Valentine's Day at CRF Lava Beds Jonah, Robert and I attended the Lava Bed's CRF on the Weekend of Feb. 13-16. Like most caving trips, we got off to a very late start, not leaving the Bay Area until 8:00 or so. (Strange because we all did get off work early in preparation for the trip!) The ride up was such a "joy". The three of us, sitting squished together in the front of Jonah's truck, made the best of it by telling jokes and reading "interesting" literature someone had given to Robert to save his soul. Then I stretched. My feet, which were in their usual position propped up on the dash, proceeded to crack the front window. (O.K. who won the bet on when that would finally happen!) Jonah, sweet as can be, pretended not to care, but Robert found many ways to bring attention to the crack throughout the rest of the trip! Since I had bad luck with MY usual front passenger position, Jonah explained the usual position for the middle person in his truck; one foot on each side of the shift. Just don't stretch your left foot! (He is trusting isn't he?!) This worked out well, except for the jokes about 4th gear and Valentines Day. (Don't ask!) Aren't caving trips fun? We arrived at Lava Beds after 9 or so hours of driving. After a few hours of sleep, we woke up and jumped into our first caving trip of the weekend. The three of us were to return with Janet Sowers to two of the caves from the last trip and finish surveying passages that we had started to map the expedition before. When we got to the caves we were all in awe of the changes that had taken place. It is truly amazing how snow and ice will change the appearance of a cave. These tubes, which are normally beautiful yet austere and foreboding, took on a completely different feel with glittering ice formations decorating their entrances! Before we returned to the cabins that evening, we joined the Frantz's and Janet in a large hole in the ice in an ice cave. The hole had just opened up a few months before and we needed to survey it. The hole, which was quite large (20 feet across at one point!), contained old pieces of wood and flashcubes from the 70's. That evening, the three of us decided to return to the cave Robert and I had thought we had found on the last trip. We had seen some high leads in a passage the last time we were there, and Robert wanted to try out his new found climbing expertise. When we entered the main part of the cave, we decided to recheck the area for missed leads, and sure enough found one. Robert and I being the altruistic cavers that we are, decided to let Jonah go first. ( Actually the passage looked tight and short and we were just plan lazy). Much to our suprise, Jonah didn't return. And soon we didn't hear him either! So the two of us crawled after him. It was not long until we found his discarded jacket on the side of the passage. A few feet after that we found a sweater, then after that a shirt. Way up the passage, we could see the soles of hiking boots and hear some grunting. "I think it goes, but I can't make it in!!!!", an almost barechested Jonah hissed. (He's on Aa lava remember!) The trip continued with Jonah and Robert once again trying to squish their way into a room to no avail. We decided that the next time we go, we will have to kidnap Janet's 4 year old daughter Clara and have her act as a scout. We then headed to the high leads which also turned out to be dead ends. On Sunday, Robert went to do more surveying with Janet, Peri and Bill. Jonah went to take photos with the Bosteds in an amazing ice cave, and I went to check ice levels in ice caves with Bill Devereaux. All in all, Bill and I walked about 10 miles and checked the ice in 11 caves. Most of the caves had an inch or two of water covering the preexisting ice in the caves. We felt that the water had come from recent rains, yet when we checked the data, many caves had actually lost some ice. Bill feels that this is because of recent geothermal drilling in the area, yet when I mentioned this at a meeting, many grotto members disagreed . Until I have enough info on the subject, I refuse to form an opinion. That evening Robert, Jonah, and I decided to go "looping". Looping is walking the paths through the commercial caves on cave loop. It was here that Robert reenacted a scene that could have been from Gilligan's Island. As we entered one cave, Robert mentioned the fact that it was amazing that some jerk hadn't destroyed all of the icetites hanging in the entrance. At that very moment he hit one and we watched it crack and fall to the ground with a small cling. Not to be out done, Jonah hit one too, and we watched that one fall to the ground with an even louder chime ( or was it just my imagination). Monday morning the cavers had a meeting with the park staff. Bits of interesting information was discussed. I was interested in the local education program that they were starting, while the Frantz's, Robert and Jonah discussed websites and interactive 3-D programs. We left the park at around 12 noon, and drove back almost completely in the daylight. It is amazing how daylight and decent weather can make driving easier, and a trip seem much quicker. It is also ... ( Webmistress Note : Due to poor archivng, the rest of this article seems to have disappeared! )
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