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Last outing of the year in the Doubs
While I was hoping to do another 2-3 weekends in VivaLaVida before storing her for the winter, a family celebration and an episode of gastroenteritis for Emile only let us make one last bivouac of the year on the last November weekend.
We went discovering two natural arches located in the Doubs department, south of Montbelliard in France.
1. Here we are not far from the first arch.
2. After a short climb, we walk along the cliff towards the arch…
3. … which soon appears through the fog.
4. Called Cave of Bisontin, the arch was created by the collapse probably several thousand years ago of the roof of a large cave created by infiltrations in the limestone rock.
5. The arch is quite impressive with a span of about hundred feet. It is the largest I have seen in Europe so far.
6. Emile gives the scale as the fog creates a particular atmosphere.
7. To reach the second arch, the path is steep as it follows a limestone ridge with cliffs on both sides. While the fog makes everything very slippery, I give up going there with Emile as a slip would certainly lead to a serious accident.
We go boondocking on a viewpoint above Maîche where we cook a good sauerkraut on our last campfire of 2022! It is also an opportunity to break a “Marmite de l’Escalade” (chocolate pot) a few days in advance, a Geneva tradition which commemorates the attempted invasion of 1602 by the Savoyards.
8. Chilly wake up…
9. … above the mist…
10. … with beautiful colors.
11. On the return trip, VivaLaVida crosses the symbolic bar of 300,000 km (186,000 miles). It’s not huge for a vehicle that drives in America – those with between 300 and 500,000 miles are quite common – but given the miles driven on trails – probably approx. 35,000 since I converted VLV to 4×4 – and the twisty roads of Europe, that’s already a respectable mileage. 🙂
After this outing, VivaLaVida went back to its winter shelter. I am already looking forward to the next adventures she has in store for us!
Thank you again to all of you who follow our modest peregrination on board. I already wish you Happy Christmas time. 😉
Still in Oregon…
Here are some other spots I discovered in Oregon.
I told you, we’re right on the “Ring of Fire” and there are many sites of volcanic geology. One of them is the Newberry National Monument, a Hawaiian type volcano whose last erupted 6,000 years ago.
1. I first discovered the end of the lava field, about 6 miles away from the crater…
2. Here is the crater. Not more than 600 feet high, formed of falling slag from its explosions and expulsions of lava.
3. Nearby, virtually nothing was able to grow from 6,000 years, the particular combination of austere basalt and dry climate minimizing the creation of humus.
4. And I had the amazing and unexpected opportunity to finally solve the mystery of the Loch Ness monster. In fact, Sherlock Holmes and all the others could look far; they couldn’t know that Nessie had moved and was now living in the lava fields of Newberry! 😀
5. The basalt of Newberry diverted the Deschutes River, forcing it to dig its canyon in the more friable rock than basalt.
6. VivaLaVida then continued its way south-west across the highlands, vast horizons penetrated by only some few popular backroads.
7. I drove later than usual to sleep close to the next site…
… which is a lava tunnel called Derrick Cave.
8. Arrival in the morning.
9. This tunnel is impressive, about 30 feet wide and 15 in height to its input.
10. The roof collapsed in places, letting the light entering in the first 300 feet.
11. A photo with the penguin to give you the scale. 😉
12. After 200 meters, the tunnel plunges underground, without any light. This photo was taken with the only light of small torch light. The tunnel is here more than fourty feet high, impressive. But without a second light, I didn’t go much further, didn’t want to find myself in there without light…
Still another site to discover another geological phenomenon or rather sysmic: “Crack in the Ground,” a crack in the rock created by an earthquake a few thousand years ago.
13. His visble part is almost one mile long…
14. … portions of which are accessible by walk.
15. Some blocks are really in precarious balance!
16. I cannot show you but you can really see that this layer wass opened, the shapes of the rocks are similar in positive/negative on opposite sides.
17. After these discoveries related to volcanoes of this region, I went to sleep in sand dunes close to “Lost Forest”.
18. The sunset was beautiful.
Stay tuned for more to come soon… 😀
D5 Creation