Hiking at Clear Lake in Willamette National Forest

After a breakfast of cold cereal, Mark and I drove into Eugene to pick up the Hosauna T-59C3 infrared outdoor sauna that we would assemble on Thursday. The sauna was in a large semi trailer that would be unable to get into their driveway or turn around to leave the house. Mark decided that it would be easier to pick the sauna up at the trucking company office so we drove into Eugene to get it. The man working at the freight company was very helpful and placed the three boxes containing the sauna into the pickup. The boxes were too wide to fit between the wheel wells so he put the boxes on four pallets and placed them into the pickup’s bed. The sauna weighed over 600 pounds and being raised made the load top heavy so we secured the load with rachet straps and started back east toward their house.

After arriving at Whittington’s house, we unloaded the boxes into a bay in the garage. We changed clothes for a trip to the Willamette National Forest where we planned to hike around Clear Lake, Since it was nearly 11 am by that time, we had an early lunch of rice cake and a yogurt parfait.

The drive to Clear Lake took over an hour northeast through the Willamette National Forest. We paid the $9 day use fee and took the path around the lake. As the name implies, the water in the lake is remarkably clear. The lake has a maximum depth of 170 feet and was created over 3000 years ago when a lava flow created a dam in the stream coming out of the mountains. As we walked along the five mile path around the lake, we went by the spring that is the origin of the Mckenzie River lava fields and hemlock forests.

After returning to the car, we drove down the McKenzie River to Sahalie Falls, a 120 foot waterfall in the McKenzie River. Sahalie Falls is the first in a series of three waterfalls and many rapids in the river within a short distance. The trail out to the falls from the parking area was short and provided great views of the falls.

After arriving back at the house, we had dinner of a Caesar salad and butternut squash soup that Mark made. I went upstairs to read but was asleep by 7:30. I woke around 10 pm, brushed teeth and went back to bed.