Hiking – Page 12 – Not Your Average Engineer

May 1, 2011July 1, 2020

Peavy Arboretum Bushwhacking

Today I went bushwhacking in Peavy Arboretum. Or perhaps a better term would be bushwalking.

This is the forestry club cabin. I went to an event here once long ago.

Lush ferns doing their thing.

The trail network is very well maintained in Peavy Arboretum.

Calloway Reservoir. Long ago, Rick, Chris, and I tried to go fly fishing here but were stymied by this very sign!

The George W. Brown Sports Arena. Home of the Oregon State University Logging Sports Team.

Cookies cut. This is a much smaller log than what Timber Joey cuts through.

Pole climbing. It’s a race to the top!

An old weir or diversion of some sort.

Walking through a recent clear cut. I chose the road less followed.

I’m not quite sure which mountain that is in the distance. Mount Hood maybe?

A little campsite at the end of the road.

Bushwhacking to another trial.

I followed forest creature paths through an old growth stand.

A towering tree.

The old Cap House. The inscription reads: “We never carried off any dead or anything like that.’ Built in 1937 by the Civilian Conservation Corps, the Cap House was designed to store the blasting caps for various projects, such as stump removal, on road clearing projects and rock quarrying. The caps stored here were silver-dollar sized incendiary devices that, when lit, caused the powder to heat up and explode. The caps were housed separately from the powder to eliminate accidents. The quote above demonstrates the success of this effort.”

Looking down into the valley where Soap Creek runs.

The path through a clearcut.

Marys Peak in the distance. It still has snow on top.

In a dense stand of 2nd or 3rd growth timber.

The trees all lean to the side because this area is a slow-moving landslide. After this picture, I hiked several miles through about 15 year old underbrush to get out of the forest. Rather than bother with the normal roads and trails, I decided to go through the thick of things to see something different. It wasn’t very photogenic, but it was fun.

A wildlife tree.

Or rather a wildlife stump.

Almost out of the forest.

April 29, 2011July 1, 2020

Found Book Hike

This afternoon I went on a hike that started on campus and ranged all the way to the base of Chip Ross Park. Along the path by the high voltage power lines, I was caught in a bit of a rainstorm. Luckily the trees provided me with a natural umbrella until the storm passed.

Walking through the forest, I stumbled upon a copy of an Anne Rice book entitled “Vittorio the Vampire.” It seems someone who enjoys trashy vampire horror/romance novels was walking in the woods and lost their book. I left it be in case the owner returns once night falls.

The irises are blooming in the forest. Spring has finally almost arrived.

This is an often overlooked meadow just beyond the current boundaries of the Timber Hill development. It is quite wet this time of year but very beautiful nonetheless. Just prepare for water if you go walking. I stupidly wore running shoes rather than my Goretex walking shoes and ended up with very wet feet.

I bet this tree looks spooky at night. At its base is an oddball basalt outcropping.

Corvallis in the distance with the new development at the corner of 29th and Walnut a little closer. This particular spot would be wonderful for a picnic in the summer once the grass dries out. It’s out of the way but not too far from town and has a decent view.

Looking up toward Chip Ross Park.

Someone lost their hat.

There is a lot of water running around through these meadows. The whole place is a squishy wetland.

Chip Ross Park in the distance. So, who wants to come hiking with me the next time I ramble around town?

April 24, 2011July 1, 2020

Aborted Attempt at McCulloch Peak

Today I took a hike up toward McCulloch Peak.

The treat of rain was ever-present but I pressed on anyway.

Spring is a month late to Oregon this year.

Ferns uncurling their fiddle heads.

Moss sending out spores to start the next generation.

I turned off the road leading to Uproute Trail onto a side spur that turned into a muddy single-track path through the forest. Lots of bike tracks on the path but no footprints. Someone recently had done some work on the fallen logs to make them easier to pass over with a bicycle.

A tree fallen over a creek buried deep in a ravine.

Someone recently notched this tree out.

Partway up to the 7071 road, I found a plank course setup across some pick-up-sticks fallen down trees. The route isn’t quite finished at the end yet but it’s getting close to being done. I wonder who is building out in the forest. The College of Forestry would probably be pretty irritated if they discovered all of this work in their forest lands.

I would suggest getting off at the bottom of this plank set. Otherwise you’ll end up halfway down a log with nowhere to go except to the ground — crashing to the ground.

The approach and first two plank routes.

RIDE THE PLANK!

Another notched log to aid in the passage of bicycles.

A notched and flattened log across a creek. All the bike tracks lead to that log. Epic crossing.

The top of the trail. It comes out part-way along the 7071 road.

The trail.

Looking north along the road. The trail is just to the right of me.

I was planning to continue up to the top of McCulloch Peak but the clouds suddenly set down on me and the wind picked up. Already being wet from the underbrush on the trail, I decided to head downhill rather than find myself on top of a mountain in a rain storm.

Partway down, the clouds lifted for just long enough to get a picture looking toward Sulfur Springs and Soap Creek.

Some happy moss protected by jealous poison oak that is still dormant but yet quite capable of producing the skin condition that so many people are susceptible to while tromping through brush.\

The verdant creek bottom.

A tributary creek coming off the west flank of Dimple Hill.

The forest stream making happy little noises.

Just as I left the forest, the rain started. I managed to not get completely soaked but I didn’t quite get up to the top of McCulloch Peak today. Maybe someday soon spring will finally come to Oregon and outdoor activities will be a little less soggy. One can hope anyway.