CAVE TOUR
ENTRANCE TREE ROOT RIVER STYX BRIDGE WHALE DRY ROOM WIGWAM 110 ft. EXIT BANANA ROOM NIAGARA KINGS PALACE GRAND COLUMN CHAPEL RIMSTONE PARADISE LOST GHOST ROOM EXIT TUNNEL
CONTENTS
[INTRODUCTION] 1 [HOW OREGON CAVES WERE FORMED] 3 [The Raw Material—Rock] 3 [Underground Erosion] 7 [Decoration] 14 [The Cave’s Age] 24 [Other Cave Features] 25 [LIFE IN THE CAVES] 27 [Plant Life] 29 [THE FUTURE] 30 [HUMAN HISTORY] 30 [CONSERVATION AND PRESERVATION] 31 [GLOSSARY OF CAVE TERMS] 34 [SUGGESTED READINGS] 36 [RULES & REGULATIONS] 37 [ADMINISTRATION] 37
Paradise Lost
INTRODUCTION
Three tired men unsaddled their horses where the mountain stream disappeared into the ground. They had fought their way 15 miles over wild, rugged mountains since leaving Williams Valley at dawn. Yet rest was far from their minds. Hurriedly they stuck tallow candles into lanterns made from tin cans, untied a lariat from a saddle, then walked down the valley. They stopped where the stream, now larger, reappeared from a shadowy crevice under a cliff.
“This must be it,” said one of them eagerly, “just like Davidson said.” And with mixed feelings of excitement, fear, and the overwhelming grip of adventure, they followed flickering candlelight into the dark opening. Tales of persons lost for days in other caves were fresh in their minds, so they uncoiled a ball of string as they went. Later they could follow it back out.