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.

Sahalie Falls

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.

Mt. Pisgah

We slept well in Robert’s room. The cool air coming in the open window felt really good.

View from Mt. Pisgah

After eating breakfast and doing a little laundry, we decided to go for a walk at a nearby county park. We decided to hike Mt. Pisgah in the Howard Buford Recreation Area, which is a Lane County park. The area has 17 miles of trails leading to the over 1,500-foot-high butte.

Since the park is very near Whittington’s house, we got there very quickly. A day camp was being held, so there was a little more traffic at the park than we expected. However, most of the camp was being held at or near the 118-acre arboretum. We decided on the Summit Trail and started up the mountain. Quite a few hikers were out, and most were wearing face masks.

Mt. Pisgah summit marker

We arrived at the summit a little after noon and found a geocache there. We sat around on some of the benches and admired the views of the Willamette Valley before starting down on a different path. The route we took was a rough narrow track that took us through fields of blackberries. We snacked on a few berries that were still on the vines as we walked downhill. The path has a lot of loose stones causing us to walk carefully down the hill. We saw several hikers coming up the hill, especially as we neared the trailhead.

We walked through the arboretum and passed small groups of children in the day camp on our way back to our rental car. We had our usual lunch of peanut butter and crackers and drank several bottles of water. To keep isolated, we ate in the rental car. We had to keep the windows open because the day had warmed since we had arrived.

When we left the parking lot, we drove to a Fred Meyer, which is part of the Kroger group, and picked up more crackers and some fresh fruit. Like many Kroger stores we have seen, Fred Meyer stores offer a large array of goods.

We got back to Whittington’s around 2:30 pm and finished the laundry. We walked around out back and looked at Cindy’s landscaping. Cindy returned home from work a little after 3 pm, so she and Mary went to their attic to sort through some items that had belonged to their parents. I did some reading and relaxed after our long walk.

Mark came home around 5 and cooked tri-tip, roast potatoes and corn casserole for dinner. It was all very good. Robert and Michael were both at the dinner which was very nice. After dinner Mary and Cindy discussed plans for Thursday’s trip to Crater Lake.

Back Home From Oregon

We left Whittington’s a little after 3 am headed to the Eugene, Oregon airport for our return trip home.  The rental car was filled last night so we didn’t need to stop before returning it to Enterprise.  Overall we were impressed with the Hyundai Genesis.  Mary especially liked the heated leather seats.  The car had a nice ride and got good fuel economy for a car of that size.

Although there was a lot of fog in Eugene, our flight left on time.  We fully expected to not make the connecting flight in San Francisco since there was only a few minutes between when we arrived and when our connecting flight boarded.  We were fortunate to get to the next gate quickly and made the flight.  We were a little concerned since the flight from San Francisco to Washington, DC was at the international terminal.  The 757 from San Francisco to Washington was a comfortable plane.  We were in business class which gave us some welcome legroom.  There was a $7 charge for the in-flight movie and we didn’t want to spend money to watch a bad movie so we read, napped and listened to music on the iPad.  You had to pay the $7 even to watch the flight map or listen to the radio on the aircraft.  The flight was a long five hours but having the roomier seats was a plus.  We got to Dulles a little ahead of schedule and made our way to our departure gate.  Dulles is quite a maze to negotiate in getting from one concourse to another.  We got to the gate with time to spare and made the short flight to Charleston.

We picked up our bags and drove home arriving by 7 pm.  We cooked some chicken on the George Foreman Grill and started unpacking from the trip.  We have a number of things to do to get ready for the week.  I also want to get some things done in the bathroom remodel project so I made a run to Home Depot to pick up the new shower door that I hope to install over the weekend.

We sure enjoyed our time in Oregon.  The landscape there is breathtaking.  The waterfalls, covered bridges and snow-capped mountains are quite scenic.  We also enjoyed out time with the Whittingtons and especially appreciate Robert giving up his bedroom to us for the week.  Both Robert and Michael are doing well.  It is great to see them growing up.  We look forward to seeing them again soon.

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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Go West Old Folks

We left home around 3 am for our 5:45 flight to Oregon.  At that time of day there was no traffic and the drive to Yeager Airport was easy.  No problems at check in our security and our short 90 minute flight departed for Chicago on time.  It is a good thing, since we had very little time to change planes at O’Hare.  We arrived at Concourse F, but our departing flight for San Francisco was out of Concourse C and was starting to board when we deplaned.  There was a 15 minute wait for a shuttle from our arrival gate to our departure gate.  The attendant estimated a 15 minute walk would be required to get between gates.  We made it in four and a half minutes!  We were racing through the airport.  When we got to our gate the priority passengers had boarded as were zones 1 and 2.  We got there just as zone 3, our seats, were starting to board.  We felt very fortunate to have made this flight.

The flight from Chicago from San Francisco was a good one although was over four hours long.  The in-flight movie, Now You See Me, was worth watching and had Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine and Woody Harrelson featured.  We got to San Francisco around 10 am Pacific Time and found a Chinese place for lunch.  I had orange chicken, and Mary had broccoli and beef.  We split some fried rice.  The flight to Eugene was delayed for nearly an hour because the Eugene airport was fogged in and nothing was coming or going from there.  We departed before noon and arrived in Eugene around 1 pm.  The air conditioning on the small regional jet was not functioning well. The cabin got really warm prior to takeoff making several of the passengers unruly, but once in the air the air cooled and so did the malcontents.

Mary waited on our checked bag while I picked up the rental car.  We had reserved a compact car but got a free upgrade to a Hyundai Genesis which is a very nice car.  We drove the short distance from the airport to Whittingtons and talked with Robert for a good while and enjoyed relaxing.  Cedar enjoyed seeing us as well.  The weather here is much cooler than we expected with temperatures in the 40s during the day.  We sat in the sunshine on the front porch and enjoyed the day.  Michael got in from school and was driving the big truck. After Mark & Cindy got in we had a great dinner of tri-tip and salad followed by some ice cream and Cindy’s banana bread.  After dinner some of us watched Shrek while Mary & Cindy played cribbage.  We were tired from our travels and the time change so we turned at 9 pm.