Camping Paradise

This weekend we spent two nights at Paradise Campground, which is along the McKenzie river near Belknap Hot Springs. It was definitely heavenly to soak in a hot pool after a cold afternoon on Day 1 and a hike on Day 2, but some of the amenities at the campground were out of order (nearest available toilet about 1/2 mile from our site). But it sure was pretty. And it hardly rained at all, so that was nice.

Our day hike was to Blue Pool / Tamolitch Falls. I think it was peak moss season – everything was covered in a layer of beautiful spring-green moss. We stopped to eat a snack at the top of a cliff overlooking the river. BN got a picture of one of the bright yellow birds we saw, a Western Tanager.

A small opening on this cliff led down into a cave. BN decided to explore it, and discovered that it was HUGE down there. Or I should say wide, extending far in several directions, right under the trail. The ceiling was very low and the floor was uneven, as I learned when I joined him after awhile. The only light we had was the camera – BN took flash pictures to see what was ahead.

The Blue Pool is astonishingly blue! It’s so clear that it’s hard to tell that it’s really quite deep. These are the same factors that make Crater Lake so blue.

On the hike back BN got some detailed shots of the Moss Ecosystem. To get a sense of scale, those are pine needles in the lower right of this first picture:

Hiking home along the river…