Lava Beds National Park, California

I’ve always felt that the Lava Beds National Park was one of California’s best kept secrets. Even during a holiday one can easily find miles of land to enjoy without having to share. This is a paradise for those who like to play above and below ground. The park is filled with accessible lava tubes close to parking. Cave Loop is the ideal spot to spend the entire day hiking in and out of the designated lava tube caves. For those wanting a more wild experience, simply keep walking past the caves with names, to explore more lava tubes off the beaten trail. Guaranteed you will poke your head into holes that go. You don’t have to be an avid cave explorer to enjoy the underground activity at Lava Beds with its more than 350 known caves. That’s the beauty of this place.

Let’s go!

-Lisa

Caving in Mexico

This was a charming Indian village outside the state of Puebla in Mexico. My Spanish wasn’t as helpful as I expected as most of the villagers spoke their native Indian dialect. It didn’t matter we found the towns people to be some of the most friendly we have ever met during our travels.

Don and I went to Mexico a few times for caving expeditions into the river caves. Cuetzalan is a rain forest and their dry season is during the Christmas holiday. That is how we spent a few Christmases swimming and surveying in the caves wearing wet suits. The caves are very sporting.

I was glad I didn’t take the time to read ahead prior to the caving expedition to learn that there had been a few rescues in the cave with British cavers in the 1980s. Had I done so I probably wouldn’t have felt I was up to the challenge. I learned I was.

I am also glad we were able to take photos in the more challenging river cave. In the early 2000’s this same river cave was closed for good following another British rescue leading the Mexican government to step in. To this day, caving in Cuetzalan remains a highlight of my life.

Let’s go!

-Lisa

On safari in Hawaii

At first I wasn’t sure how to approach 30 Years in 52 Weeks…where to start?  We have boxes and boxes of slides and are uncovering new places everyday.  Why not let you tell me?  We have looked at where we’re getting the most hits and now have a list.  Thank you!  I appreciate having a road map.  Plus we’re always adding new trips and will unveil them.  So here by popular demand is Hawaii.

Don and I have been to Hawaii five times to explore the lava tubes.  We don’t really visit the usual tourist sites, we find our own caving trips take up all the time we have on the islands.  But one time we did make it out to a wild animal park on Molokai.  You can see us feeding the giraffes, which was such a treat.  We also got great close up shots of the animals. 

When I think of Hawaii, I envision the lava tubes underground and the colorful, friendly fish that come up to you while snorkeling.  I put my hand out while swimming and watched the parrot fish come up to me looking for food.  One parrot fish even gummed me and that made me laugh out bubbles from my snorkel.

Let’s go!

-Lisa

Great X, Wyoming

We had company (our friends Jenn and Chris Cutler) last night and showed them our trip to Great X in Wyoming. I had just scanned those slides and Don and I were excited to revisit this highly sporting cave. It’s so cold we had to wear wet suits. The cave has eroded in such a way that the dolomite has these tendrils that grabbed on like blackberry thorns to anything it could. To help protect my wet suit I put a tee-shirt over it. That was a mistake. Our friend Joe put nylon sweats over his wet suit that got shredded to ruin. But it was worth it…the cave has an incredible room called the Cephalopod Malt Shop with a white soda straw low ceiling and floor filled with ancient cephalopod fossils that are enormous.

Cave temps are the annual average and this cave is freezing. So cold that Bob Montgomery, our leader on the trip, had to warm his camera batteries by rubbing his hands so he could take pictures. Luckily ours was working and we all got great shots in the Great Hall. You can’t miss this room. It measures a quarter mile long. To demonstrate we took a multi exposure photo where Joe and I walked each side flashing blubs. You can see the blippies our helmet lights create in the photo that Don took. And if I never mentioned it before, Don is our photographer and webmaster. Seeing these photos reminds me of why I always called Wyoming God’s country.

Let’s go!

-Lisa