We drove to Oregon Caves National Monument to hike a couple of short loop hikes before the afternoon rain. On the drive up, we saw several wild turkeys on the road.
We hiked the No Name Trail Loop and the Big Tree Trail Loop for a total of 5 miles with 1,550 ft of gain. We only saw 2 rangers and no other people in the park today.
The trails are very well marked. We started on the No Name Trail.
We saw lots of violets
and well over a hundred calypso orchids!!!
Small covered bridge along the trail.
Cave Creek runs under the covered bridge
Loved this bench in this boulder alcove.
On of the two small waterfalls along No Name Creek
The second waterfall was covered by lots of downfall.
Small waterfall near the visitor center on our way to Big Tree Trail.
Blind leads in the cave system
A short ways up the Big Tree Trail was this lovely overlook.
small empty wasp nest along the trail
Very pleasant forest walk.
I love the flowers on this bush, we saw several of these plants along the way.
Small creek along a spur trail
We found a small snow patch on the trail.
The currants were in bloom.
This is noted as the largest diameter Douglas fir known to be in Oregon
millipede
snail
This stellar jay greeted us as we enjoyed our lunch at the end of our hike.
Some of the wildflowers and fungi we saw along the trail today:
We found a small snow patch on the trail.
millipede
This stellar jay greeted us as we enjoyed our lunch at the end of our hike.
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