Ice Cave

I got to thinking the other day that our vacation was winding down-damn, damn, double damn.  But it is the truth even though it does make me sad.  I had been working on my wood working project that I hadn’t noticed that we had done very few “vacation things” this week.

 

We decided to do a hike and  left home at 7:00 AM to do the Ice Cave hike which according to the sign is 2 miles, 4 miles round trip.

 

 The trail goes by the Porter Mountain Stables and these beautiful horses.  I love the smell of horses, I even like the smell of horse shit!!

 

 

 The trail is rocky so you have to be careful where you put your feet….don’t need any twisted ankles!!  Along the trail you get so you can read some of the signs……

 

 I detect equestrian use!

 I spotted this lonely prickly pear among the pines.  (I have got to learn how to take pictures better-my shadow ruins this pic!)

 See that blue diamond on that tree??  The TrailSystem group put those on various trees along the trail so you don’t get off the trail and lost.  It can happen easily in the forest.  We got off trail in Lake Tahoe once and ended up crab walking on a very shear rock face.  It was NOT fun and was very scary!!  So I truly appreciate these blue diamonds.

 

 Rex is pointing to a white diamond.  These are something new and the number on it indicates where you are.  If you should fall and need assistance these numbers tell emergency personnel where to find you.  

 I would call this a lake but the trail guides identifies this body of water as Scott Reservoir.  We did see some ducks and a couple of guys fishing out of a boat here too.

 

 Natures trail side cross.  Was cool to come across.

 

 You see the coolest stuff in the forest.  Somebody spent some time putting together this teepee.

 Another interesting piece of natures sculpture.  I really need to learn how to take pictures, it just pisses me off to see how badly I messed up these beautiful images.

Well we made it to the cave!!  The cave is really a lava tube.  The name, “Ice Cave” comes from the constant flow of 52 degree air that leaves the cave.  What you can’t see from this picture is the big fence that closes the cave off for protection and preservation.  

OK, now lets go back 2 miles to the car.  The trail guide that we have rates the hiking difficulty of the hike as moderate, I think I would rate it as moderate plus.  Totally doable but I would not attempt it without hiking poles and plenty of water.  There was also quite a stretch that was very buggy which I didn’t much care for.  Will I do this hike again??  Hell yes!!