Another Memorial day is dedicated to a camping trip. However this year we have another purpose, not just escaping home for a couple of days. In the Summer we will have a big journey all around United States, so we would like to have a test trip first, to understand what we would need to take with us – and current trip suits our needs very well.
First we are going to see the Tamolitch Blue Pool. The water of the pool has very unusual blue-green color, but it is transparent at the same time. It happened because the river, where this pool is located, disappears under the ground among lava fields for about two miles, and then comes back to surface full of different volcanic salts and particles.
To get there we need to hike for a while, but not too long – just about two miles. The hike is pretty crowded, especially during weekends and holidays, that was a small downside for us. But anyway, after some time we reached our destination and spent some time on the top, looking at the wonders of nature. The angles of the sunlight were just right to light up every stone on the bottom of the pool. Such an amazing view!
The water in the pool is extremely cold, but there still were people who jumped in the pool. Pity, they were too noisy for such a beautiful picture.
After spending some time there we went back to the car, had a late lunch, and continued driving to our next destination – The Derrick Cave. We arrived there pretty late and had to set up our camp in dusk and early night. But there we were very lucky, there was no one around, just us and nature. After heaving quick dinner we jumped inside sleeping bags – the nights in Central Oregon are pretty chilly.
In the morning sun warmed up the surface pretty fast, so we had fun time making some smores after breakfast. Then kids went to discover close surroundings while we were packing our stuff back to the car.
Derrick cave was created somewhere between 13,000 and 6,800 years ago. It is a classic lava tube – top layers of flowing lava cooled down, creating a crust over still-flowing lava. When the eruption stops, lava drains out the tube, leaving it behind.
Over the time the ceiling of the lava tube had broken in several places and opened the entrance to the tube. It has an interesting past, because during WWII it was planned to be used as a shelter for the people if Japanese decided to bomb the West Coast of US. And during the Cold War it was determined as a nuclear shelter and was loaded with the food supplies for about 1,200 people. Supplies where stored behind the steel door, but some time after it was vandalized and remained supplies were taken away.
The supplies were stored behind that door
Green monsters live here these days
In 1960s it was used by NASA during preparation for the Apollo missions, in attempts to understand if gravimetric tests from high attitudes can find the large caverns.
Since the tube has several openings, part of it is lit by the sunlight. But going deeper you definitely need an artificial light.
We didn’t come too deep, the path was closed by the big boulders. It is possible to find a way through, but the surface becomes very uneven and it is not a walk I would like to take with small kids. However, Wikipedia promised that after some distance that tube opens to a big room. And it is cold too, in the past some families used the cave to make a homemade ice cream.
So we decided to go back to the car and use some back country road near the electric line. Everything went fine up until the closed gates – BLM land changed to a private territory with ‘No trespassing’ signs all around. Sigh, we need to go back and find another route.
Part 2 here