Gil's Oregon Trail- Albany, OR cont.

I'm back...

Visited the Santiam-Albany Canal. It's described as a 19th century engineering marvel, first constructed in the 1860's, improved and lengthened over time. It's now 18 miles long. At first it was used more for transportation, but now is used more for power and water.In 2005 a fish ladder was added.

I rode all around Albany: up and down Bryant Road ( part of the northbound Willamett Valley Trail) along the Calapooia River, where restoration efforts are underway. They grow hazelnuts here. The ground is scraped clean of weeds and packed flat. Each tree is surrounded by plastic barriers. I'd like to grow these in Discovery Bay, since the climate is about the same and wild hazelnut grows all around. I need to study up on orchard farming. 

I camped out along the river, watched bats flying overhead in the fading evening light. In the morning a woman at the info center helped me out with maps, both historical and current, and I went off on an exploration of local bike routes. At first I checked out the waterfront using the Monteith and Dave Clark trails. I rode down to a Bowman Park, north of the DC trail, then cruised Water,1st, and 2nd Streets.  I picked up a thorn, probably while trundling my bike through the brush. No matter, it was an easy fix. I Got breakfast at Pop's Branding Iron, as you'd expect it had a distinctly western flavor and the food was good.

I explored some dirt trail from Bowman Park which ran a couple of miles or more along the Willamet and neighboring oxbow lakes and sloughs. This was quite do-able on my road bike. Then I bumped into a TV reporter, Amber of KVI? Albany. She was doing a story about some caves dug out into the riverbank by homeless people, which the city had decided to demolish for safety reasons. I could sympathize with the difficult circumstances of the homeless, but recognized how caves could be a dangerous  attraction to kids. She interviewed me since I'd been there and had an opinion.

I finished out the day riding exploring the Spring? trail and worked my way back to the RR station. I was lamenting the loss of my Camel-back water bottle when suddenly there it was, right beside the pot-hole that had jostled it out of my bag!

 I had a short wait til the north-bound train for Seattle arrived. The trip home was  one last long scenic movie highlighting the Willamett Valley and the country life. It was a good trip. I covered 466 miles in 10 days, or about 47 miles a day.

Stay tuned. I will be writing about Jane and me paddling the Columbia from 8/16 to 8/22.