Sept. - 4, 2011
Yesterday, September 3rd, we drove all the way from Cape Disappointment, WA to Grants Pass, OR. It was quite a drive!
Today we explored a wonderful little gem located in southwestern Oregon called Oregon Caves National Monument. Just getting there was an adventure as the road up to the cave was very steep and slow going. I would liken it to driving up the rollercoaster tracks on Space Mountain in Disneyland! A stomach churner indeed! In fact, the road was built just to reach the high-elevation caverns!
Perched on top of the mountain, near the entrance to the cave, was the Chateau. A beautiful, rustic hotel built between 1932 and 1934 of local materials - marble rock work, massive Ponderosa pine pillars, and beams of Douglas fir. It is now a National Historic Landmark and very much the "centerpiece" of the mountain top! Emily and I took time out for an ice cream treat in the coffee shop!
At 12:30 p.m. we met up with our small 15-person group and began our tour of Oregon Caves. For the next hour and a half, we walked in the footsteps of those who had first discovered the cave over 100 years ago. We could only imagine what they experienced - a half mile of belly slithering through a labyrinth of dark, wet, cold marble of passages twisting in all directions. We appreciated our ranger guide and all the lights that highlighted unique cave features. At one stop, we even spotted a few cave creatures - cave crickets, two harvestmen (spider), and a Townsend big-eared bat. We even saw ice age fossils of a bear!
After the tour, we managed to get in a hike on the Cliff Nature Trail. A 1.5 mile loop through the most aromatic fir forests we've ever smelled!
No comments:
Post a Comment