I also like Sam the Eagle.

The whole reason for the Southern Oregon adventure had to do with something I read in a guide book about 500 bald eagles nesting there in the winter. I'm not a big bird fan... Well, I'm a Big Bird fan but I'm generally not into birds other than the very large, very small and very odd varieties. So, although the bird refuges just across the border in CA did not excite me, they did interest me.

I spent a lot of time that day watching raptors float mid-air on their way to doing nothing. I was guided through the auto tour by the same gorgeous golden eagle. It was a little early in the season for bald eagles en masse, but I encountered three of the nine bald eagles recently seen in the area. Two are here:

Grungy and scrappy and scavengery and therefore worthy of being our nation's emblem? Sure. Creepily watching me as I ate my sandwich and photographed them? Definitely.

These weekend trips have been tolerance experiments. I'm quite the planner, but to stay flexible (and sane) in South America I need to let some of that go. For these recent trips I knew where I was staying (and generally speaking, what was in the area). Hells Canyon Scenic Byway and Crater Lake were planned, and they were nice. The John Day Fossil Beds and Lava Bed caves were not planned - I ran across them in a guide book the night before and they ended up being my favorite part of the trip...

All of which is to say, I think the experiments are working.

Isn't she...

Klamath Lake

Miles from nowhere, not a soul in sight...

Schonchin Butte trail ~ Lava Beds National Monument

Oregon's Hellmouth

Oh yeah, but it's alright.

Here we are now going to the south side...

I headed out with a purpose: to see what Klamath Falls, Crater Lake and some other southern Oregon towns were all about. Turns out, not much. That's not a complaint. It was nice to take a break from multi-everythinging everything and just be.

Crater Lake is pretty, for sure:


And they have a nice gift shop, and they keep the road plowed to the lake's rim in the winter, and the post office at the visitor center closes at 2pm. That's about all I can say about Crater Lake. But I hear it's lovely in the summer.

Earlier that weekend I headed a bit farther south on my way to Lava Beds National Monument and ran across this sign...

... and I got a little nostalgic. I then bought a couple of postcards and got charged sales tax, and the nostalgia went away. (I suppose if I'd pumped my own gas I could've brought it back?)

I did have a lot of fun in the caves. The others I've visited (Sacramento, South Dakota, Colorado) required guided tours. Here I showed up around noon and asked the gal at the front desk what she recommended. She sent me off with two flashlights and a map. Because it's winter there, the park was empty... and as a result the whole experience was pretty amazing.

Most of the caves are upright-walkable. Some you have to crouch in places, and a few require crawling. I didn't do the crawling ones out of respect for my knees (and my closet claustrophobia), but I definitely got deep underground in a few.

(Golden Dome)

In one of the first caves I explored, about 200 feet in I turned off the flashlight and stood in the dark listening. Outside, the wind was loud and gusting and the temperature was around 25 degrees. Inside the cave it was a balmy 55, slightly humid and... absolutely silent.

It was amazing.

After a few minutes of silence I was reminded of recent mountain lion attacks in the area and I freaked out a little. "Surely they wouldn't just let people wander around solo if mountain lions were in the area. Surely. Right? I mean, this is a national monument, after all."

And then 25 years of pop culture kicked in. I saw a flash of the Indiana Jones scene where the water comes gushing through the tunnel, and I freaked out a little more and turned the flashlight back on. And then I saw flashes from The Lost Boys and I jerked the flashlight up to make sure no vamps or bats were lounging over my head. And then I remembered the cave scenes from The Goonies, which I'd watched on fuzzy cable the night before... And then two dozen scenes from Buffy ran through my head, and then...

And then I laughed at myself, appreciated the adrenaline rush, and moved on to the next cave. (And? That night on fuzzy cable? The Lost Boys! How serendipitously odd.)

Driving sideways, taken in by the scenery...

Five more random pictures taken on the way to Klamath Falls...

Waldo Lake ~ Highway 58

Tree photobomber ~ Waldo Lake, Highway 58

Where they hide the stumps ~ Highway 58

They don't waste time with superfluous words in Southern OR

Trailhead Cafe (good stuff!) ~ Oakridge, OR

Seasons change with the scenery.

Approximately 10 minutes after I commented, "wow, it's gorgeous and sunny on the way to Klamath Falls" on my friend's Facebook status where she was lamenting crappy PDX weather, I hit the dreaded "chains required" sign and 30 degrees. I begrudgingly turned my car around and headed to the Les Schwab I'd passed a few miles back for the quintessential-but-rarely-utilized PNW car accessory.

A mere 20 minutes later I was suited up and ready to brave the snowy mountain. I didn't end up needing those chains, but let's all take a moment to thank our various deities for strategically placed Les Schwab dealers in the middle of nowhere...

And now back to our regularly scheduled program.

Take the last train to Clarksville.

along Highway 58