Hiking in Peavy

On Sunday the forecast was for sunshine, but cool weather so we planned to go for another motorcycle ride.  The day dawned overcast, a little foggy in the hills and just darn chilly at 39˚F (3.88˚C).  We thought of the wind chill factor when riding at 60 mph and opted for a hike instead.

Troubadour and I took the trusty Subaru Forester (with heated seats) to Peavy Arboretum just north of Corvallis, a gateway that joins the McDonald/ Dunn Research Forests. Peavy houses the Oregon State University College of Forests.  Click here ----> LINK for a map of the area.  

The area is comprised of over 11,500 acres of research forests and houses 100 miles of trails. Peavy isn't the only access, there are several trail heads and gates in North and Northwest Corvallis to access the area and it is a popular place among mountain bikers such as Kari from Bluekat fame.

We walked 4 miles and went on the Bonzai trail which had one long steep section.  A little longer and steeper than anticipated but we made it and the rest was easy from there.  I'll let the pictures do that talking.

(This was behind a locked gate - no vehicles allowed except forestry ones)

(The start of the walk - just beyond the gate leading to the cabin below)

(Paul Bunyan's Go-Cart - pulled by horse, oxen and crawler tractors)

(Forestry Club Cabin and the Big Wheels)

(Troubadour and the Big Wheels)

(The trail skirted Cronemiller Lake)

(Orange metal posts used in research I assume) 

(Cronemiller Lake - Madrone trees in the center of the foreground with distinctive red bark)

(Further around the lake - orange stripes on the agility pole)

(OSU Logging Sports Team Arena - across the trial/road from the lake)

(Practice set-up in the arena)

(More fun)

(Ferns growing out of a mossy tree limb 10 feet off the ground)

(Where we're headed - hard to tell how steep this section was from the picture)

(A look behind us)

(We popped out on a wider road)

(Bonzai trail we'd just walked)

(really cool moss growing on a decomposing tree stump)

(Cap House to store blasting caps)

(Cap House built in 1937)

(Troubadour peeking in the chained door)

(Tree stump reaching for the sky)

(On our way back down - walking through the twisties)

(Back down off the trails and heading towards the car)

(On our way out I had to stop and take a picture of this old garage)

We spent a great, but chilly, few hours hiking through the woods.  We enjoyed ourselves and will definitely do it again.  There are so many trails to choose, we'll have to throw a dart at the map to pick one next time.  We did have a trail map with us while on the hike.  A lot of the trails are not well marked and I think paper map is a must when out in that many unknown acres with not a lot of other people about and no smart phone with GPS and map apps.

- Au Revoir

"As you sit on the hillside, or lie prone under the trees of the forest, or sprawl wet-legged by a mountain stream, the great door, that does not look like a door, opens." - Stephen Graham, the Gentle Art of Tramping 
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Through the Woods Ride

Because yesterday was Thanksgiving Day here in the USA I had the day off.  The forecast was for dry weather all day.  A welcome change from the 3" (7.62 cm) of rain and huge storms we experienced on Monday/Tuesday this week.

We decided since it wasn't too chilly out 49˚F (9.44˚C) that we needed to get out on the bikes.  It has been quite a while since we did any riding besides back and forth to coffee on a Saturday morning.

By noon we had all our gear layered on and a route planned.  We were off to find more covered bridges.  Since Oregon has 50 of them there are lots to choose from. Here is a link to an interactive map of the bridges -----> LINK.

We headed west towards Philomath for petrol ($3.479 a gallon) and then Southwest on Highway 34 to Alsea.  Two miles beyond Alsea we turned left to arrive at the Hayden Bridge, originally built in 1918.

(Troubadour taking a picture of Hayden Covered Bridge)

(View of the bikes taken from bridge.  Highway 34 in the background)

(With all the rain the river is running swift)

(Road on the other side of the bridge - not sure where it goes)

(Troubadour - I asked him to smile for the camera)

(Old barn beside the Hayden Covered Bridge)

Back on the bikes we turned around to get back to Highway 34.  Turned west on Highway 34 for 20 miles until we made another left turn on Five Rivers Road.  We meandered our way along the back roads and were rewarded by arriving at the Five Rivers (Fisher School) Covered Bridge.

(Five Rivers - Fisher School - Covered Bridge)

(Troubadour thinking of future geocache sites)

(Artsy leaf and bike shot)

(The sun trying to come through the clouds was making photo exposure difficult)

(I did a little iPhoto contrast adjustment to get this retro effect)

(This river isn't running as swift)

We got back on the bikes and headed further down the road.  The plan was to cut across the mountain and into Deadwood on Highway 36 for another covered bridge.  The road narrowed a little and was littered with fall tree debris.  There wasn't any traffic so we stopped for the occasional photo.

(Beautiful road along the river)

(One of my favorite pictures of the day)

Further and further up the mountain we climbed.  We passed hunters who's dogs tried to race the bikes for quite a while.  And did I mention tree debris?

(Tree debris - a test in picking your lines)

(Max picked up a little of that tree debris - he wanted to play fetch perhaps)

(Where we are going - stopped to check the map)

(Morale is high, I am laughing because Troubadour is behind me tinkling)

We pressed on and the road got a little worse and then we came to a road closed sign.  We needed to turn the bikes around and head back.  We were really hoping we didn't have to back track the entire way as we knew we'd be chasing daylight.  Troubadour turned both bikes around.  I didn't want to chance slipping in the muck and dropping Max. 

(Bike turned around - heading back from where we came)

Luckily a short way back was another side road.  Troubadour looked at the map once again and figured we could do a few miles of gravel to avoid back tracking 20 through the rough forestry road.  Good call.  Soon enough we were through the gravel and back to a main road.  We managed to get to Highway 36 and a rest area to use the facilities by 4:00 pm.

(Max really needs a bath)

(The heart of a dual sport lurks under that flashy blue and white exterior)

We originally were going to get two more covered bridges but had 70 miles to go to get home and only half an hour of daylight.  With a twist of the throttles were were off and didn't stop until we got home just after 5.  By the time we got home the temperature had dropped to 43˚F (6.11˚C).  Our feet were cold.  To warm them up and bring back some feeling we put a little warm water in the tub to splash our feet in.

(Yours truly warming my feet - apparently I just tossed my socks on the floor)

We had leftover Chinese food for dinner and held the sofa down and watched a movie.  It was a great day.

It was Thanksgiving Day and I can honestly say I am thankful for heated gear, heated grips and most of all my wonderful husband who has faith enough in my riding abilities to "lead me down the garden path" on a chilly fall day. (I think this is his way of telling me I need a Tiger 800)

- Au Revoir

"A we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them." - John Fitzgerald Kennedy
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Scooter Love

Do you love Scooters?

Do you love pizza?

Well, now there is a way to combine those to desires.....

Introducing the Kikkerland II Motorino Pizza Cutter......

(Really? The world needed these?)

And in case you didn't think it was an actual product Amazon gives you a picture of it 'in use'.

(Looks kind of photo shopped, yeah? - Nice center stand.)

What's that?  Red not your scooter color of choice?  Well then, the folks at Hoobbe present to you the Pizza Rider, in the color white for the reserved Scooterista who prefers to blend in.

(Ooooh it even has a top case)

In case you were wondering, no I wasn't Googling scooter pizza cutters.  I saw a link on Facebook today that was in regards to 10 pizza cutters we could do without and the red one happened to be on the list.

I didn't realize there were so many scooter themed kitchen gadgets out there.  The Amazon page for the Pizza Rider informed me that customers who viewed the Pizza Rider also viewed the Vespa Salt & Pepper Shakers.

No way, I thought.  I just had to click it, you know I did.  Which means I have to share it with you.

(Vespa Salt & Pepper Shakers)

I was going to stop there thinking if I didn't I'd be on the page all day, but then this caught my eye and I thought of SonjaM.

(For you Sonja ------> LINK)

Hope everyone gets a chuckle out of this.  I know I was laughing when I saw them all on Amazon. Well, it was more like head shaking except for the sign.  That one is a neat idea.

** All photos courtesy of Amazon**

- Au Revoir

"A bargain is something you can't use at a price you can't resist." - Franklin P. Jones
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