page_title: Oregon High Desert Grotto
section_title: Exploration
hierarchical_section_title: Oregon High Desert Grotto / Exploration
caption_attribution_description: English: This is a Partnership Award from the Oregon State Land Board given to the Oregon High Desert Grotto for the work at the Stevens Land Tract in Bend, Oregon. Artwork is based on the pictograph "She Who Watches" found along the Columbia River.
context_page_description: The Oregon High Desert Grotto is an American caving club, known as a Grotto. It is affiliated with the National Speleological Society.
  OHDG is involved with caving and conservation efforts in central Oregon and beyond, including the Oregon Caves National Monument, the Lava Beds National Monument in northern California, and caves in western Idaho and southern Washington. Members of the Grotto have worked with the Department of State Lands and received a participation award from state leaders for their volunteer work. In 2013, the Grotto was recognized by Region 6 of the United States Forest Service for various volunteer hours working with caves and bats. They received the R6 Volunteers and Service and Program Award.
context_section_description: Members of the Oregon High Desert Grotto understand that caves are a fragile resource.  They are dedicated to preserving these special underground spaces.  Each year, the group organizes a number exploration trips, study efforts, and preservation projects.  The group’s exploration work includes caving adventures, cave surveys, and photographic documentation of cave resources.
  While members of the Oregon High Desert Grotto have explored caves all over the western United States, the group’s focus is on Central Oregon.  Most of the known caves in Central Oregon are in Deschutes County, the groups home area.  The Oregon High Desert Grotto has identified 690 caves in Deschutes County, 577 of these are lava tubes.  Of the remaining caves the majority are also lava related formations including vertical conduits, fissures, bubbles, and lava molds.  Of the 690 caves, there are only 42 that were not created by lava flows.  Many of these are rift or fissure caves, some up to 150 feet (46 m) deep.  There are also a number of rock shelters, large rock overhangs created by water or wind erosion.  These caves occur throughout Central Oregon, usually in rim rock areas.  Finally, there are a few talus caves.  Talus caves are found in cracks and open spaces between boulders along faults and in rock fall area.
  Some Central Oregon caves are easy to explore, especially the larger lava tubes.  However, other caves require significant planning in order to be explored safely.  Many require a strenuous hike just to get to the cave; and while underground, dark spaces and tight passages can be dangerous for anyone who is not prepared.  As a result, members of the Oregon High Desert Grotto are careful to bring along the proper equipment for each caving trip.  Explorers always wear helmets to protect our heads. Each person brings three sources of light, and members never go caving alone.
  Members of the Oregon High Desert Grotto are always careful to protect wildlife.  During the winter, grotto members avoid caves with hibernating bats.  Waking a bat from hibernation is extremely stressful, and may cause the bat to expend its fat reserves prematurely which can lead to death later that winter or early spring.  The group also avoids caves with bat maternity colonies during the summer months.
  Over the last few years, the Grotto has been involved in the study and mapping of the Sandy Glacier Caves on Mount Hood in Oregon. Their efforts were recorded by Oregon Field Guide in 2013, and aired on OPB in October of that year.
caption: Partnership Award 2008 given to the Oregon High Desert Grotto for their work at the Stevens Land Tract in Bend, Oregon. Art by Linda Pitt.
exif: {"Image Make": "EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY", "Image Model": "KODAK DX6340 ZOOM DIGITAL CAMERA", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "20", "Image YResolution": "20", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS4 Windows", "Image DateTime": "2017:11:04 14:44:55", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image Padding": "[]", "Image ExifOffset": "2328", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "5078", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "5175", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/30", "EXIF FNumber": "14/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2010:02:24 14:40:30", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2010:02:24 14:40:30", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "5", "EXIF ApertureValue": "3", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "12/5", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "28/5", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1766", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1336", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "4952", "EXIF ExposureIndex": "120", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "0", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "36", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "Low gain up", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "1", "EXIF Padding": "[]", "EXIF OffsetSchema": "3874"}