Gil's Oregon Trail- Riding around Corvallis

Hi all! Today my plan is to ride around Corvallis, home to Oregon St. University and one of the most bike friendly towns in the US. I learned that this area, part of the Mary's Creek watershed, was long ago  home to the Kalapuyans. They burned forest to make places for Camas Lily, deer, and elk, which they lived on. Years later around the early 1800's fur-trappers working for the Hudson's Bay Company arruved. At first the whites only wanted to trade for beaver skins, but then they decided they wanted their land. In 1834 came the Indian Trade and Intercourse Act. Then in 1850 The Willamett Valley Treaty. In 1851 the Kalapuya were asked to leave. "Never! Never! We do not wish to leave our Country!" said Daboe, a Luckiamutes head-man. " We wish to remain, our fathers, our families, and our friends are buried here." said Scho-la-que of the Mary's River clan. Despite their protests, they were moved to Grand Ronde, a small area far to the north, where many of the coastal people were moved.

The US took over little by little. Spain ceded control in 1819. Russia gave over it's claims in 1824. For awhile Britain or the Hudson's Bay Company dominated until the time of President Polk ( 54' 40" or Fight!). Britain settled the issue in 1844, leaving Oregon to us, while establishing the present US-Canadian border. Corvallis was a transportation hub. Settlers began moving in by the "Trappers Trail", the "California Trail", the "Applegate Trail" ( which came out of the Great Basin via the Humboldt Sink, crossing the Klamath , Rogue, Umpqua and Long Tom rivers). in 1840 Methodist missionaries, Hines and White arrived. A college was established in in 1852, which became OSU in1886. I'll be studying my history books to fill in the gaps, which are many.

Today, I enjoyed hanging out at the Corvallis Farmer's Market which was set up in a the park that lies along the Willamett River. I bought figs from a local farm stand, enjoyed home-made Polish sausage, and listen to blues music. I picked up a Corvallis Bike Map at the library and then tried out all the routes I could in a day, including the Willamett, Philomath, Bald Hill, and Brooklane trails. I put 33 miles on my odometer today. Tonight I pedaled up to Reservoir Hill and found a place to camp. See you in the morning!

Gil's Oregon Trail (Eugene to Corvallis via the Willamett Valley Trail)

Hi again! Perused some issues of Adventure Cycling in the laundry room: Riding Taiwan, Biking Japan, Using Amtrak and biking Vermont, Biking Morrocco, cycling in Northern Italy....something to think about. I learned about the US Bike Route System (USBRS), EuroVelo in Europe, La Route Verte in Quebec, and the Mississippi River Trail Way (both sides!).

The next morning I got started early, pedaling down Coburg Road. Just as I entered town I found the Coburg Bakery and Pizza Co. After enjoying a coffee and a monster cinnamon bun, I donned my helmet and saddled up only to find my tire was flat. Oh well, it happens... then I noticed a serious crack in my rear rim. Going back to the bakery, I inquired about nearby bike shops. "In Eugene." I was told. I was at least 10 miles out of town. Then an angel appeared. Debra was her name. "Come, put your bike in my car and I'll take you there." She drops me off and leaves me outside Willie's bike shop. Then she's gone, only the echo of her wings fluttering in my ears.

As I waited for the shop to open, I talked with Jonah, also waiting at the door. He's a new bike rider, thanks his discovery of an old Schwinn at a garage sale. He's pretty excited to be able to ride to work after some tedious miles walking and waiting for buses. I cheer him on, giving him a few tips that helped me keep going after I started. Like "carry a patch kit and a pump... and don't worry about rain, just get a good raincoat..."

Willy doesn't have the right size rim, so, after fixing the flat I pedal a little ways to Bicycle Way of Life. No, It's not a church. Michael the owner and master mechanic fixes me up, not just the rim but the brakes and derailers. God is watching over me! Ready to restart from downtown Eugene I coffee up at Dutch Brothers and get a little rap music for my sound track.

The way back to Coburg is very familiar by now, so it goes fast. Stopping in at the bakery, I ask the server I met earlier if he knows Debra. He does. So I leave the price of a latte with him, " Tell her it's from the biker you helped." I leave town taking the North Coburg Road it's numbing-ly straight... and goes for miles. Finally I turn onto Gap Road ... and then it's climb, climb, climb to a pass ( must be the Gap) ...then racing down-hill, "twisting and shouting". I come into Brownsville, a historic little town with a feisty streak of independence. Lots of pioneer age buildings ... still standing! Then 7 mile Road, W. Linn Road, Robert's Road... Watch out for soft shoulders on these roads...and be ready for wind, cause there's not much out there between you and it. Then Boston Mill Rd. to Shedd, another historic farm town. I was saddened to see an old Methodist church, where services had been held continuously since 1853, with auction sign nailed to the timbers. I believe in the Resurrection. 

I turned on Fayetteville Rd. So many "Fayettevilles" in the US. My mom lived in Fayetteville Arkansas. Down the road I saw black walnut trees, tall and straight, another thing that reminded me of my mom. I crossed over  Muddy Creek and saw a score of salmon of spawning size. Then Peoria Rd, and White Oak, and then suddenly Highway 34. I stood there puzzled for a few minutes till I realized that there was a separate bike lane across the Highway. The Willamett Valley Trail is mostly country road with very few signs ( usually at  a road change and not very big.) Anyway, you take the bike way west until you come to a right curving, arching overpass, which you follow over the river. You'll see a sign on the downhill that assures you that you're in a bike lane. There before you is Corvallis, "Heart of the Valley" in Latin.

I'd hoped to get to the Library and email my friends Phil and Audra, but alas I got to town at 730pm and the library closes at 6. I did bump into Brian, who I could see by his outfit that he was a serious biker. He pointed me to Squirrel's, a pub known for it's good food. I ordered the Squirrel Burger, which has "everything", including a fried egg! I peddled off to the West side of town to where I'd camped before, near the fairgrounds. Though a good ways off, I could hear the Gospel and Country music, I think everyone was singing. Later it was the little critters that live among the Garry Oak  that kept me awake. I think I plunked down on one of their trails... probably the one between the bathroom and the refridgerator. And now a little "shut-eye". Goodnight!

South Sister Road to Eugene ( Armitage Co.Park).

Back again! I Head out early as the day  dawns. I've seen signs here and there: "CTR", "Legacy", and "RIDE". I'm still trying to figure out if they connect to some organized rides. I'm pretty much all aloneup here, riding along in the middle of the woods.Now I'm starting to climb, I've just passed a quarry, where all the gravel trucks I've seen have been going.  I'm climbing seriously, a steady steep grade. A lot of recent clear-cutting trashes my beautiful views, as I attain Ox-bow Pass. Then there's a swift descent (hang on to your handle-bars!). Then eventually after awhile I come to a junction . There is a large wooden map of the area:  the Siuslaw River Rd. and Wolf Creek Rd. are carved on it. Unfortunately,  my intended route Siuslaw River Rd. is closed between MPs 15 & 16. So I take Wolf Creek Road ( more direct to Eugene). Wolf Creek Rd. involves another good climb and there are more log trucks, but lucky for me I can hear them coming miles away and have time to pull off the road. A little raccoon was not so lucky. At the highway I turn left and after a few flat miles, I take Crow Road. Here Again I run into the summer road crews. I always go right up to the flagger, who explains  the safest way to proceed. After Crow Rd, I took Hwy 123 to a stop-light, then left, and left again onto Ferncliff Lane Bike Trail to downtown, through the Willow Creek Natural Area and Amazon Creek. This area preserves the "wet prairie" which used to predominate this area, but now makes up less than 1 % of the terrain. This important habitat for may-flies, dragon-flies, Dobsen-flies (larvae called Hellgrammites), giant water bugs, stone-flies, beaver, nutria, red fox, etc. Amazon Creek got it's name because it used to flood all the time. From 1913 til 1996 they chopped, mowed, scraped, dug, and concreted. Now they're trying to restore things. We so often learn the hard way. Down-town I found a food truck "Chatyo" and had Thai pumpkin curry ( go for less spicy!). I went to the library at 10th and Charnelton where I found a really nice Eugene Bike Map. After inquiring at Hutch Bike Shop re the best route out of town, I got back on the road. Following Coburg Road, at the Mckenzie River, I found Armitage Co. Park. They have Hiker-Biker camping for $16/night, including showers and laundry. It's a big beautiful park along-side of the McKenzie River and a good spring board for the next stretch of my journey up the Willamett Valley. Lot's of birds to see (great Blue Heron, ducks, grackles,osprey,king-fishers...), many people fishing, nice and shady under  old Big-Leaf Maples with crazy massive branches. Later I listened to Kutsinhira Marimba Band playing for a company picnic. They had more of an African sound. Check them out www.kutsinhira.org. I picked up a quote somewhere: "Many  go all their lives fishing, without knowing that it is not the fish they are after" (Thoreau). I'm taking that to mean, that when you're exploring you should be open to whatever shows up around that next corner. And now to sleep.

Gil's Oregon Trail- Honeyman SP to So. Sister Rd.

Hello Again! I took off early. Too early to get coffee. No coffee stands on the way, not until I got to Reedsport. I did look! There are however several campgrounds,mostly Forest Service. Met Joshua sitting on the roadside. He was the one guy who cheered for me. "Looks like you're climbing a mountain!". He even offered me a toque, but I turned him down. Saw two bikers headed north. That's a tough way to go since the prevailing winds in the summer blow south. When I got to Reedsport, I stopped at the Harbor Light for lunch ( good food and price). After lunch I back-tracked to the Smith River Rd. The river is named for Jedediah Smith. He was a trapper/explorer/wagon-train leader. Around 1822 he made it to Oregon with other explorers and trappers. Around this place there was trouble with Indians, yet somehow, with help, he managed to escape. He learned a lot through his travels and difficulties and ended up working as a leader/guide for many Oregon-bound wagon trains until he died at the hand of the Comanches on an exploratory mission in 1832. My troubles however, beyond mosquitoes and rocks and  sticks under my bed and a few steep hills, have been small. Thinking on Jedediah reminds me that adventures even misadventures are learning experiences that open up vast new horizons. As I pedaled, I noted an old RR running from Gardiner to Coos Bay, The Smith River Road rises very very gradually as you pedal eastward. Interestingly every 1/2 mile, someone had painted mile numbers on the pavement ... it helped keep me going. At about 15 miles, near the North Fork, there's a store where I got ice cream and Gator Ade. The Store, the only one, was built in 1957 and is still going "out of spite" so I was told."More power to 'em", I say. It's decorated with a collection of old antiques like tin bath tubs and old saws and plows. The store owner says " this valley was settled in the 1800's and dairy farms were scattered all up and down the river. Everything moved by boat, kids climbed on boats loaded with milk cans.  At 26 1/2 miles I came to Smith River Falls which is a favorite swimming hole for people around here. It didn't take much encouragement from some daredevil girls to get me to jump off a 10-15 foot rock  into a deep pool. Whew...Refreshing! I ended up doing it 3 times, as I remember. No need to change, I got back on the bike and continued on. I was dry in 15 minutes. The Stream-bad reminds me ;of the Umpqua , basalt rock filled with hollows almost like Swiss Cheese. Small rocks and sand swirl around depressions like pestles in mortars . At Vincent Creek there's a campground. On my  trip 2 years ago , I turned south here for Elkton via Scottsburg. There's an old guard station which has been given over to bats.Townsend's Big Eared Bats, specifically. They eat moths which are harmful to trees. Their ears are so sensitive that they can hear insect's foot-steps...They catch 'em in mid air or hover over plants and lick 'em up. They can live to be 35 years old, yet unfortunately now their numbers have declined. I left the bats and continued down the road towards Lorane. The road forks later on. To the left W Fork Smith River to Roman Nose and eventually Eugene in 68 miles, while the right continues on the Smith River Rd.and Eugene in 49 miles. Creatures seen include: 5 Turkey Vultures ( I evaded them), a frog with red-tan sides, and a garter snake. I continue on the So. Sister Rd. The light is waning as I start to climb higher, so I find an abandoned road off So. Sister to camp. Almost no traffic up here. No cell phone either. There's no breeze, so the mosquitoes have no trouble getting to me. Oh Yay!! I remembered my repellent. I also remembered my iodine tabs so water's not a problem either. I'll leave you all now and get some shut-eye. Good Night!