Hiking the McKenzie River Trail

Good afternoon & happy Tuesday.  I’m wrapping up another two days off here in my work week.  Yesterday, I decided to spend my first day off by exploring something new–the McKenzie River Trail.  This trail is located east of Eugene and is known as the number 1 mountain biking trail in the nation.  It parallels the river for about 25 miles, going past some very pretty scenery. 

   
My roommate Karlie and I went together, and we set out at 7:30 am.  It was about a three-hour drive.  As we got toward the trail, we stopped at the Willamette National Forest Ranger Station for a map and some advice on which portion of the trail we should hike.  It was suggested we do the 3-mile loop that goes near two waterfalls and to go around Clear Lake, which is a 5-mile loop.  It wasn’t long until we came up on the first waterfall named Koosah Falls. 

   

  It was a beauty!  Within the next mile, we were already up to Sahalie Falls, which we climbed to to feel the refreshing spray of the falls.  Both of these waterfalls were huge and were surrounded by bright green moss.  The water of the river was so clear and blue that it made for quite the lovely hike! 

 After the falls, we headed toward Clear Lake.  It took a half mile or so to reach the lake, and the trail skirting it went through tall pine trees.  It was a calm day–not too hot– and it made for an enjoyable hike.   

 On the northeast side of the lake we discovered Great Spring, which was located under the most beautiful turquoise pool.  Quite breath-taking!   

  

 The rest of the lake trail followed some rocky lava rocks.  Then we made our way back to the falls section, going along the other side of the river.  All in all, we hiked a little over 10 miles, but what a gorgeous 10 miles it was!

On our way home, we stopped in Springfield for dinner, deciding on Fin’s diner which was like an old-fashioned 50’s diner.  A grilled cheese & crinkle fries sure hit the spot!  By 9:30, we were back home in Crater Lake.

Despite my aching feet, I got up early to hike with Heidi and Gabby.  We decided to leave at 7:30 to find Llao’s Hallway, a feature on the topo map that does not have a designated trail to it.  Following a dry creek bed, we found it in the pinnacle formations.  The pumic rock was quite unstable, so I was content to peer over the edge, while Heidi and Gabby were a bit more brave and hiked down into it.  Overall, we hiked about 3.5 miles.  A nice morning spent in the woods.    

  Tomorrow I’m back on a Wizard Island boat shift.  These days off sure do go by quickly.  It’s looking like my last day is going to be sooner than expected–Aug. 24.  So I’ll be back home in just two short weeks.  I’m looking forward to seeing Jeremy, my family, friends, and of course my critters!

Until next time from Crater Lake!

Hikers Overboard, Red Cone, & the Coast!

It’s been an eventful few days here at Crater Lake!  Where do I start?  On Sunday, I was prepared for an early boat tour shift of just two standard tours.  Little did I know that my first tour of the day would be quite the adventure!  About half-way through the tour, our boat captain and I noticed what looked like a log floating in the channel between the shoreline and Wizard Island.  As we slowed the boat and approached the log, I saw a head pop up out of the water!  It turns out, two Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) thru-hikers had decided to hike down the wall of the caldera, build a homemade driftwood raft, place their backpacks on the raft, and swim over to Wizard Island.  All of these things are strictly prohibited here for many safety reasons, so we had to pick up the swimmers in our tour boat.  I was finally putting my “man overboard” training to good use.  We gave them some emergency ponchos and blankets, and the other passengers on the boat kindly gave them food and water.  I had to call dispatch and have a law enforcement officer meet us at the docks at the end of the tour.  So we continued on with the tour, then the swimmers, who were very kind and compliant, were unfortunately issued citations for their daring feat.  At least they got a boat tour out of the deal!  The rest of my shift was pretty uneventful, and I made it home by about 5:30 after helping out for a bit in the visitor center.

Monday was my day off, so I decided to take care of some errands at the administration office, mail out some postcards, and then decided to hike on the PCT past a peak called Red Cone.  It was a beautiful, cool day, and it made for a lovely 8-mile hike.  Later that night, we met in Steel Circle to play a little Volley-Friz.  It was a bit chilly so afterward, Heidi and I had some hot cocoa and planned out our day driving to the coast on Tuesday.

Early Tuesday, Heidi and I left for the coast at 6 am.  We headed up toward Newport, stopping in Eugene for breakfast.  In Eugene, we saw a funky doughnut shop called VooDoo donuts, so we stopped and bought a dozen to take home with us.  We then ate breakfast at a restaurant called Off the Waffle.  I ate a savory caprese waffle with tomato, mozzarelladr. , avocado, and basil.  What a treat!  It was a great way to fill up for the rest of the day.

After Eugene, we drove to Newport where we walked along the beach.  It was a gorgeous, sunny day, and the salty air was so refreshing.  We saw jellyfish, crabs, and sea anemones in the tide pools. After the beach, we visited a hotel called the Sylvia Beach hotel.  I had seen this place online and instantly knew I wanted to see it in person.  At Sylvia Beach, each room of the quaint hotel is themed with a different author.  The owners let us wander through the halls, peeking in any rooms that were open.  My favorite rooms were the F. Scott Fitzgerald and Dr. Seuss rooms.  As an English teacher, this was a huge highlight of my trip!

From Newport, Heidi and I headed south, stopping along the way to see the beaches and any other places that looked worthy of stopping.  We went to Seal Rock, Thor’s Well (which I had seen with Allison last week!), and the Oregon Dunes.  We also saw some elk along the way!

At Reedsport, we headed back east toward Crater Lake, stopping in Roseburg for a delicious Mexican dinner and a grocery run.  Unfortunately, as headed home, we were detoured because of a wildfire, but we eventually found an alternate route and were home by 11:00.

All in all, it was an exciting and very full three days.  Now it’s back to work for the week.  I hope everyone is having a great week so far.  Until next time, good bye from Crater Lake!