Youth head to Lake Lenore Caves

Lisa Porter called me a few months ago.

"Dennis, would you lead us on a hike to the Lake Lenore Caves for our spring outing?" she asked.

Last year the group asked me to lead them to Chief Moses Rock on Rocky Ford Creek. It was a great outing with around 20 adults and students attending.

Lisa and her family of three students have been participating in the Home School Program for 17 years, with the oldest graduating as a homeschooler and the middle son a senior at Moses Lake High School.

The outing was set for May 2, with all participants set to meet at the Lake Lenore Caves parking lot at 10 a.m.

Lisa had put out the word inviting Moses Lake Homeschool Cooperative, plus all homeschoolers in the Columbia Basin, which includes at least 100 families, to join the hike.

I pulled in when there were around 25 people present and the vehicles kept arriving. At 10:15 we assembled around the picnic table for a briefing.

"Parts of this hike will be a little bit dangerous with steep cliffs and paths requiring walking on loose rock. The adults are expected to watch out for the youngsters," I told the group. "We need to be on the watch for rattlesnakes, no one is allowed to reach into a bush or walk in the grass. Also I need to be in the lead as we enter a new area, in case we have larger critters around."

The information wasn't intended to scare anyone, but to impose the necessary cautions when headed into snake and cougar country. The group of 50 followed me as we hit the trail.

There are seven caves along the trail. The caves were formed during the ice age floods. The native tribes used them thousands of years ago for shelter. None are deep caves, where sunlight is lost, but there are large ones where a large group could find shelter and small caves capable of holding one or two people.

The group of homeschoolers was impressive, as the adults did, indeed, help the youngsters along the way. But, even more impressive was the way older sibling assisted younger brothers and sisters.

I stopped at the first cave, a small one at the top of a 20-yard path of steep, loose rock, and suggested we skip this one as the rocks are rather unstable. Everyone followed for a few steps when student, 11-year-old Kate Tran, said, "There's a snake." I walked back in time to see the tail with an impressive number of rattles attached, slither into tall grass and sagebrush.

All hikers seemed to enjoy the caves and the tremendous view along the way. We were back at the vehicles within two hours, even with the students exploring the caves, a couple running and stumbling at times, but jumping up and continuing to explore.

The youngest person along on the hike was two weeks shy of 12 months old. I was the oldest at 66, but we had 3- and 5-year-olds along, too.

To reach the caves, drive north on Highway 17 from Soap Lake for around 8 miles. Turn right at the sign and continue for half a mile to the parking area.

Follow a well-formed trail, with part of it a set of cement stairs, to the caves, seven in all.