Nine Trailblazers head up to Flagstaff for cooler weather and an interesting set of hikes. The first hike is the Fire part, where we go into the caldera of an old volcano.

This is an easy hike into Red Mountain which a short distance from Flagstaff on US 180 going toward the South Grand Canyon. You start in the Pinion pines and walk into the ponderosa pines. When you start out you can see the collapsed northwest side of the caldera.

This is a good hike for the morning, because all this exposed rock can heat up. You could spend a whole day here exploring the side canyons.

If you do decide to go exploring bring gloves and knee pads. This rock may look soft, but it is not.

This rock comes in many colors blacks, red, yellow, ocher and others. In the center of the caldera is a small grove of trees. The wind, rain and snow have carved these rocks into many different shapes.

You can see where the volcanic gas left holes by either creating gaps or by weakling the rock. You can take a walk around the volcano and get to the top if you want, just be careful on the edges.

We have an easy trail in this section.

The Ice part of this hike is the lava tube that is a short distance from Red Mountain back toward Flagstaff. This is where we are going to have lunch. We eat our lunch just above the mouth of the tube; you can feel the cool breeze coming out. While we were there a troop of boy scouts leave the cave. This cave stays between 35 & 45 degrees all year long. The reason is because the high end of the cave is where you go in. All winter long the hot air leaves the cave to be replaced by cold air. At the entrance there can be ice left over from the winter, but this year there is none.

From the group picture you can see the low wall that has been built around the entrance to keep out water and persons falling in.

Just before we head into the cave a group of National Guard personal head in to test their night vision gear. There is no way to get lost in this cave, because it is a tube with only one branch. Going in you want to stay to the left at the branch, because if you go the other way you need to crawl though a very low tunnel to get back to the main path. The rock is slick because of the monsoon rains has left wet spots from cracks where water can get into the cave.

As we walk you can see the ripples of the flowing lava frozen in the rock. There are large cracks in the floor as the lava cooled and contracted. On the ceiling there are lava icicles, from when it was hot enough to flow.

The tunnel varies from 20 to 4 feet high, so watch your head in the low spots. We get to the back and turn off our lights. It gets very dark, but not total black, due to the other persons in the cave.

We make our way out of the cave with only a few slips due to the wet rocks and darkness. Black lava looks the same wet or dry, but is slick when wet. It is nice to be back in the warm outside air. You do not notice the cold air except for when you are going in to or out of the cave. This is a one mile one-way hike.