April 29, 2007: Oregon Caves National Monument: The caves are located 19 miles up a winding road from Cave Junction. Margo and I stayed at the lodge when the kids were little (25 years ago) and took the cave tour. Marvin and I were planning to return to Portland today so we didn’t have much time. One could easily spend several days hiking the various trails in the monument.
Spring has just arrived at this elevation, patches of snow could still be found, and few flowers were in bloom. We chatted with park service employees about what could be seen and what would be the best hike for our limited time. We settled on the Cliff trail because it was the shortest.
At the viewpoint we made use of a bench to rest and enjoy the scenery. We watched a red-headed woodpecker work its way up a nearby snag. Some chickadees were twittering in a tree about 50 feet down hill from us…
Marvin spotted a Pygmy owl perched on a branch apparently oblivious to the world. We took several pictures. After the hike we reluctantly climbed back into the truck and pointed our noses towards Portland. Life is good.
tbc…
