Day 34 - 8/18/2004 - Caves, Giants, and Fires

We had a great night's sleep at the Grayback campground, re-organized the car, and set out for Oregon Caves.  I heard there could be a wait (they limit the number of folks going through the caves), so we go up there 10:00 am.  We hooked up with a tour group and were able to start by 10:30.  Oregon Caves is very different from the Virginia caves, since it is formed into marble rather than limestone.  Since marble is much harder, it means the cave is smaller, tighter, and shorter.  The marble is a result of the geologic activity that heated and compressed the seabed into marble, and then thrust it up.  The cave was formed by rainwater slowly cutting through the rock, although there are numerous faults that run through the cave.  The cave tour takes about 90 minutes and involves quite a bit of climbing, stooping, and squeezing (for a guided tour).

By noon we were done with the cave.  We grabbed a quick lunch, and headed off for our next destination - Redwoods.  We drove toward Crescent City, stopping just into California at river with a spot called Myrtle Beach.  This was a beautiful mountain river with a natural rock dam that pooled the water deep and clear.  Hunter went for a quick swim - I sat back and relaxed in the sun, watch a guy on an opposing cliff garner the courage to jump.  After about 15 minutes we walked to the edge and jumped from the 15 foot embankment into the cool water.  I collected Hunter and we headed on.

To say the redwoods are big is a gross understatement.  I know the pictures below cannot clearly grasp their intimidating stature.  Even trees that have fallen over have trunks that are wider than many trees are tall.

We continued on down the coast, and through Crescent City.  Hunter touched the Pacific Ocean "officially" for the first time.  Of course it was cold, but he knew that great Sushi was on the other side!  We meandered down the coast and picked up Highway 299 toward Redding CA.  The road was much more windy and slow than we thought, but it followed a river and the scenery was nice.  Shortly after nightfall we saw the lights of Redding in the distance - or so we thought.  We looked at the map and we were still 50 miles away.  As we got closer, the light took on a reddish hue and we realized we were driving up on a forest fire.  Shortly we were watching the flames lick over the crest of the ridge above us.  Although there was little smoke obscuring the road, the smell of charred wood followed us for miles.  As we left the area, the burning ridge was visible in the rear-view mirror.  From a distance it took on the appearance of lava cascading down a volcano.

We reached Redding and decided to venture on toward Stockton.  Gradually the caffeine wore off and we decided to overnight in Corning.