The Oakridge Boys

Despite our best efforts to sleep in, we awoke at 3 am this morning.  That is reasonable since 3 am is actually 6 am back home which is after our usual wake up time.  We checked email and read until around 7 am when we heard Mark & Cindy moving.  Mark fixed blueberry pancakes for breakfast that were very good.

Eugene;s Saturday Market

After breakfast we drove into Eugene to the Saturday Market which is very hippie Oregon.  Although the air was very cool, there was a lot of people walking around the market.  There were stands selling hand-made jewelry, natural fiber clothes, organic vegetables and food stands.  Groups across the street set up to protest one thing or another.  It is quite a spectacle  We bought a few fruits and vegetables then Cindy delivered payroll checks to some of the stores.  We got back to the house and had soup for lunch to warm us up after the cold morning at the market.

Mark's homemade beef and vegetable soup was excellent as was the ever popular chicken corn chowder.  We finished off with some Rice Crispy treats that Cindy got at a bagel bakery near the University of Oregon campus.  After lunch, Mary & I drove south through Oakridge to do some sightseeing. 

Salt Creek Falls

We visited for a few geocaches along the way but our first major stop was at Salt Creek Falls.  These falls were spectacular.  We didn’t expect anything of this magnitude in this area.  At 286 feet, Salt Creek Falls are the second highest waterfalls in the state.  We had to hike about a mile to get to the falls since the gate was locked to the area because of the federal government shutdown. There were patches of snow all along the trail as we walked to the falls, but the air temperature was comfortable since I was in shorts and a T-shirt.  We took a few snapshots of the falls and found a geocache near the walkway.  Mary spooked a garter snake as she was looking for the cache which surprised me that they would be active this late at that altitude. After seeing the falls and finding a cache we walked back to the car.  We are really enjoying the Hyundai Genesis.  It has a great stereo with XM, heated leather seats, plenty of room and a smooth ride.

We drove on to Odell Lake where we walked around and saw the Dolly Varden (not Dolly Parton) starting to go up the small streams to spawn.  Dolly Varden, also known as bull trout, are becoming more rare in the state and lakes in this area are among the few places where breeding populations exist.  The Dolly Varden were in breeding colors and their jaws were already very hooked.  Odell Lake was the subject of an early computer game by MECC for the Apple II in which players interacted with the ecosystem of the lake and monitored populations of fish species in the lake as well as water conditions.  The Odell Lake computer game with a good deal like the Oregon Trail game which was also made by MECC.

Oregon landscape with Diamond Peak in the background

We were amazed at how beautiful the leaves are up in the mountains over 5000 feet.  Since there is so much fog in the morning there was really no sun striking the leaves making them appear somewhat drab.  However, as we were driving back the evening sun was hitting the leaves making the otherwise dull yellows pop with color contrasting with the deep greens of the firs and pines.  The scenery was very beautiful up in the mountains.

We got back to Whittingtons at 6:30 and had a good dinner of grilled chicken, salad and organic corn on the cob from the hippie market.  Everything was very good.  We are hoping to stay up a little later this evening so we may be able to sleep a little later in the morning.

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