This is what the area looked like. So we had no idea what a cave entrance looked like.
when we found Boyd cave, the entrance was VERY easy to see
the collapsed lava tubes were very deep. Can you find Arleen? (guess this is a new game for this trip)
this is the hole we had to go thru to get to the second collapsed section
Again, can you see Arleen?
In the second collapsed section. It collapsed so long ago that pines have grown. It is rather nice down here. The end of the collapse is where the next crawling space is, that leads to the third section of the lava tube.
The next 5 pictures show Duane going thru the hole that leads to the next section. Note, you do not see Arleen doing this one.
Now you can't see him at all, but if you look closely you can see some light from his flashlite.
We kept looking for local lava tubes or ice caves. We went to Boyd cave. We followed instructions gotten on the internet. We found a sign that said Boyd cave trail. So we took it. After walking ½ mile, we got to a sign that said weren’t going the right way. We had looked at each pile of lava along the trail without finding any holes to climb into. It turns out that the trail named Boyd Cave did not go to Boyd Cave. We saw a truck go by while we were walking back and went to see if they knew anything we didn’t. They did. Right next to the parking spot is metal rails protecting people from the entrance to Boyd Cave. You couldn’t miss it if you tried. We went in the cave about ½ mile. This cave had no stairs (except for some broken down stairs going into the cave… the only way to get in without repelling) , not lights, no nothing. We were the only ones in the cave all the way in. no voices, no lights. When we got near the end, after scrambling over boulders a couple of times, Arleen had had enough, but not Duane. So he went on with his flashlight and Arleen sat in the dark, even tho she had a light, waiting for Duane to return. While she waited two other people arrived. Donny went where Duane had gone and Betty stayed with Arleen and they talked while waiting for the men. It made Arleen feel better knowing that Donny was going “in” because Duane only had one source of light, and therefore he was at risk if something happened to his flashlight (which didn’t happen). Everything went fine and we enjoyed our “inning” (not outing).
Then we went to Arnold cave….it was a bit of a disappointment since there was not much cave to explore and the ice was mostly gone. But we overheard a man telling his kids that there were lots of caves around. So Arleen asked him to tell her about it. Turns out the lava tube that includes Arnold Cave (the source of ice for central Oregon during the early 1900’s) continues on for quite a while. It has collapsed in many places. You can climb down into some of the collapsed sections and not into others. But, you can get between sections in some places by crawling thru cave parts. We both went thru one of these sections into the middle one. Turns out you can then go thru another and get into a third section. Duane went first and decided that Arleen would do better going back the way they had come. Duane continued on while Arleen waited to hear if he made it out in one non-broken piece. She finally heard from him and headed back to her tunnel. All went well and everyone got out with nothing worse that a few scratches.
Then we went to Arnold cave….it was a bit of a disappointment since there was not much cave to explore and the ice was mostly gone. But we overheard a man telling his kids that there were lots of caves around. So Arleen asked him to tell her about it. Turns out the lava tube that includes Arnold Cave (the source of ice for central Oregon during the early 1900’s) continues on for quite a while. It has collapsed in many places. You can climb down into some of the collapsed sections and not into others. But, you can get between sections in some places by crawling thru cave parts. We both went thru one of these sections into the middle one. Turns out you can then go thru another and get into a third section. Duane went first and decided that Arleen would do better going back the way they had come. Duane continued on while Arleen waited to hear if he made it out in one non-broken piece. She finally heard from him and headed back to her tunnel. All went well and everyone got out with nothing worse that a few scratches.
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