Crater to Caves 7/29/2011

Up early, today we head south to Oregon Caves. The road out is long and straight, bordered with pine (spruce, fir??) trees. The craziest thing was that the road had large stretches where the trees that bordered the road were actually at the top of a steep bluff. The side of the bluff (hill) appeared to be eroded, and the roots of the trees above were severely exposed. How many of the trees were actually held up is a mystery. We're talking about 90-100 foot firs that tower above the road, and have a sizable portion of their roots exposed.

On the way, we stopped at a place where the Rogue river rushes through a rocky gorge.There was a stump there that even though the tree had been cut years ago, was still alive. Apparently, the roots of the cut tree, and those of a neighboring tree had enmeshed, and the roots of the neighboring tree kept the stump alive.

We stopped at a Walmart to pick up a few groceries, and then motored along to the Country Hills Resort in Cave Junction. I had expected that this place would be rustic, and with no services. It turns out they have a full complement of Direct TV stations, wireless internet, and a very clean, very comfortable motel. There is no cell service here at all, though. This is the closest accommodations, other than a campground up the road, to Oregon Caves National Monument.

Once we had settled in, we decided to take the trip up to the Monument just to check out the cave tours, and what available hiking trails are there. The road from the motel to Oregon Caves is a doozy. The best way I can describe it is to explain that on the way back, I was watching the direction sensor on the rear view mirror. In the course of the 11 miles from the park to our motel, the compass showed that at any one time, we traveled, N, NE, NW, E, S, SE, SW, W--all multiple times.

Tomorrow, we will tour the caves, and take some of the trails that take you through old growth forests, and mountain meadows.