Oregon Caves: who knew?

For my birthday in January, I booked a few nights on the coast where we enjoyed beautiful sunsets, a cozy fireplace and wonderful pizza.  Patrick decided he wanted to see Oregon Caves National Monument for his birthday in June.  For being an Oregon boy, he's seen very little of Oregon, and I didn't even know these caves existed, so we were pretty excited about a weekend exploring Cave Junction.  The other enticing factor was our lodging: the Oregon Caves Chateau is really the only place to stay near the caves, but hey - birthdays call for splurges, right?

On the 5(ish) hour trek we stopped in The Vine Restaurant, a little taste of Tuscany in Grant's Pass.  (Our tagline, not theirs - but the gaudy burgundy and cream decor and older crowd reminded me of my hometown Italian restaurant, which bears little resemblance to an actual Italian dining establishment.)  I'm pretty sure they don't serve turkey burgers in Italy, but the friendly service and tasty food made up for that fact.  That, and the marshmallow goo.

foreground: turkey burger, Tuscan stylie
background: sweet potato fries with marshmallow goo dipping sauce

We arrived at the Chateau after dark, settled in and took a little walk around the grounds to admire the moon.

caves moon

The lodge was open, airy and warm thanks to the open fire in the main sitting area.  Antiques and random art projects were scattered among modern but comfortably worn furniture. Because of it's status as a national historic landmark, the grounds and indoors are kept immaculate and customer service is over the top.  While we were there the lodge received its monthly inspection by very serious-looking ranger-type people.  (Patrick actually had to defend my coffee cup to ensure that the inspectors didn't ding the staff for leaving empty dishes in the main sitting area.  If only we had those inspectors in the kitchens at work...)

keeping cave junction weird

The staff were really friendly (and a bit quirky) and the views of the forest were lovely.  And because it was so early in the season, we were among a handful of guests the whole weekend.  Our room was right over a small pool with a manufactured waterfall.  Man-made or not, it was peaceful and the noise from the falls helped us sleep like rocks.  In the morning we ate bagels and peanut butter by the pool, then set off on a day hike around the grounds, stopping mid-day for a snack at the lodge cafe.

seeing for miles and miles from the cliff nature trail

it's no map of joseph, but it's pretty close

 aforementioned big tree - the largest known Douglas Fir

Early that evening we took a candlelight tour of the caves.  More kitschy than a typical ranger-led tour, this quick breeze through the caves gave us the background of Elijah Davidson's discovery and subsequent explorers who tried to make money off tourism.  It was interesting and entertaining, but brief, and we looked forward to the next morning's longer lit tour that would take us deeper into the caverns.

After a day of exploring it was time for a quiet happy hour overlooking the forest, followed by the celebratory birthday dinner.  The restaurant at the lodge is the only dinner option when you stay there.  While the food was alright for the rather hefty price, they let us bring our own wine and the service was really friendly. 

happy birthday hour

 

let him eat cake!

In the morning we ate breakfast at the lodge cafe, famous for its milkshakes.  We did not try a milkshake.  I may live to regret that one day.  But I did try the cave bacon.

tastes suspiciously like regular bacon

The 90-minute tour was much more informative, and we went deep into the caves to see some pretty amazing formations.  I've visited caves in California and New Zealand but I've not seen anything quite like this before.

 rare to see stalactites and stalagmites joined like this

above the ghost room

Before heading back to I-5, we wandered around No Name trail for a bit.  Overgrown, rustic and people-free - my kind of wandering.  There were a few spots with several benches and lots of places where benches had been built into the valley walls with rocks.  Unlike the day before, this trail didn't offer much of a view but the "dead end" trails were anything but...

dead end falls along no name trail

All in all, a great weekend getaway celebration.  This "plan your own birthday present" idea seems to be working out really well.  I'm already thinking about where I want to go in January...