Salt Creek Falls and See's Candies

On Tuesday, Ben and I drove down to Eugene to bring the moped to the Vespa dealership and to accompany our friend Ben on a trip to Salt Creek Falls. The falls themselves were stunning --  at 286 feet, they're the second-highest in the state.

We also did a six-mile loop hike on the Diamond Creek Falls Trail, which would have been amazing if it weren't for the nine million mosquitoes who ambushed us along the route, particularly devouring my friend Ben who logged more than 200 kills (leaving approximately nine million alive). The cool breeze at Diamond Creek Falls kept the mosquitoes away briefly, so we took a quick snack break at the base of the falls.

Eventually, the mosquitoes overwhelmed us with their numbers and we turned around. On the way back I found what I thought were morels:

but they turned out to be the false morel --  tragic! Afterward, we ate out at a random British pub in Oakridge, which had a brochure of tons of local mountain biking trails that look neat. Back in Eugene, we hit the See's Candy store and I used the gift certificate my aunt gave me to get a pound of our choosing. The See's Candy experience is pretty amazing when you get to choose all the flavors from a menu! Best of all, next week the moped will need picking up from Eugene, so we have an excuse to have adventures down south all over again.

Jackson-Frazier Wetland

Another short, easy walk today: the Jackson Frazier Wetland. The last time we tried this trail, the boardwalk was flooded by spring rains. This time, it was perfect.

We saw about four Western garter snakes. This one was quite bold and didn't want to surrender his spot on the boardwalk:

The garter snakes out here are really pretty, and seem to like water much more than the ones back East. All in all, a short 0.8 mile walk, but worth doing for the wetlands and the wildlife. Probably a really good place to spot a muskrat at dusk.

The Homestead Trail and Da Vinci Days

Yesterday Ben's back was hurting so we went for a short, easy walk which usually helps it. On the Homestead Trail in McDonald Forest, we found a European red slug that looked kind of like a morel:

It was also Da Vinci Days here in Corvallis yesterday, where people build crazy pedal-powered vehicles and ride them on the roads, up a sand dune, through mud, and finally down the Willamette River. We drove around the race area and found a few interesting "bikes":

And finally, yesterday Ben took a photo of Ichabod that makes him look like an overly cute Japanese anime creature:

So that was this weekend. Now to write a few articles and clean out my spiny mouse's cage. The next few days we're both going to be working like mad, and then later this week hopefully we'll go on a longer hike. Hopefully the weather will clear up, too!

McCulloch Peak

Today Ben and I hiked up McCulloch Peak, the highest peak in McDonald Forest, with our friends Phil and Katie. Granted, it's a tiny peak at 2,200 feet, but a decent hike all the same on forest roads surrounded by pleasant woods. The hike uphill definitely wore me out! At the top, we had a picnic of potato salad, French bread, cheese, salami, and other foodstuffs Ben picked up from Market of Choice (I admit it, I just wanted to use the word foodstuffs). Ben took some stunning photos of this cornflower/bachelor's button on the way back down:

Camping at Clear Lake

I spent the weekend camping at Cold Water Cove Campground on Clear Lake with my friend Ben from college, my friends Katie and Phil in Corvallis, and several people I didn't know from Eugene. The style: luxury car camping. I slept with a full-size pillow and we dined on steaks, scrambled eggs with sausage and mushrooms, cherry cobbler (we tried making it with ice cream but even rolling the device downhill several times didn't solidify it, so we had it in liquid form), and other such luxury items. The lake was gorgeous -- lava rocks during the day perfect for basking, bats at dusk, and star-gazing at night. We also managed to hike to a good number of waterfalls, including my favorite, Proxie Falls:

All in all, an awesome weekend. I even felt moderately clean afterward since we stopped at Cougar Hot Springs to soak.

And although I came home to find this on my third-floor balcony:

I also found this:

My artichoke has sprouted three tiny buds! I need to pick up some fertilizer to ensure they grow to maximum size. Awesome weekend, new friends, and artichokes on the way -- all is good in Oregon!