Lava River Cave July 8

Today we checked out Lava River Cave just outside of Flagstaff. A nice stroll through a spacious 0.75 mile long lava tube cave. Lava tube caves are formed when the top of a river of lava cools because it is exposed to air and solidifies. The lava inside this insulating shell is then able to travel further down the hillside. The lava exits the tube leaving behind a cave. This cave has beautiful striping on the walls and some neat lava cave features like cooling fissures, flow ripples and large blocks that dropped into the formerly-lava floor from the ceiling. In one place the cave splits into two tubes and then rejoins- not too common in lava tube caves. The cave was a cool 42 degrees Fahrenheit, a welcome change from the heat on the surface. The best part was how spacious the cave is with long subway-like sections over 30 feet high. I used my carbide headlamp (old-fashioned miner's light) for amusement purposes, but it also created a wonderful warm glow in the photos I took.