This weekend, we took the boys to a spectacular site in the gorge... an ice cave. While the formations may have been bigger 5-6 weeks ago (will have to remember that for next year!), they were still stunning. The ice cave is a lava tube near Mt Adams... ice seeps through the cracks into the cold cave, and stalagtites and stalagmites form - - in ice. Here's Glen near one of the formations.
The whole inside was covered in waterfalls of ice. And, it was slippery. There were places that were sheer ice, some that looked slushy but were really slippery, and some that looked solid that were really slushy. We came prepared - everyone had a headlamp and flashlight, and we wore winter clothes, which allowed us to stay in the cave for a couple of hours.
This photo shows both Glen's favorite formation (the "scales" that the ice appeared to form... he said it was like the skin of a dragon), and my favorite formation (the "cups" that formed in the melting stalagmites). Totally cool.
We thought we had the cave to ourselves - at least there were no other human occupants. But, at the very end of our trip, Tyler found this little guy - a really neat looking salamandar. Totally unexpected, and very cool!
As an unexpected bonus, the views on the driver were stunning. We saw the Gorge, Mt. Hood, and here, Mt. Adams. Definitely will be another place to explore!
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