This hike was spelunk-tastic!
This photo is a 10-second exposure. There is no natural or artificial light in this cave that isnt brought in by a visitor. The trail of light below my feet is from someone scooting by while holding a lantern all-the-while I am doing my best impression of a statue.
Getting tired of hiking through vegetation? Or hiking in places where you can see the sky? Or hiking where you can see anything at all? Then visit the Lava River Caves State Park! Located within (literally) the Newberry National Volcanic Monument is a lava tube, or a cave created by lava that once flowed through here eons ago. My last hike (hike #35) ended at a nice café in Bend, where I read the local newspaper and watched people go about their day. The paper had a full-page article on the caves of the area, suggesting to readers to take the journey below ground where sunlight never shines and stalagmites spend eternity trying to touch stalactites. You had me at “below,” Bend Bulletin. You had me at “below.”
My parents and I arrived at the Lava River Cave entrance early in the afternoon. It was a scorcher of a day, with temperatures reaching into the 90s. But the cave is always a cool 30-40 degrees, no matter if it’s a broiling summer day or there’s 4 feet of winter snow on the ground. If you’ve ever gone into a walk-in freezer on a summer day, you know how we felt entering the cave. In less than 100 yards of hiking, the temperature dropped 50 degrees.
Mom and Dad rented a gas lantern to light our way, making our expedition more like those in the 19th century. Some of the lanterns looked like they were first used in those days, having probably been bumped and dropped countless times. I came prepared with my headlamp. It would malfunction from time to time on this hike, showing me exactly how dark it can get in this cave.
We didn’t have the cave to ourselves. There were many families throughout the cave, sometimes causing a backup – especially at the cave entrance where there are many narrow steps to navigate. Once inside a bit, the cave opens up to a large winding tube, very much shaped like a subway tunnel or the innards of a space slug like in Empire Strike’s Back. The ground is dirt and stone, smoothed from over 60 years of visitors. My parents told me that I had been here as a kid in the winter, but I have no recollection of it.
After a half mile or so, the cave ceiling seems to become closer and closer. Actually, the cave is the same size, but the fine volcanic sand on the floor is getting deeper, bringing us closer to the ceiling. By 3/4ths of a mile, I have to hunch over in order to continue. My parents decide to call it a day when the tunnel is no longer big enough for a compact car to drive through. But I have become obsessed on seeing the end of the tunnel and continue on alone.
I am now the biggest person in this section of the cave, for all of their adult-sized parents have left their height-restricted children to continue on. From time to time I’d pass a parent covered in sand with look in their eyes like they’ve just spent the last half hour exploring the inside of a coffin. I continued on.
Soon I was the only one in the cave, the muffled echoes of children on my tail. Although the cave is still about 6-7 feet wide, it’s only 3 feet tall. My knees and hands are freezing from crawling through the damp sand. From time to time, I’d enter a small room, where the ceiling was just high enough for me to walk awkwardly for 15-20 feet before having to crawl again. Each time, the rooms would become smaller and I’d think the next section would be the end. But it kept going and going until the next access point was quite possibly no bigger than my girth. It looked similar to a hole dug by a dog under a fence. I couldn’t see beyond, but I knew the next room was a short crawl away. I studied the hole leading into the next room for just long enough to picture myself getting stuck and having some kids to try in vain to pull me out before they turned around and left. I could hear the conversations when they rejoined their parents:
“How was the rest of the journey, Billy?”
“It was totally cool until some fat man got stuck in the cave and we had to turn around.”
I turned around, content at leaving the rest of the tunnel for those with smaller frames.
Thoughts about the hike:
- They only have a certain number of oil lanterns for rent (until 4pm daily), so if they’re all checked out, you need to wait in line for the next one to be returned. I suggest bringing your own flashlight or headlamp to save some time.
- With such low clearance along the trail, a baseball hat might be good for protecting the noggin’, but wear it backwards so you can see the low-hanging rocks before bumping into them.
- On my way out, I followed a family. I laughed when I heard the young boy of the clan explain to his parents how small the last section was: “Only a breakfast sausage could fit in there!”
- From the opening of the cave to the furthest excavated part of the tunnel is 5,200 feet, or just short of a mile. I included the walk from the parking lot to the cave in order to make this a 2-mile RT hike.
- This cave is closed every year from October 15th to May 1st to protect the western big-eared bats who hibernate in the cave through the winter. Any disturbances during this time might awaken them, causing them to use the limited supply of stored fat, resulting in a decline of the species.
Resources:
Hike #36 Trip GPS Stats:
- Date of hike: July 22nd, 2009
- Location: Newberry National Volcanic Monument, outside of Sunriver, Oregon
- Length: 2 miles
- Duration: 2 hours, 4 minutes
- Average speed: n/a
- Altitude at start: 4,500 feet
- Altitude min.max: 4,350/4,500 feet
Video:
Since it is impossible to capture GPS data while in a cave, I’ve drawn out a rough trail route for this hike using walkjogrun.net.
Rough sketch of the cave location
Photos:
Mom & Dad sitting on a natural bench within the cave. This is a 10-second exposure.
Another long exposure shot. What looks like a glowing snake with thousands of legs is just two spelunkers holding a lantern.
A wider area of the tunnel. Two lanterns were used by visitors to unknowingly light this long-exposure photo.