
In Crescent City, California, we took a detour from the 101 and took Highway 199 to Cave Junction, Oregon, in order to visit Oregon Caves National Monument. Not only is Oregon Caves National Monument one of only a few National Parks in Oregon, they are also very rare caves in that they are made of marble. Only 5% of the world's caves are marble, most are limestone. As is the case with the majority of the trip, I underestimated the road and the amount of time that it would take to get to the monument from Cave Junction. The 20 miles on the map were very winding and a relatively slow 20 miles, so we finally got to the Visitor Center at 1:30pm. We also did not plan for the fact that you have to schedule a tour with a ranger or that it would be a busy day at the park. The first available tour was 2:30pm. We took it. In the mean time, we stamped the passport, got a Snickers and checked out the gift shop.
When it was finally our turn to go, the ranger gave us an introduction to the caves while we were outside. This
Full Text Entry: Oregon Caves, Coast and Cheese
CavesThis is a blurry image of the heart of the cave. He he.
CavesNiagara Falls. The broken pieces are from visitors in the 1800s who would break them off as souvenirs, thinking that they would just grow right back. They don't. These took 300,000 years to form.
CavesThe signature of a visitor from 1897. They used pencil thinking that it would be erasable later on. A volunteer in the 1930s went back with a huge eraser to try to clean it all up, and was unable.
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CavesA prize goes to whomever can come up with the best caption for this unidentifiable picture.
CavesA very nice picture of a stalactite, stalagmite, and a column.
CavesThe caves at night...and during the day.
CavesParadise Lost. They looked like a bunch of hot air balloons, rising into the...ground.
CavesAngel Falls. This particular structure has a lot of calcium carbonate in it.
CavesThis is what happens when you shine a black light on calcium carbonate.
CoastIndeed, we did (it was a little cold, though).
CoastThe Bandon Lighthouse.
CoastThe rocky Oregon coast.
CoastA small area of relative calm.
CoastLots of wind, lots of waves.
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