Finally, Redwoods

Well, we didn`t quite get to the redwoods in a day. We found a perfectly delightful campground just a few miles down the road from Oregon Cave National Monument. So we ended up taking a bit of a vacation from our vacation. Of course I can’t visit a cave without trying once again to get a good cave picture. Failed again. The cave itself is pretty cool, though not nearly as spectacular as some we’ve visited. This one was discovered around 1870 by a hunter, Elijah Davidson, whose dog chased a bear into it. He chased his dog inside with his only light a few matches in his pocket. He ended up having to immerse himself in a stream which ran through the cave for a few hours following it downstream in total darkness. The dog? He was waiting for Elijah outside the cave. Took him years to get up the nerve to go back in, but he mentioned it to a local schoolteacher. Not too many years later it was a tourist attraction and later a national monument.

Grayback Creek campground is very quiet and secluded, enough of a secret where we were able to snap up the only full hookup on the property. For a total of 20 bucks for 4 nights! No phone or even a TV signal, which might not have been that bad of a thing. Nice deli just ten miles down the road in Grant’s Pass, called Taylor’s, apparently part of a family chain. We rented a couple of movies, found the local swimming hole and generally kicked back for a few days.

 

Audrey, our cute-as-a-button cave guide

Draperies in the cave.



I inflict on you a few more cave pics



Not to mention another happy couple pic



This is kind of significant. That break in color shows a fault running through the cave.

A couple of my favorite subjects together

A cute couple, Miranda and Paul, met at the swimming hole.
She's a singer, fashion model and actress in NBC show (which one?) in L.A., he just completed smoke jumper training.

Them, they're just retired

 

 

On Saturday we took an easy (narrow, winding, but only a hundred miles) drive into Redwood country. Not far over the California border the big trees just start appearing. Larger in diameter than anything we’ve ever seen, they were just the small ones on the edge. After checking into a nice Escapee campground ($22 a night to members, here that’s a bargain.) in Crescent City we immediately headed out to Jedediah Smith state park and Stout’s Grove. Wow! One can read the statistics, more than 6 feet diameter, over 300 feet high, and kind of appreciate it, but nothing like standing next to one of these things and looking way up there. Then you come across one of the big ones! Heck, just check out the pictures, even though the scale really doesn’t do them justice.

It's tough to transmit the size of these things

That's a little better for scale. This tree is just average. Now go back and look at the upper pictures.

Do these pics help?

How about this one?

A 20 foot root ball

Yes, that's better. Note that isn't the whole trunk you see.

This Blue Jay teased me all down the path. Finally got a good picture of him.

Thou shalt not walk on the breakwater.
 Crescent City suffered a tsunami in 1964 and still hasn't gotten over it.

Grounds of the lighthouse in Crescent City

Low tide tidal pool.

Liz here. Located in our campground is the all too common site of Class A (very large and 4-5mpg) motorhomes with a Prius in tow. An overwhelming comment on public perception and a stack up of domestic economic failure. We are really glad to share our days with our Chevy truck.