A Mile Underground!
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- Опубліковано 16 вер 2024
- Well, not a mile deep obviously.. but Jules Verne eat your heart out!
This is a MUST see if you come through central Oregon, it's the Lava River Cave, just South of Bend. Its about a mile long lava tube, related to the Lava Lands (just over the road) and its FANTASTIC!
Friday 7th.
Up about 6ish, and roused myself to action by 7ish. Rolled up to lava lands (opened at 9) and started charging plane batteries. Eventually got tired of waiting and just went in on foot. Wandered around till about 8.30. Little different in composition to Craters of the moon, or sunset crater. Decided to take a look at lava river cave and what a stroke of luck that was. This too opened at 9 oclock (so I only had a modest wait). With hindsight I should have been the first in but I waited half an hour to finish charging the batteries. The lava tube entrance was very rocky with many areas where if you kept track of your feet you would knock your head on something, whereas if you kept you eyes out for low rocks you would trip. But after a few hundred yards it became quite smooth floored. I had three light sources, a head lamp, a wind up torch, and a penlight. They provided surprisingly little penetration to the consuming dark of the deep cave. It varied between periods of isolation when you could hear almost nothing but the occasional drip of water. You could always hear people long before you could see them. You would typically first notice the gaping black yielding to a light grey, upon which slowly would appear the animated silhouettes of approaching people. Almost everyone had little kids with them. There was only one tube, so there was no prospect of getting lost. The cave was cold (8 C, 40 F ish). I was glad for the long pants and coat! The cave varied hugely from cavernous where it was scarcely possible to see the roof, to cosy tube, to the point where crouching was a necessity. It varied as you went along the tube, but near the end the floor became more sandy. At the end of the tunnel it is completely full of sand (partically cemented together). Some enthusiasts have tunneled about 300ft into this. In the beginning you merely have to crouch, then get down on all fours. At this point I saw the approach of a party coming out who informed me it just got smaller and smaller (commando crawl small). The kids had apparently been into a really small bit at the end. For my part I felt uncomfortable crawling into such a small place of my own free will. Especially something that essentially just carved out of sandstone and decided to turn back at the point when I merely on all fours. There were lots of people with gas lanterns (rented from the rangers station for 4 bux) and they provided a lot of light. 10s of times as much light as my little LED torches. I also found some rather interesting copper based crystals on the way out (while inspecting the various living growths in the cave). On the way out there were conspicuously more people and when I got out of the cave at about 11.30 and the car park was essentially full. Clearly getting here when it opens is a big plus if you want to appreciate some of the quiet of the cave. Either that or just sneak in at night. After all the temperature is exactly the same, and further there is just as much light. Finding somewhere out of sight to park outside the locked gates might be a little more tricky though!
Rolled into Bend and found the Sears for an oil change and checkup. After about half an hour I rolled over to the same starbux where I firstly slept in the car for about half an hour before rending the lava tube movie. I find it curiously captivating even though there is almost nothing on the movie its mostly just black, but the descriptions give the black a lot of atmosphere.
Some dilemma about what to do.. the further north I go, the shorter the nights will get. However the clear sky forecast was for moderate to poor for seeing (which I would have needed for Jupiter (only really option with a near full moon). Hmmm, eventually decided to head for the coast. Found a v. quiet snow plow turnout in the forest and kipped down for the night.
I used to go caving, and one of the pleasures was turning off lights and enjoying the isolation, just the tinkling sound of water, so peaceful.
Sensory deprivation is good, if you're in control!
I went here in 1998, on my way home to LA from Yellowstone, and yes, I had also stopped at Craters of the Moon, another old favorite. I got there early on a weekday morning and for about an hour and 3/4 had the cave to myself, just to soak up the dark, quiet, solitude, and geology, till I was just about to come out. 100ft or so from the entrance I met a couple who said the gatekeeper was worried 'cause I'd been down so long. Marvelous as your vid is, there's no way to do the place justice.
I dunno, i quite like the plane footage because it provides a perspective that we should never and probably will never be able to see for ourselves.
I lived a good ten years
of my Life in Oregon and skied
and visited Crater Lake
several times. But I've never
been to LRC. Yet. Strange...
If you ever need a TombRaider
partner in Europe, let me know.
:)
Love your sharing.
I love this channel.
BTW It must be so much fun flying that plane in all those kool places.
"Damn..." Hit your head, did you? ; )
Oh, how nice-a big atrium.
Reassuring to hear kids chirping away. Nuts to the really tiny hole, tho.
I've hiked a few caverns-damn dark down there, but the rock formations are wonderful to see, even if its only by the glow of a lantern. I smacked the crap out of my head on a stalactite one time...doh. In the Tuckaleechee Caverns (in the Smoky Mts USA) there is an underground waterfall-beautimus.
What's it gots in its pockets? Good ole Gollum.
love that you tell ppl to sneak in
Wow the view is extrordinary.
I got to see a lava tube when i was in Hawaii a few years ago, twas really cool.
deffinently checking out these videos again.
I started saving at the start of the year to come and to america (from australia) at the start of 2011, hopefully get some work over there and just go to all of these places.
Some of these places are just beautiful.
I've been there before! Really cool place indeed.
Thunderf00t this is inspirational!
excellent
Nice work Batman.
This reminds me of the Schmidt Tunnel, I think just north of Mojave, in California, in which a man who was told by his doctor that he only had a few months left to live, spent 15 years or so building a tunnel through a mountain with his own hands. Of course it was man-made and not natural, but traveling through the tunnel is somewhat similar, because you need a light to see where you're going.
the only cave i have been to is Carlsbad, i may see Mammoth cave next week. this cave is definitely on the to do list
As a rule of thumb, the voltage of your illumination source is a good indicator of its power. I wouldn't go into a cave with only a pair of AA batteries.
Quick! To the Batcave!
Sneaky Thunderf00t is sneaky
I HAVE BEEN THERE! OMG!!!
amazing.
coooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool
You know what they awoke in the darkness of "the lavatunnel" ..shadow and flame
When you're up by Mt. St. Helens, check out the "ape caves" lava tubes.
cool man
The dwarves there... they dug too deep, and too greedily.
ya you are right. oh well
In the future, just be sure to bring a few extra flashlights. If your flashlight goes out, you may not make it back out.
gokuhawks14
Actually mine was, think about it...
Also, i forgot to mention that i went down there with my family last year and it was amazing..
no way would i go into such darkness too scary
Fair enough so. That's that cleared up. Ah sure, isn't youtube only great.
It's a pity it's so dark in the video....it doesn't really convey how beautiful this place is.
That's going to be Thunderf00t's new base.
The ThunderCave.
And if you look closely, you can see that his car is actually a pedal car. The only greenhouse gas emitted is from the burritos he ate on the way.
Watch out for gollum!
I think the blue mineral that you came across is probably Azurite.
Welcome to beautiful Oregon. Have you seen the Columbia River Gorge?
At 00:36 did anyone else start looking for the killer rabbit from Monty Python and the Holy Grail?
For some reason, going into a deep, dark cave at daylight is okay, but not at night XD.
MICROCLINE! ITS EVERYWHERE!
How nice it would be to go there alone with..umm....
"it's a good place for mineral formation"
...not if you keep touching it, it isn't. The oils in the hand essentially "kill" the mineral growth.
Also, I think the sparkly stuff was tiny amounts of purified metal. Molten lava flowing through a tube is probably going to pull of some sort of natural, but very crude, smelting process.
hm i live south of central oregon AKA Southern oregon i've never heard of this place and the description says a must see if you are passing by central oregon
Logic who needs it ?.
Damn, everyone's a critic today... I don't see any of you posting anything of note. I rather enjoy the footage of his holiday.
If the stuff around the edge solidifies to form the tunnel, how does the middle not also solidify at some stage, I mean where does it go? How does it empty out to create a tube?
preatty Blair Witch
I do that all the time. Most annoying.
Thunderfoot, could you tell us all how much fuel you burned on your trip? How much CO2 did you pump out?
Hey Thunderf00t, was just wondering what video camera you're using?
never mend I'm not the first ether. :(
See any crab people?
What has it got in its pocketses?
Can't Thunderfoot take a vacation and post some cool nature videos without people leaving text comments about him going to hell? How is he mocking god by exploring a cave?
Thunderfoot's videos are awesome.
LOTR ffs.
HAHAHA, you watch way to much lotr:P
ltpko46 was.
legalizemarijuananos) Nope sorry my comment "cool man" was the first lol.
another facepalm.
I don't think he ever disguised himself as Jesus.
Then don't watch it. People who are interested in geology find it interesting.
It is a very cheap solution. Anything more, and he would need a real plane, with a large battery, and a high dollar camera.
*facepalm*