hikes and caves

OK, time to update what Ken and I have been up to on our awesome trip!

When we were still in the Rogue River area, we came upon a flyer about the Oregon Cave Monument. I had been there as a girl with my family,but I was excited to see it again. We drove up a very windy road through tall old growth forests and it was very foggy and kind of spooky. When we got there, we had to agree that we could tolerate being underground for 90 minutes, and that we were able to crouch and squeeze through tight spaces. It was very wet in the cave with lots of running water. Our ranger guide was excellent, and he was very patient with answering questions of kids in the group. We saw some excellent examples of stagmites (which form from the ground up) and stalactites (which grow from the ceiling down). There were narrow passageways which opened into large rooms. Lots of drapery type formations and a few columns as well. When we got out (whew!) the sun had come out and we ate our picnic lunch before heading back to Grants Pass and the Rogue River.

Also in Oregon, before we left the Salem/Rogue area, we decided to take a quick trip out to Silver Falls State Park, which has steep trails that wind around the falls loops, through lush undergrowth of ferns, native flowers, mossy trees--very much a west coast type of rain forest. The falls were created by layers of volcanic basalt which formed the face of the rocky overhangs, and there was plenty of water and spray as we walked up to and behind the falls. Didn't see any banana slugs, though! The last time I had been to Silver Falls with my parents, my sandals strap broke and I had to tie it together with vines, how McGyver of me! No such mishaps this time, I had my hiking boots and my trekking poles.

To be continued--almost time for our campfire.
Happy trails--
Linda and Ken