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In Lava Beds National Monument (Northern California), this is the Mushpot Cave trail, which is a cave created when red hot lavas flowed underground. Once the lava drained away, this lava tube cave was left behind. There are over 500 such caves known to exist in Lava Beds National Monument (some are over a mile long), with new ones discovered each year. This shows cracks in the lava tube (just right of center), possible caused by water seeping in and freezing. Also a nice close-up shot of lavacicles, where the molten rock was dripping to the floor, and froze in place, just like an icicle. (09/29/2004)