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Oregon - Day 9 (7/19/2007)
Once again we hiked all day today. After breakfast at the restaurant at McMenamins we headed to the
Lava River Cave about 12 miles outside of
town. There we rented a propane lantern and took an unguided hike into the cave, which passes under I-97 and keeps going. We went as far as most
hikers, just over a mile in (going any further requires crawling on your belly). For lunch we had terrific sanwiches at
Kebaba in Bend. Then we headed north to
Smith Rock State Park where we did a spectacular 4-mile loop past
Monkey Face where we watched rock climbers practicing their art in the beautiful afternoon sun. As far as hikes go, this was one of the
most beautiful ever. The hike is #32 ("Smith Rock") in the book
100 Hikes in the Central Oregon Cascades (3rd edition). For dinner we went Mexican again, this time at the very popular El Jimador in Bend.
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 About to enter the cave |
 Laura and our trusty lantern |
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 The photographer posing |
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 Non-flash shot of the surface |
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 These kids want to go further |
 That's our breath in the photos |
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 It's always 42F in the caves |
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 Back to the entrance |
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 Farmer near Smith Rock |
 Rock climbing ads near Smith Rock |
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 The Crooker River at Smith Rock, our trailhead |
 Footbridge over the river |
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 Man and his best friend wade across |
 Pigeons taking flight from their roost |
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 First glimpse of a climber |
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 Natural bus stop |
 See the climbers? |
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 Poisonous snake on the trail |
 Egret in flight over Crooked River |
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 Waterfall |
 Taking a rest |
 First glimpse of Monkey Face |
 Climbers all over the face |
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 Climber in its mouth |
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 Climb to Monkey Face |
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 Climber coming down |
 Trio ready to ascend |
 Two guys and a gal |
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 We're now above Monkey Face |
 Climber and his two assistants |
 Not for a million bucks |
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 Photo taken from pointy ledge opposite Monkey Face |
 Family admiring the view |
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 Ledge (where I was) and mouth |
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 Dusty switchbacks leading down |
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 Our buddy Alex |
 Alex racing us down |
 Fishing |
 Relaxing |
 Nests of some sort |
 Roosting pigeons |
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