Greetings folks!

Our last two stops in Oregon were Oregon Cave National Monument and Crater Lake National Park. The first two pictures are from Crater Lake. At the cave we took a tour but our pictures were lousy, thus you don't see any. Also, while all caves are interesting and this one had some fascinating formations, the colors were very dull, so between the dull colors, the poor lighting and our limited camera, we didn't do so well. We had an interesting drive from the California coast to Oregon Cave National Monument. When we left the coast it was drizzly and 50 degrees and by the time we got close to the monument it was over 90 degrees and it looked like one good match could start a forest fire. Indeed, during our visit to Crater Lake we saw numerous forest fires, small ones, in the surrounding forest areas.

We spent a couple of days at Crater Lake, really two nights camping and one full day of touring and hiking. We climbed Mt. Scott, the tallest point in the park at 8900 feet to get a view of the lake. For those of you who don't know, the crater was formed when Mt. Mazama (part of the Cascades range, just like Mt. Rainier and Mt. St. Helens) blew its top 7700 years ago and all the magma underneath it drained out until the whole mountain collapsed, going from a 14000 foot peak to a crater with 7100 feet rim in elevation. It took about 2000 years for the bottom to cool enough and the cracks to seal for water to collect, and now the lake is 5 miles wide and 1/3 mile deep. There are no trails that circle the rim because it erodes so easily, so the viewpoints and summits are the best points from which to get a look at the lake. Brian is standing in front of the "Pinnacles" formations which are fumeroles (old ash vents) that have been exposed through erosion. We're learning a lot about geology, more than any of you care to know I'm sure, but it's very interesting to us, being here and all.

And so now Utah, where we were sure we could finally get away from the rain once and for all. After all, the average yearly rainfall is only 7 inches. As you may note from the last two pictures, our 5 hour hike this morning was accompanied by a steady and cold rain, more of which is predicted for tonight and tomorrow. I think all of October's allotment of rain fell while we were walking today. We finally succumbed to a hotel, just too much rain to contemplate setting up a tent in when we were already drenched and cold. But the hike at Arches National Park was great fun. I am standing in front of Partition Arch. But my favorite arch is the one that is not there. The archless picture you see is Window Arch, which fell this year. The sign is still there, but the arch is not. It's fascinating to think that these formations are coming and going endlessly as erosion does the inevitable.

We hope you are all well, as we are, and we always look forward to hearing from you.

Ruth and Brian