(And retrospective on Ashland to follow next week).
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Home (Again)!
(And retrospective on Ashland to follow next week).
Monday, August 16, 2010
Cooling Off On A Hot Day
Saturday, August 14, 2010
A Fine Kettle Of Fish
It took us about two hours to drive from Proxy Falls to the home of our friends, Darcy and Beth, in the countryside south of Eugene. The Old McKenzie Pass Highway, Number 242, wound its way down-slope to the intersection of the newer, wider, faster McKenzie Pass-Santiam Pass Highway 126. Once we’d reached the broader road, we went through the hamlets of McKenzie Bridge, Blue River, Vida Flats, and Leaburg before skirting Springfield and exiting the highway into downtown Eugene.
Using theiPhone Map Quest 4 Mobile app and Darcy’s directions, we headed out of Eugene on Bailey Hill Road, leaving civilization far behind us. Beef cattle grazed in the valley; conifers climbed up to the ridgelines.
The cooler than normal weather that we’d experienced during the first days of our trip dropped by the wayside. It had probably been in the mid-80’s during our Proxy Falls hike in the mountains. Down in Eugene a thermometer sign on a bank read 101 degrees.
But at 800’ above sea level and closer to the coast than town, our friends’ home was only pleasantly warm in the late afternoon as a gentle breeze blew across the shaded porch where we sat enjoying a cold beverage at the end of a hot day.
At our Metolius River digs we’d dined on take-out, a simple pasta meal, and a frozen pizza popped into the cabin’s oven for a half-hour. Not the most dramatic of meals that either Cindy and I have ever cooked for ourselves or guests. Beth, on the other hand, whipped us up a gourmet feast of baked local cod and home-grown chard stuffed with cottage cheese accompanied by an excellent Pinot Gris from King Estate Winery just down the road. Dessert was fruit cobbler served with Eiswein. Nothing is better than having the hospitality of friends, except having the hospitality of friends who are good cooks!
Using the
The cooler than normal weather that we’d experienced during the first days of our trip dropped by the wayside. It had probably been in the mid-80’s during our Proxy Falls hike in the mountains. Down in Eugene a thermometer sign on a bank read 101 degrees.
But at 800’ above sea level and closer to the coast than town, our friends’ home was only pleasantly warm in the late afternoon as a gentle breeze blew across the shaded porch where we sat enjoying a cold beverage at the end of a hot day.At our Metolius River digs we’d dined on take-out, a simple pasta meal, and a frozen pizza popped into the cabin’s oven for a half-hour. Not the most dramatic of meals that either Cindy and I have ever cooked for ourselves or guests. Beth, on the other hand, whipped us up a gourmet feast of baked local cod and home-grown chard stuffed with cottage cheese accompanied by an excellent Pinot Gris from King Estate Winery just down the road. Dessert was fruit cobbler served with Eiswein. Nothing is better than having the hospitality of friends, except having the hospitality of friends who are good cooks!
Remembering Quincy
I met Quincy in July of 1984 at a campground just west of the McKenzie Pass on Highway 242 which runs between the Willamette Valley and the town of Sisters on the east side of the Oregon Cascades. We would spend the next five days together camping out in the wilderness that lies at the foot of the volcanic peaks known as the Three Sisters.Quincy and I were about the same height at the shoulder, but his head towered over mine due to his much longer neck, and he outweighed me by a hundred pounds or more. I changed my clothes a few times during the next few days; he always wore the same shaggy coat.
By the end of our mountain trek it was debatable who was the scruffiest even though both of us had bathed at the end of each day’s hike, me by dousing myself with with a bucket of cold snowmelt, he by rolling around in the dirt. Both of us, without a doubt, smelled pretty “fragrant” by the time we finished the trip.
Death Hike
Our Oregon guidebook and the brochures we’d picked up while staying at the Metolius River mentioned some short hikes to waterfalls along the McKenzie River highway between Sisters and Eugene. The most inviting of these was to Proxy Falls.
Friday, August 13, 2010
A Tale Of Two Streams
One last day. Two streams. Two hikes.
After lounging around the cabin until late morning, we left the CR-V in the resort’s parking lot, moseyed down the Metolius and followed it downstream for a mile. For the first fifteen or twenty minutes we passed summer homes that border the western bank of the river below the bridge that connects the resort to the general store. The rest of the way it was wild and scenic riverside scenery until we reached the next bridge and a campground north of the resort.
The trail winds through Ponderosa Pines. Although it’s nearly mid-August
wildflowers still bloom along this stretch of the river and butterflies were feasting on clover nectar.
The river gradient is not too great so there isn’t much downhill and uphill on this easy walk. It’s shady most of the way and a gentle breeze made it a comfortable mid-day stroll.
At the next bridge we met a couple from Portland who were camping on the other side of the river. The wife had been coming here for nearly 50 years and said she had a photo taken at the campground when she was just a year old.
On the way back we stopped to chat with a father and son pair of fishermen. They told us that the river water was quite cold (the son had been wading in the river near the bridge and said his feet felt like they were frozen). The Metolius is a fly-fishing only, catch-and-release river, so even if you can get more than a nibble from the local trout, you have to toss them back.
After a late lunch back at our cabin, we hopped in the car and drove a few miles to the west for our last hike of the day. It was a two-mile roundtrip walk along a dusty trail that parallels Jack Creek, one of several streams that flow east and merge with the Metolius.
The temperature was supposed to reach the mid-to-upper 80’s today, but it didn’t seem to have gotten much over 80, if that high. Shade along this boring trail kept us reasonably cool as we ascended the watershed for a mile until we reached the headwaters which, like those of the Metolius, spring from the bottom of a steep hillside.
When we got back to the campground where the trail began we were surprised to see so many empty campsites on a Friday evening in summer especially since Eugene, Corvallis, Salem, and Portland are only two to three hours away by car. It’s very “un-California” here.
It’s Friday Pizza Night at our cabin as we enjoy or third night in a row “dining in.” We’ve got satellite TV and hope there will be a good “Pizza Night” movie on A&E, TNT, or TCM.
After lounging around the cabin until late morning, we left the CR-V in the resort’s parking lot, moseyed down the Metolius and followed it downstream for a mile. For the first fifteen or twenty minutes we passed summer homes that border the western bank of the river below the bridge that connects the resort to the general store. The rest of the way it was wild and scenic riverside scenery until we reached the next bridge and a campground north of the resort.The trail winds through Ponderosa Pines. Although it’s nearly mid-August
wildflowers still bloom along this stretch of the river and butterflies were feasting on clover nectar. The river gradient is not too great so there isn’t much downhill and uphill on this easy walk. It’s shady most of the way and a gentle breeze made it a comfortable mid-day stroll.
At the next bridge we met a couple from Portland who were camping on the other side of the river. The wife had been coming here for nearly 50 years and said she had a photo taken at the campground when she was just a year old.
On the way back we stopped to chat with a father and son pair of fishermen. They told us that the river water was quite cold (the son had been wading in the river near the bridge and said his feet felt like they were frozen). The Metolius is a fly-fishing only, catch-and-release river, so even if you can get more than a nibble from the local trout, you have to toss them back.
After a late lunch back at our cabin, we hopped in the car and drove a few miles to the west for our last hike of the day. It was a two-mile roundtrip walk along a dusty trail that parallels Jack Creek, one of several streams that flow east and merge with the Metolius.The temperature was supposed to reach the mid-to-upper 80’s today, but it didn’t seem to have gotten much over 80, if that high. Shade along this boring trail kept us reasonably cool as we ascended the watershed for a mile until we reached the headwaters which, like those of the Metolius, spring from the bottom of a steep hillside.
When we got back to the campground where the trail began we were surprised to see so many empty campsites on a Friday evening in summer especially since Eugene, Corvallis, Salem, and Portland are only two to three hours away by car. It’s very “un-California” here.
It’s Friday Pizza Night at our cabin as we enjoy or third night in a row “dining in.” We’ve got satellite TV and hope there will be a good “Pizza Night” movie on A&E, TNT, or TCM.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Land O’Lakes
Dog On Two Kayaks Lake. Swanky Resort Lake. Water Toy Lake. Weird Guy In The Hammock and Chocolate Lab Lake. Lost Lake. Itty-Bitty Frog Lake. Today was Land O’Lakes Day in the Central Oregon Cascades Day for us.We were slightly less slothful (Three Sloths on a Five Sloths scale as opposed to Four Sloths yesterday) today. We arose at a Semi-Slothful hour, bathed, breakfasted, packed up our gear and lunch, and got out the door around 11 am.
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