I sat and relaxed with them for a bit, did a bit more packing up, then when Brian woke up to make breakfast I went out on the back balcony and soaked in the morning with a cup of coffee (balcony was a bit too high up and uncontained to trust the dogs out there- railings had enough space that I could see Doozle deciding to swan-dive).
Breakfast, finished packing, cleaning up, and loading the car (checkout was 11AM). We had decided the night before over dinner that Ash Cave sounded like the best bet for an easy morning hike since everyone was pretty worn out from the 8 miles the day before, and we had a 3-hour drive ahead of us. The cave was supposed to be spectacular, and it was a short and easy hike to get down to it. There were 2 trails in from the trailhead- one was .3 mile and wheelchair-accessible (paved), and the other was .25 and rocky/hilly/stairs. We took #2 in (and #1 out).
The cave was amazing- awe-inspiring in size with almost the feel of a cathedral to it. There was a small high waterfall in the middle from an overhanging cliff face straight down to a small pool. There is also a good sized colony of rock doves that make the crevices and holes in the cave and cliff face their home- their cooing has a spooky echoing sound to it that you can't quite pale until you see a few of them take wing- then you realize they are everywhere.
I mostly sat on a rock and took everything in with the dogs while Brian set up and photographed the waterfall. We spent maybe an hour or so here just savoring the experience.
Then we packed up the dogs, grabbed flavored soft-serve from a little convenience store not too far from the cabin, and got back on the road.
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