Lava tubes, anyone into them

[oldmangunner]

Originally Posted by Bella Rae

I did not know what a lava tube was, so thanks for bringing this topic up! Lava tubes sound very interesting, but I do not think we have any where I live. I would love to plan a trip to check lava tubes out. All I have seen are caves in a guided tour.

I am with you. When I saw the title of this thread I was thinking something along the lines of a lava lamp-like tube you use for climbing. I am glad I have been educated on this one!

[Grandpa]

For those that remember the "cold war" days and air raid drills and bomb drills and all the Civil Defense memo's, we have community bomb shelters near some communities in Idaho. They have gone deep into lava tubes and put supplies etc in there in case of a nuclear attack. There are other large "ice caves" that have been commercialized and pathways cleared for guided tours as well. But most of the tubes are isolated, not yet discovered, head banging, critter hide outs.

The Bobcat cave I mentioned earlier, had been found but couldn't be refound until in the 1980's. It was loaded with ancient Indian artifacts and luckily, the people who finally found it, contacted the right people and all those artifacts are on display at the Idaho State University Anthropology Museum.