GOING UNDERGROUND AT LAVA BEDS NATIONAL MONUMENT,CALIFORNIA

Hundreds of thousands of years ago, something deep in the earth shifts, releasing molten lava flows over the flat landscape. As the lava cools, the outer layers harden, but the still molten inner stream of lava continues to flow, leaving hollow tubes behinds as the lava empties out. Over millennia, erosion creates breaks in the lava tube ceilings and walls--access points to the lava tube caves below.

Stopping at the visitor center at Lava Beds National Monument we find out that we can wander and roam freely around open caves within the park. Some of the caves have vertical ladders that funnel hikers from one lava tube level into a deeper, darker, colder tube. Some have cavernous entry portals that lead to enormous underground rooms where old-time locals hosted ice skating parties. The caves vary in length, width, and color, but all offer the buzz of dropping into the cold darkness of deep earth.

Mushpot Cave entrance sits just a few yards away from the visitor center so we check it out first. Today's outside temperature hovers in the mid 80s, but the temperature inside the cave maintains at 55 degrees. This cave looks like a subway tunnel made of swirling, smooth volcanic rock with a ceiling high enough to stand upright and a floor strewn with lava rock chunks. We're hooked and make a quick decision to swing the trailers around to the campground and set up camp so we'll have plenty of time to explore the rest of the park.

Most of the sites in the  rustic campground at Lava Beds are small, but we found a spot to park Biggie Moms.

Destination: Cave Loop Road. A dozen or more cave entrances dot this short 2-mile loop. A few closed signs hang on chained entrances to protect bat habitat so we head for open caves and drop ourselves down the access ladders into the cool darkness. Snapping on our headlamps we descend into the depths.

The first directive freaked us out a little bit:
Do not use caves as a restroom. Are other people thinking this is an option?

Sturdy ladders provide an easy way to drop into the caves.

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After just a few yards, pitch black darkness demands a headlamp. When we switch off our lights for a few seconds we giggle nervously. Humans and  absolute darkness don't mix

Some of the caves have huge rooms. In others we crab walk to get through low-ceilinged sections.

In Golden Dome, one of our favorite caves, lichens that cover the ceiling glow golden and sparkling when illuminated by our headlamps.

Petroglyphs and pictographs at a cave entrance.

Dropping underground at Lava Beds gave us a unique outdoor experience, but the park offers much more. In addition to the underground world, we wandered through a terrain rich with fragrant sage and starkly beautiful fields of black, volcanic rock. An intriguing Indian war story played out here and interpretive history sites abound. We’ll add Lava Beds National Monument to our must return list.