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Thursday, August 7, 2014

A Wee Walk in the Woods

Last Friday, August 1st, we had the day off together with no real plans except to try to avoid the 95˚F (35˚C) heat.

Mid afternoon Troubadour and I decided to head northwest up Kings Valley to the Beazell Memorial Forest to scope it out for possible future mountain bike rides.  For some reason we thought it might be cooler in the forest - not if you wait until 3 pm - the hottest part of the day.

We have a book on hiking and mountain bike trails in and around Corvallis and Benton County. The book calls this area the gem of Benton County.  Maybe back in 2006 when the book was written, but last Friday it didn't seem to be a gem compared to other area parks.

As you pull into the area, you are greeted by the 1875 farm house of the Plunkett family; one of the oldest dwellings in Kings Valley.  The exterior has been restored to reflect its time period, but it is not open to the public.

(Plunkett House as it sits today)
(As it looked back in the day - I took a picture of the information sign)
Beyond the parking area and restroom facilities is the 1930's era barn.  The barn has been fully restored and is now a rentable park facility and forest education center.  It was not open the day we were there.




The park has several trails to choose from.  There is a short loop for bird watching, the Plunkett Creek Loop, the South Meadow Loop, and the South Ridge Loop. Several of them intertwine together to create a longer hike.  To view a trail map click this ----> LINK.  Click on the picture in link to make it larger.

We started on the Plunkett Creek Loop.  A nice walk in the woods except for the heat.  While it was shady beneath the canopy of the trees it was quite humid and sticky.  It felt more like a tropical jungle than an Oregon forest.

The trail was a nice wide path with a steady incline.  Several bridges crossed over Plunkett Creek.






There wasn't much water in the creek.


At a junction we took a right hand turn onto the South Loop Trial and a steeper ascent with several switchbacks.  The trail narrowed and up, up, up we hiked.  Did I mention it was hot?  Did I mention it was steep?  Sure were glad we were not on the mountain bikes because of the narrow path and sharp switchbacks.

We reached the summit above the South Meadow where the trail opened up to a worn grassy road.


We took a short side loop to a viewpoint of Marys Peak.

(Viewpoint of the coastal mountains)

(Zoomed in view of Marys Peak)
There weren't many wildflowers, but the thistles were in bloom.

(Blooming Thistle)
From here we took another small side loop where we saw a huge old fir tree.  I think it was past its glory days.  I posed beside it for size reference.


We finally started our descent.  The path became an old logging road of sorts, with huge patches of deep very large gravel. The walk down was not easy on the knees.

(Looking back up the hill - the pic doesn't do the grade justice)

(Further down and another look up)

(I couldn't resist the bright leaf on the road - notice the size of rock on the roadbed)

(Up a short path - a huge water storage tank for unknown purposes)
We were almost back at the barn when we saw a set of stairs that led up to a freshwater cistern. Water was flowing in from an unknown source through a small metal pipe only to overflow out the top.  






A few yards later we were back at the car.  We used the restroom, guzzled another bottle of water and enjoyed the air conditioning all the way home.

We were only gone for a few hours, but it was nice to get out of the house.  The heat from outdoors made the house seem a little cooler too.

Another 3-day weekend coming up and hubby doesn't have to teach.  We have plans to attend the Aerostich pop-up store in Portland tomorrow as well as do a little boot and goggle shopping in the city.  Sunday (our anniversary) we have plans to get dirty on two wheels with PolarBear and his wife SweetPea. Should be fun times.

- Au Revoir

"We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time." - T.S. Elliot
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20 comments:

  1. Nice little walk in the woods. Hey its summer where is all the bike riding?

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    1. It is summer, and a frackin hot dry one too. Hubby commutes by bike 46 miles round trip on a long straight boring, high traffic highway. By the time the weekend comes around he is a little burned out of highway riding. We did get out on the dirt this weekend.

      I also suggested he take the car to work more so he isn't tired of road riding.

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  2. Happy Anniversary! And a visit to Aerostitch…

    The trail looks cooler than it actually was I guess. The cistern looks like a nice, cool pool.

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    1. Thanks Richard. We were a little disappointed with the pop-up store. Busy and not enough staff and not well organized.

      The trail was cooler than being in the direct sunlight but still very warm.

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  3. Happy Anniversary! You two made some large things look huge out there. I'm with Richard, the woods looked inviting but I can easily appreciate how warm they must have been.

    I did not realize that Aerostich did pop up locations.

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    1. Thanks Coop for the anniversary wishes (18 years).

      On the West coast Aerostich has done pop up stores in San Francisco and also Seattle I believe. This was a first in Oregon. They rented a vacant shop in a strip mall. Good for people who want to get sized and need a custom suit.

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  4. It's not the heat, it's the humidity - Happy Anniversary.

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    1. Thanks Karen. And I agree the humidity gets you. Eastern Oregon high desert doesn't seem as bad because they are dry. Forecast is for 90 degrees and thundershowers, me thinks it will get more humid.

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  5. I spy some tracks that the yammies should be exploring...

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    1. No motorized vehicles allowed, but don't think we weren't thinking of it. Had fun yesterday out in the dirt though.

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  6. Trobairitz:

    "Happy Anniversary" I would have thought that it would be cool under the tree cover, at least cooler than in direct sunlight. Looks like you had the whole forest to yourselves, maybe because it was a weekday. I am liking your 3 day weekends.

    bob: riding the wet coast

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    1. Thanks Bob. The trees gave some shade, but didn't reduce the heat much at all surprisingly. There were only 2 cars there when we arrived and one couple was just leaving. Part way up the trail another couple was heading down so we pretty much had it all to ourselves. I think because of the heat of the day.

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  7. Sometimes it is just nice to get out, it makes you appreciate the not-so-warm home more, doesn't it?
    It must have been nice to cool down by the cistern.

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    1. Yes it does. We got home from dirt bike riding yesterday and it was 80 degrees in our house. Still cooler than the 97 outside.

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  8. that big old Fir tree looked like something out of a Harry Potter movie! The first pic of the restored barn would have looked much better with a couple of motorcycles by the fenceline.......

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    1. I'll have to take your word for it Dom, we've never seen any of the Harry Potter movies. Motorcycles would have looked good by the fence, but we didn't want to put gear on in those temps.

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  9. Happy anniversary! Eighteen years is worth celebrating to be sure. Clearly it's a partnership that is paying dividends. Find a bottle of something bubbly and a nice cool place to toast each other.

    As for the cistern, I don't suppose it could be considered a 'cool tub' now could it? Given the heat, the two of you showed remarkable restraint for not hopping in for a quick soak.

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    1. Thanks David. I am sure we'll be together many more years. He owes me another 32, I think the contact was for 50, lol.

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  10. Forest education sounds like a bugger to me. People get set in their ways enough that education doesn't take but trees have never seemed to me to want to educated at all.
    Speaking as one who is married, has your marriage ever felt the need to be defended against same gender unions? Me neither, odd that, eh?

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    1. Ha, I am sure we have nothing to teach trees, but yet have a lot to learn from them.

      Nope, not once have I ever had to defend our marriage due to same sex unions. Love is love, and I don't think people should be discriminated against because of who they love. But then, I have an open mind too.

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