Day trip

Mike and Jan Marker flew in for a few days of their vacation. I had Promised Jan, (who had to work during the fly in and was unable to make it.) that I would take her on a day trip to Leslie Gulch and Jordan Craters. They got here Tuesday in the middle of the day.

We drove to the Craters, with many stops during the trip to photograph some of the many flowers that are very plentiful this year. Mike has the camera that handles Macro, and I contented myself with my guiding duties.

We stopped at the caldera first. I was surprised to find that a Redtail Hawk and a Prairie Falcon were both nesting in the caldera. The age of the lava flow was dated to about 2500 years ago through the lichen that is growing on the rocks.

 This is a small feeder tube that the top had collapsed. It looked like a ditch running down into the field.

 The lava is young enough that it has not broken up. The lava has hardened into ropy coils.

I wanted to look into the two collapsed lava tubes. I had seen them from the air, but never walked to them.

The biggest one is about 30 to 40 feet to the bottom with no tube visible above the rubble, however the smaller one has one end of the tube exposed. No way in the world to get to the floor without a ladder. The top of the opening is tapered back quite a bit however, making me quite jumpy to be too close to the edge. The Lava flow is reported to be 25 miles long.

We then drove down into Birch Creek which is a historic early ranch. Controlled now by the BLM. There is a camp ground and the rafters have a "take out" there and the place was crowded with cars and trucks waiting for the rafters to finish their trip down the river. Normally all the rafting is over by the first of June. They are getting an extended season this year for sure.