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Arnold Ice Cave is a lava tube located southeast of Bend, Oregon. It is part of the Arnold lava tube system which on the visible surface is traced for about 4.5 miles. It was formerly known as Crook County Ice Caves & contains a small entrance in a deep collapse pit. It was used in the past by miners extracting ice, known as Oregon's only commercial ice mine, being stored for summer use before refrigeration. Today the entrance is a steep descend on dirt & charcoal over dilapidated wooden beams that served as the former stairwell down into the cave, leading over breakdown boulders to this section which is still intact & original. Past that is signicant breakdown, old reports indicate two individuals in the 1950s digging a trench through ice covering over 1/2 a mile before abandoning the project. I visited this cave in 2004 only to find it completely ice-choked clear to this tiny entrance, today over 12 years later the ice has nearly vanished to the end though there remains a relatively cold feel within, a lot of charcoal along the walls & floor, vandalism like many of the caves within the area becoming a routine problem here again as it has historically been, particularly around the year 1975 when unknown individuals dislodged portions of this pit nearly sealing the cave & making it unstable to enter. There is a squeeze through breakdown to where the cave actually continues w/ a total surveyed length of 2,638 feet. This view is towards the near end of the cave (my silhouette pointing in that direction), though my shadow is deceptive as the ceiling is actually about 30-40 feet up. Here there is minimal breakdown and the floor is adorned w/ sharp aa lava. The walls are stained w/ calcium carbonate residue that has 'dripped' down over hundreds of years.
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The United States is one of the most diverse countries on earth, jam packed full of amazing sights from St. Patrick's cathedral in New York to Mount Hollywood California.The Northeast region is where it all started. Thirteen British colonies fought the American Revolution from here and won their independence in the first successful colonial rebellion in history. Take a look at these rolling hills carpeted with foliage along the Hudson river here, north of New York City.The American south is known for its polite people and slow pace of life. Probably they move slowly because it's so hot. Southerners tend not to trust people from "up north" because they talk too fast. Here's a cemetery in Georgia where you can find graves of soldiers from the Civil War.The West Coast is sort of like another country that exists to make the east coast jealous. California is full of nothing but grizzly old miners digging for gold, a few gangster rappers, and then actors. That is to say, the West Coast functions as the imagination of the US, like a weird little brother who teases everybody then gets famous for making freaky art.The central part of the country is flat farmland all the way over to the Rocky Mountains. Up in the northwest corner you can find creative people in places like Portland and Seattle, along with awesome snowboarding and good beer. Text by Steve Smith.
