DISCOVERY OF THE MASTER TUBE

Yesterday we went to the up-flow region of the Guespalapa lava flow. After spending a good part of the morning walking among small hornitos and only locating two small and uninspiring little pits, we decided to explore a road going down along the flow. At one of many stops to get GPS directions, answer nature’s call, etc., Vicente suddenly started walking in a straight direction into the woods. A short while later he returned to report that he had found "El Master Tube" a couple hundred meters away. Since this was not the exact spot where I had predicted the master tube to be, I grabbed a helmet and went with him, just to show off...

The entrance depression is large, maybe 50 meters long and 20 meters wide and deep. At the bottom another, deeper, dark slope could be seen. Once we had negotiated the steep slope, we found ourselves in a huge tunnel, maybe 10 to 15 meters wide and at least 10 meters high, entirely floored in loose breakdown blocks, and with a very noticeable breeze. About a hundred meters in, I noticed that the ledges on both sides of the passage were entirely covered with lava stalagmites up to 5 cm wide and up to 1 m in height. I have only seen displays like this in photographs from Hawaii, and without a doubt this is the best display of lava stalagmites I know of in México.

We ended exploration here, but the cave continues. The reason why we stopped is simple: Ruth and Sofi had been outside, alone, waiting while I "showed Vicente that his little cave could not be a Master Tube." Oops!!!

Ramón Espinasa