low ceilings, low enough for me to crawl.  Crawling was limited to bending very, very low, since the sharp edges of the volcanic rock would have cut me if I tried to use my hands and knees.  Fortunately, the low spots were few and short.  The temperature of the cave was as advertised, cold.  My ears and nose were cold, despite sweating in my sweatshirt.  Ali thought the water in her Camelback was too cold to drink!  At one point we turned out our flashlights to see how dark it really was int he tube, in case you wondered, it was D-A-R-K, very dark.  After over and hour hike, we came back to the entrance and climbed back out into the Arizona sun...and Heat!  There was a huge temperature difference.  That was a lot of fun!!!  Too bad Mom and Alex missed it.

The trip back to camp was cut short by a stop at 'Bedrock'.  The road from camp to the Grand Canyon had a tourist version of The Flinstone's Bedrock, complete with store, diner, and playground.  The playground had all the major buildings in the cartoon's plots!  After finding Alex a cowboy hat to keep the heat off, the kids convinced us to let them go in.  What a great picture opportunity!  The place in not in tip-top shape, but the buildings still compare favorably to the cartoon.  The kids had a BLAST running around to all the building and people.  Lots of good pictures!

That was all the excitement for a slow day, but enough to keep us going until the BirthDay!