Hiking in the White Mountains: Cave of Domes

It's taken me two months but I finally am able to post the report and pics from our hikes in the southwest, Enjoy :)

In May I made my annual cross country drive to some of the most breathtaking places for hiking in Arizona and Utah. After hiking solo in the Grand Canyon for two days my girlfriend Whitney flew into Phoenix to join in on the fun. Below are trip reports with pictures from the hiking adventures we had over the following week. The weather was unseasonably cool and rainy at times but we got lucky and were able to get in some phenomenal hikes between the storms and wild weather. Some highlights were hiking to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and back up in a day followed by exploring an old cave and getting pelted with tiny hail the following day. The wild weather followed us into Utah but we managed to gauge the forecast and hit up a cool little local slot canyon called Peek-A-Boo in Oderville. Finally, the weather broke and we had three amazing days, first exploring the out of this world hoodoo formations in Bryce Canyon, followed by two days in Zion where on day one we scrambled across the knife edge of Angels Landing and climbed high above the canyon to Observation Point. This all lead to our final and best hike of our trip, hiking the Narrows, sixteen miles, most of which was walking through a river as canyon walls rose steeply from each side of the river!

Click on the links below to read reports and view pictures

Thursday, May 21st: Grand Canyon - Rim to River and Back

Friday, May 22nd: Grand Canyon - Cave of Domes

Saturday & Sunday, May 23rd & 24th: Horseshoe Bend, Rimrock Hoodoos, Peek-A-Boo Slot Canyon, Pink Coral Sand Dunes

Monday, May 25th: Bryce Canyon

Tuesday, May 26th: Zion Canyon - Angels Landing & Observation Point

Wednesday, May 27th: Zion Canyon - Narrows (Top-Down)

Thursday, May 28th: Lower Antelope Canyon

The Colorado River from the South Kaibab Trail

Whitney in the Cave of Domes . . . on her birthday!

Horseshoe Bend (Whitney's picture)

Rimrock 'Toadstool' Hoodoos

Rad Slot Canyon AKA Peek-A-Book Slot Canyon

The Pink Coral Sand Dunes was kind of lame...so I had some fun! #SMACKERS

The hoodoos of Bryce Canyon

Whitney along the knife edge of Angels Landing

Zion Canyon from Observation Point

The Narrows!

Lower Antelope Canyon

Date of Hike: 5/22/15

Grandview Trail / Herd Path / Cave of Domes: 8.0 miles 2,500 feet elevation gained

Trip Report:
- Whitney celebrated her birthday on Friday and we were able to sneak in a pretty cool hike in the morning before the thunder and lightning storms came rolling through the south rim. Our goal for the day was to hike down the Grandview Trail to Horseshoe Mesa and find a herd path that would lead us to the Cave of Domes under the western plateau of the mesa.
- Last May I had hiked down to Horseshoe Mesa and out to the end of the left 'arm' to a beautiful outlook with grand views, little did I know that on my walk to the outlook I was directly above a series of caves a few hundred feet underfoot.
- The Cave of Domes used to be marked on maps but over the years has been removed. It is still a popular off trail exploration destination, so much so, that a hiker entry book is located in the first cavern of the cave that rangers keep notes on every so often.
- The hike down to the caves is a little rockier than most canyon trails on the south rim. The Grandview Trail has some rough spots footing wise but as far as Whitney and I were concerned it was still ridiculously easy compared to the knee hammering rocks, ankle twisting roots, and mud bogs we deal with every hike in the White Mountains. Because of this it ended up being a quick and easy hike down to Horseshoe Mesa as we walked past the radiation warning signs by the old mines and over to the old stone foundation left from the miners ranch from the 1900's.
- Once past the stone foundation we stayed on trail for another half mile or so until dropping down a well defined herd path that followed a bone dry drainage to the western cliff just under the Horseshoe Mesa plateau. The cave was pretty easy and obvious to get to and within a few minutes of hooking onto the herd path we were at the entrance to the Cave of Domes.
- The cave has a small opening that you duck under and into an entry way before entering a large domed room where there is an old door that used to be attached to the entrance and the hiker registration box with some warnings about the cave and correct gear needed for safe exploration.
- Like you would expect a cave to be it was pitch black! The cave was extremely dusty and dry and there were stalactites and stalagmites spread out, most were small and most were damaged or removed by vandals. If you are wondering, stalactites are the formations that hang from the ceiling, and stalagmites rise from the ground floor. So, stalactites hang 'tightly' from the ceiling where stalagmites 'might' eventually reach the ceiling from the cave floor! :)
- The rooms all differed in size, some rooms we could roam around and explore easily while others were small and cumbersome. The entry ways between the rooms were sometimes very narrow and had to be crawled through, AKA lemon-squeezers. We spent an hour in the cave making it far enough to walk through a long 'hall' with high walls on each side. The cave had been explored since the late 1800's and there is even writing on the wall that dates back to 1905, which unfortunately I could not find, maybe next time!!
- When we exited the caves we knew the fun time was over as weather was quickly moving in above us, so we put our heads down and hiked quickly back up onto the plateau of the Horseshoe Mesa, by the old foundation, the radiation warnings signs, and up the canyon walls. About two miles from the summit rain drops started to fall, followed by a quick cool shower, which stopped for a few minutes until the skies opened up on us again, not with rain, but hail!!! For about ten minutes we hiked through some hail before the storm blew off and the skies above us cleared off. Below us was a different story, for down on Horseshoe Mesa there was an inner canyon storm brewing in the area where we were just about an hour and a half ago!
- From here we meandered our way up the last mile to the rim and back to touristville at Grandview Point, it was a pretty crazy ending to our hike and we both toughed it out when the weather changed rapidly. It's also a relief to have a hiking partner who never complains and toughs it out when the weather turns, the trail conditions sour, or the bugs come out. :)
- After the hike we headed back to Tusayan and while eating lunch the wind picked up and a thunder and lightning storm viciously rolled through. Meaning we timed our hike perfectly once again!!

The upper part of the Grandview Trail has rougher footing than most canyon trails. There's some evidence of masterful trail work over a 'cobblestone' section along the way