Last week I was talking about getting out and doing some thing fun and local that you have put off, because of its close proximity, for grander trips and vacations. I featured a photo blog of a fun caving trip some friends I went on and issued some things to consider when caving. This week, I wanted to add a photo journal of another caving trip we took:
Central Oregon’s Ice Caves
Just south east of Bend, Oregon, we visited the Arnold Ice Caves. Part of the Larger Arnold Lava Tube system and the Newberry Crater, there are 18 caves in the ares. We drive deep down the dusty China Hat Road following the markers. These caves are actually lava tubes from central Oregon’s rich geological volcanic history. A clearing to side of the ride and railroad ties erected to keep cars from driving into a cave opening mark our signal to dismount the jeep and gear up. After grabbing our safety equipment and some water, we set out on foot for the caves.
We locate the Arnold Ice Caves and make our way to the entrance. We stop, go over some safety procedures and take in the view; Central Oregon caves, or lava tubes, are ancient volcanic channels of lava. The openings are these typical basalt based cooling columns that have a distinct geological features, shapes and colors. This opening leads to a rope entrance over an icy 20 foot drop. Due to the lack of gear and our novice experience, we decided to skip the main cave and just explore around for other entrances into the system.
(If you are interested, here is another trip and post here.)
When we arrive to the next cave in the system, we notice a thirty-foot issue. Luckily, it’s a scalable issue. We make our way down in pairs and search for some unmarked caves.
We begin to search around for some possible cave entrances. I find a possible entrance and shimmy way into an entrance only a foot and half wide at a certain point. Shimmying into an opening is always a little stressful, but at least I have daylight for this one. It gets more courageous under ground, in the dark.
After a couple of hours of searching, we find another entrance that leads about 15ft into a system. Thinking it dead ends, we turn off our headlamps and start to head back – when I discover some natural light coming in through a crack.
After we discovered some natural light peeking out from under a horizontal crack, we shimmy our way through a foot tall opening.
Once I peek my head into the opening beyond the crack entrance, I notice a larger room on the other side. I crawl through the breach to discover a cavernous opening into a larger, cathedral quality opening. At its highest point, the large chamber has to be at least 40, if not 50 feet tall. It’s a humbling and inspiring view. It was well worth the time spent searching and exploring.
We check out the cave and make our way out the other side. We find a couple more systems and check out a couple other ice caves. We make a great trip out of the rest of the day and hike around a bit before it rains. Later, we get coffee and reminisce about the adventurous spirit of the unknown and the merits of pushing yourself into tight situations. Below I’ve added the last picture we took of myself standing over another entrance we explored. I added it to show the scale and magnitude of the enormous chambers. Note the cooling basalt features. Wonderful.
After we explored this system, I did a little bit more research and discovered this OPB documentary about Oregon ice caves. I also discovered the Oregon Grotto of the National Speleological Society and their cave listings in the area. If you have further interest in these caves you can find videos, like this one, on Youtube. Enjoy, Beep.
