Oregon!!! Oh Boy!!!

The flight to Oregon went well, with a prop plane finishing it off. Then a drive to Klamath Falls. We had a great time with Matt and John, and we went to some really cool places. One really cold place: Crater Lake. Still 20 or so feet of snow in some places, but oh! the view. Mirror effect that day, where the sky and rim reflect almost a perfect image of the reality. Spectacular.
Next day to the lava beds in Lava Beds National Monument, a national treasure. In addition to the geology we actually saw up close and personal 2 costal rubber boas, a western diamondback rattle snake, a couple of deer, scrub jays and many interesting and strange plants. The tubes were really interesting. Natural faults where lava once flowed and melted out tubular tunnels. Not hard caving if you stay on the path, but very interesting. The landscape outside the tunnels is like karst; collapsed tubes forming hills and dips with lots of holes. But unlike limestone, this is all volcanic material. We could see hundreds of cauldera from any point we looked. Mesas left behind by the continuous erosion of wind and water.
And on the bottom of one mesa, petroglyphs. What more could you ask? Good IPA? Yes, we had that too, in plenty. Oh boy, what a holiday.
www.3dparks.wr.usgs.gov
www.rock-art.com