The delayed arrival of Spring weather has begun affecting the timing of the hikes that I’d planned for us this year. We had originally planned a wildflower hike for this weekend, but they are running at least two weeks behind so we turned to a pair of wildlife hikes instead. Our first stop was at the Snag Boat Bend unit of the William L. Finley National Wildlife Refuge.
This 341-acre unit is located a across the Willamette River to the East of the 5,325-acre refuge. The unit has several miles of trails although the amount accessible fluctuates due to flooding.
Not sure how “official” the writing is on the map, but it wasn’t wrong about the Turtle Loop being “closed” (high water).
The Snag Boat Bend Loop Trail begins as a boardwalk that passes over the North Beaver Pond. Oddly there wasn’t much, if any, water in this pond despite other areas later being flooded.
After the short boardwalk section the trail became a combination of grass/mud as it followed a swollen Lake Creek toward the Willamtte River.
A swollen Lake Creek
A third of a mile from the trailhead is a picnic table overlooking a former channel of the Willamette River that is now an oxbow lake filled by Lake Creek.
The oxbow lake.
The trail makes a hard left at the picnic table passing along the water.
Lots of water in the lake.
Woodpecker hiding in the trees.
Just under 0.2 miles from the picnic table, during low water, is said to be a path that makes it possible to connect the Snag Boat Band and Turtle Loop Trails.
Note the sign on the far side vs the closer sign barely sticking up out of the water.
A quarter mile from the picnic table the Snag Boat Bend Loop turns left at a junction. We stayed straight and visited the Observation Blind before setting off on the Blue Heron Trail.
Oregon grape
Red flowering currant
Slug
Signs at the junction.
The observation blind.
There wasn’t a whole lot to observe from the blind since the morning fog limited visibility.
Goose
Spotted towhee
Mallard drake
The Blue Heron Trail followed the boarder of the refuge and some private farmland.
It was approximately another quarter mile from the blind to a 4-way junction. Here the Blue Heron Trail began and finished a theoretical loop using the left most forks and the Turtle Trail split off to the right along a dike.
Blue Heron Trail to the left and Turtle Trail on the right.
We turned right onto the Turtle Trail and as we got onto the dike we could see that the area below, where a loop shown on the Oregonhikers page joined back up, was likely flooded. We followed the dike a quarter of a mile to another junction where the Turtle Trail made a hard right and descended from the dike into an open area where several rabbits were busy having their breakfast.
American widgeon
We followed this grassy track for a third of a mile back to the swollen Lake Creek where, during low water, the Turtle Loop would turn right along the creek and loop back around.
Another sign out in the middle of the water.
We turned back and returned to the junction with the Blue Heron Trail.
The start of a possible loop using the Blue Heron Trail. The fainter track on the right heading downhill was flooded just 100 feet or so away.
The flooded area where the loop would end.
I had gone down to the flooded section to see if there was possibly a way across without having to wade but there wasn’t. The good news was that my heading down to this spot had caused a great horned owl to move trees which allowed both Heather (on the other section of the Blue Heron Trail) and myself to spot it.
Since we knew that we would be able to make the Blue Heron Trail into a loop we followed it a half mile from the junction, making a sharp right near the 0.4-mile mark and decided to turn around. The trail had gone from gravel to wet grass and our feet were getting pretty damp which helped make the decision to turn around.
Cottonwood with red flowering currant, Oregon grape, and Indian plum blooming in front.
We were able to keep our feet dry on the gravel surfaces.
Mushroom
Rufous Hummingbird
Hawk preparing for takeoff.
We had started to go past the turn for the Blue Heron Trail so this photo is as we headed back toward the turn. We came from the right-hand side so the path straight ahead would have been the “sharp right”.
Killdeer
Our turn around spot. The trail was beginning to bend back to the East here.
We headed back along the Blue Heron Trail following it to the Snag Boat Bend Loop where we turned right in order to finish that loop.
A chipping sparrow among the golden-crowned sparrows.
On the Snag Boat Bend Loop
The trail turned left to follow this gravel roadbed for the final third of a mile.
The gate in the distance is at the trailhead.
Our hike at Snag Boat Bend came in at 3.9 miles with maybe 50′ of elevation gain. Had some of the loops not been flooded it might have been a bit shorter.
It was a nice first visit though and we are now interested in returning in late Summer/early Fall when some of the flooded trails might be accessible. While the fog made it a bit hard to see we still managed to see a few ducks, a goose, several rabbits, the owl, a hawk, lots of smaller birds, and one bald eagle that flew overhead. From the trailhead we drove North to the city of Albany where we’d plan to visit a series of the city’s parks. The idea was to start at Monteith Riverpark and hike East along the Willamette River to Simpson Park and then continue along the river there past First and Second Lakes if the trail wasn’t flooded. If it was flooded, we could turn inland at Simpson Park and re-visit the Talking Water Gardens (post).
I had two reasons for putting this urban hike on our schedule. First it was close to home and secondly Monteith Riverfront Park sits at the confluence of the Calapooia and Willamette Rivers, and the Calapooia is one of Oregon’s rivers that we had yet to see on a hike. This 80-mile long tributary of the Willamette begins in the Willamette National Forest near Tidbits Mountain (post) and flows Northwest through Brownsville, OR before turning North to the East of Interstate 5. It was disappointing to arrive and find that the entire park was closed for a large waterfront project by the City of Albany. (Normally I would check the status of our destination prior to heading out, but I didn’t expect an entire city park to be closed, and after looking online when I got home, I’m not sure I would have found the information anyway.)
We wound up parking East of the Riverfront Community Center and hoping on the Dave Clark Trail there.
Less than 100 yards from where we’d parked we came to an observation platform that led out over the Willamette River. From this platform we could at least see the mouth of the Calapooia emptying into the Willamette.
The confluence ahead to the left.
Highway 20 passing over the Willamette to the left. Fun fact about U.S. Highway 20 – It runs from Newport, OR to Boston, MA and is the longest road in the USA according to the Federal Highway Administration. Click here for more information and an interesting write up of the drive from Boston to Newport by Boots on the Trail.
We followed the Dave Clark Trail East passing under both bridges of the highway and then later under the Union Pacific Railroad.
Orange crowned warbler. One of many small birds we saw along this trail.
We thought it was a little odd to see two occupied nests atop the railroad so close together until we realized that the occupants weren’t both birds of prey.
Canada geese were using one of the nests.
Might be the mate looking acting as lookout from the bridge.
Osprey occupied the other and appeared to be in the process of renovations.
We also encountered a beautiful male Anna’s hummingbird but for the life of me I couldn’t get either one of the cameras I was carrying to focus on the little guy so the only picture we wound up with was a cropped shot from Heather’s phone.
His bright pink head was more impressive in person.
After ducking under the railroad and passing some apartments the trail passed the Willamette Community Garden and climbed to NE Oak Street.
The community garden (not pictured) was on our right.
Pretty tulips at the sign.
Here the trail follows several blocks of sidewalk before reaching its end at Bowman Park. The official route of the trail turned right on Oak St for a block then left for 5 blocks NE Water Ave to Geary St where it turned left and descended 3 blocks to Bowman Park. We stayed straight on Front Ave NE though and followed it 3 blocks to Harrison St. NE where we turned right for a block to NE Water Ave to rejoin the Dave Clark Trail.
Not a lot to see in the residential neighborhoods but we did cross Pettyjohn Creek along the way.
Sign for Bowman Park at Geary St.
Bowman Park on the left and the paved path we took on the right.
A paved path led East from Bowman Park behind a new apartment complex where it turned to a wood chip surface.
Cormant in the middle of the Willamette.
At the far end of the apartment complex the trail suddenly turned into a slick, muddy single track.
Squirrel
Things got started getting interesting here, and not in the good way. We quickly started passing vacant and/or abandoned homeless camps and the trail surface was just a mess. At this point we were only about a half mile from the Simpson Park Trailhead though so we pressed on.
Seen near a homeless camp which sort of captures the situation. A combination of unaffordable house, drug abuse, and mental illness has created a crisis up and down the West Coast with no simple (or quick) answer.
We initially mistook all the footprints and bike tracks as a sign that the trail saw good recreational use.
According to the Oregonhikers.org Field Guide entry for the Albany Riverfront Hike there is a concrete bridge over Cox Creek near Simpson Park. We never made it that far though as after a quarter mile we came to small pond over the trail. There was no foreseeable way around and we didn’t want to do to much searching for an alternate route for fear of stumbling upon an occupied camp so we turned around.
Prior to reaching the impassible puddle we had already decided to forgo trying to hike further along the Willamtte from Simpson Park and had planned instead of visit Talking Water Gardens and return via roads instead of the muddy trail. Now that we’d been stymied though we trudged back through the mud and past the homeless camps to the apartments where we turned left on a path that led a short distance uphill into Eads Park.
We turned left and passed through this small park then turned right onto Burkhart St NE and began our second stint of neighborhood hiking. After a block on Burkhart we made a left on Willamette Ave NE and followed it 0.2-miles to its end at the Albany/Millersburg Water Reclamation Facility where we turned right onto Davidson St. NE. A block on Davidson brought us back to Front AVE NE and a sign for the Talking Water Gardens.
Front Ave became Waverly Dr NE and we followed it until we finally crossed Cox Creek three tenths of a mile later.
We made our way to the gated entrance to the Talking Water Gardens happy to see that the man-made waterfall in the Beaver Marsh was flowing this time.
Buffleheads
We turned right and headed for the main sign board to get a picture of the map and decide on our route.
We decided to loop around the West Beaver Marsh and Central Oak areas before heading back.
There was obviously a lot more water present now then there had been in November and while there were less ducks present there was a larger variety of birds and best of all a bunch of western pond turtles.
View from above the waterfall.
The first set of turtles we spotted.
Western pond turtles.
Female red-winged blackbird
Green-winged teal
Yellow-rumped warbler (Audubon’s)
More turtles
Mallard drake
Turkey vulture
Another bale of turtles. (I had to look up “bale” because I had no idea what a group of turtles was called.)
Another man-made waterfall.
This had been full of ducks on our previous visit.
Yet another turtle.
Black phoebe
Acorn woodpecker
Sparrow
Northern shoveler
Hummingbird
Red-winged blackbird
Bench along the Central Oak area.
The first goslings we’ve spotted this year.
Very zoomed in shot of a hawk seen in the distance.
Bullfrog
Marsh wren
Final set of turtles.
Mallard pair
Chickadee
Yellow-rumped warbler (Myrtle)
We took about an hour to hike a little over 1.25-miles through the gardens. There was a lot of stopping to watch the wildlife and attempt to get photos. After exiting the gardens we made our way back to Front Ave via Waverly Drive and this time followed signs for the Dave Clark Trail back to it.
We followed the Dave Clark Trail back to our car, but not before spotting a bit more wildlife.
A couple ahead of us on the trail spotted this guy for us.
Squirrel
Our Albany Parks hike wound up being just 6.3 miles with under 100′ of elevation gain bringing our total for the day to 10.2 miles and maybe 100 total feet of elevation gain. All the hiking on paved surfaces in Albany combined with having wet shoes and socks made it feel like more though.
At the end of the day we were glad that we wound up in Talking Water Gardens given how much fun wildlife we spotted there but I probably would not do the rest of this hike over. The Dave Clark Trail along the Willamette was nice enough and if I was in Albany for another reason and had some time it would be a fine place for a stroll but necessary neighborhood walk to reach Simpson Park/Talking Water is not nearly as nice as either simply starting at the Simpson Park Trailhead or hiking along Cox Creek from Waverly Lake as we had done in November. Happy Trails!
Flickr: Snag Boat Bend and Albany Parks
One of the muddiest sections was just beyond a small footbridge near the trailhead.
Skunk cabbage blooming along Bailey Creek.
Skunk cabbage
A second little footbridge.
Coltsfoot
Closer look at the coltsfoot.
Approaching the footbridge over the unnamed creek.
This creek was really deep here although it’s hard to tell from the photo.
Wood sorrel
Trillium with a resident spider.
More skunk cabbage, also with a resident spider.
Violet
Bleeding heart
Salmonberry
Toothwort
Unfurling fern
Me passing under a mossy tree.
Snail on the trail.
This makeshift damn was not stopping the water from flowing down the trail.
Another of the small stream crossings.
The creek was actually pretty deep here with the recent wet weather we’d had.
A trillium unfurling.
Violets
Several trails have similar markers with most of them being at or near junctions. This one was just alone along the trail.
Rough skinned newt
Time has not been kind to the hitsi.
The trail briefly followed an old roadbed.
Mushrooms along the roadbed.
Another bench with a questionable view at the end of the roadbed segment.
Flowers are a few weeks behind this year but there were quite a few trillium along the trails.
Violets were the other abundant flower.
Red flowering currant beginning to bloom.
Wood sorrel
This looked to be a fairly recent uprooting.
A cute fungus
Looking back after fording.
We made a sharp right here onto the Nelson Ridge Trail.
Skunk cabbage at Berry Creek.
A few bleeding-heart blooms.
At least this bench had a view of the Pacific Ocean.
Passing through a stand of trees along the ridge.
Another bench.
Some easy to walk around blow down.
We couldn’t tell what this road/trail to the left was on the map so we stayed right to be safe at this junction.
I think that is Sutton Lake and beyond the sand is Clear Lake.
The end of another short roadbed section.
I walked on this roadbed for a bit just to do something a little different than on the first visit when I stuck to the trail (on the right).
Starting to descend toward Dry Lake.
Dry Lake
Back at the trailhead.
The amphitheater and bridge on 3/19 23.
The amphitheater and bridge on 4/14/23.
Wetland near the bridge on 4/8.
The wetland on 4/14.
Signs at the 2nd junction – 3/19.
The path to the Willamette River on 3/19.
The path on 4/14.
April 8th along the Willamette.
April 14th on the inland gravel path.
The Minto-Island Conservation Trail (Used during all four hikes.)
Oxbow slough 3/19.
April 14th
Just South of Lot 3 the paved path is shared by the 10k, Purple Rabbit, Blue Heron, Green Deer, Yellow Duck and Brown Squirrel Loops.
The footbridge over Oxbow Slough is part of the 10k, Blue Heron, and Purple Rabbit Loops.
Blue Heron Loop running parallel to the 10k/Purple Rabbit Loops.
Field along the Blue Heron Loop
The “T” junction where the 10k/Purple Rabbit Loops turn left from the Blue Heron Loop.
Most of the junctions are well signed with maps which helped keep me on track.
Willamette River from the Orange Turtle Loop.
Orange Turtle Loop
The boarder between Minto-Brown Island Park and Eola Bend County Park.
A bit of the history of Eola Bend County Park.
Nice map of the Willamette River watershed.
Eola Bend County Park
I took advantage of this picnic table to take a short break.
The landfill behind the map.
Arriving at the road.
The 10k/Purple Rabbit Loop on the left.
The Green Deer Loop junction.
The paved 10k/Yellow Duck/Brown Squirrel Loop.
The rougher dirt path.
The dog park (possibly the happiest place in Salem, at least for dogs).
The 10k Loop on the opposite side of the entrance road from Lot 2.
From our 3/19 hike on the 10k Loop. The path running from left to right is the Red Osprey Loop. On this last trip I took the path on the left down to the sign below at the junction and continued straight.
At the sign heading toward the old cherry orchard.
The old cherry orchard.
Sign in the distance along the paved path where I turned right.
Cherry blossoms.
Deer – 3/19
Bald eagle – 3/19
Cormorant on the Willamette – 3/25
Sparrow – 3/25
Lesser goldfinch – 4/8
Mallard – 4/8
Wood ducks up in a tree – 4/8
Osprey – 4/8
Green-winged teal – 4/14
Mallard – 4/14
Golden-crowned sparrow – 4/14
Robin – 4/14
White-crowned sparrow – 4/14
Squirrel – 4/14
Rabbit – 4/14 (This was one of several dozen bunnies that I encountered on this day.)
Woodpecker – 4/14
Scrub jay – 3/19
Dove – 4/8
Killdeer – 4/14
Red breasted sapsuckers – 4/14 (Males peck the sign to make noise to either attract mates or establish territory.)
Pied billed grebe in Oxbow Slough – 3/19
Ring-necked ducks from the bridge over Oxbow Slough – 3/25
Buffleheads from the bridge over Oxbow Slough – 3/25
Geese from the bridge over Oxbow Slough – 3/25
Hummingbird along the Blue Heron Trail – 4/14
Orange-crowned warbler along the Blue Heron Trail – 4/14
Dark-eyed junco at Eola Bend County Park – 4/14
Northern flicker at Eola Bend County Park – 4/14
Swallows at Eola Bend County Park – 4/14
Red-tailed hawk near the landfill – 4/14
Great blue heron at Oxbow Slough across from the bench viewpoint near Lot 4 (Homestead Road) – 4/14
Wood duck drake in Oxbow Slough – 4/8
Ruby-crowned kinglet – 4/8
Rabbit – 4/8
Egret between the Red Osprey and 10k Loops – 4/8
Turkey vulture near the old cherry orchard – 4/14
There were a few buttercups blooming in the grass and not much else along this side of the Memorial Trail.
A lone strawberry blossom.
The Inter-Tie Trail was a wet and muddy affair. I could hear a lot of birds in the surrounding trees but couldn’t make any of them out unless they flew right in front of me.
I went left here which got me out of the slick mud but onto even wetter grass.
Coming up on the marsh which is just on the other side of the dip in the road.
Two rabbits trying to decide if they were going to keep eating grass or race off into the blackberry bushes.
Ring-necked ducks
I think this is a marsh wren.
I think the 2nd goose in from the right is a cackling goose while the others are Canada geese. It’s a bit smaller and the white patch is shaped differently.
Swallows
California quail
Cinnamon teals
Northern shoveler drake
Northern shoveler females
Signs at the Smithfield Road Trailhead.
Buffleheads
Ring-necked duck
Possibly a lesser scaup.
Mallards
The only bull I could pick out.
Robin
Bench overlooking Morgan Lake
Morgan Lake from the bench.
Spotted towhees
A lot of geese way below the trail.
I started seeing a lot of toothwort on this side of the loop.
More fawn lilies too.
The viewing platform on Baskett Butte to the right.
One of several western meadowlarks (Oregon’s state bird) on the butte.
American kestral
A better look at the yellow on the meadowlarks.
View from the platform.
Sign along the path.
More fawn lilies.
The path leading down toward Coville Road. The outhouse at the Baskett Butte Trailhead is on the left below.
Baskett Butte from below.
The trail is simply a dike road that leads to the refuge HQs.
The headquarters is to the left of the road on the far side of South Slough.
Also a bunch of American coots.
Northern shovelers
Buffleheads
Red-winged blackbird
Yellowlegs (probably lesser)
Baskett Butte (left) from my turn around point.
The ruddy duck woke up after all the American coots headed off.
Savannah sparrow
One more American kestral
The forecast was for patchy morning fog with a chance of light showers between Noon and 3pm and partly sunny skies. They got the patchy morning fog part right.
The first of three abandoned cars we’d pass on the day. This one was in a field on a hillside before entering the Crestmont Land Trust.
Interpretive signs greeted us as we entered the Crestmont Land Trust.
The gazebo housed a small table with benches. A particularly nice touch was the lack of back on the bench that wasn’t facing the view which allows you to sit facing the view.
The view from the gazebo.
Not sure what the most recent gathering was but there was an interesting variety of items around the table.
Another bench along the trail.
Turkey tails
The Cardwell Hill Trail in the valley below the North Trail.
Dropping down to the Cardwell Hill Trail.
The first spur didn’t have any signage
The second spur had a marker naming it the Fitton Green North-South Trail.
Trail marker
Dimple Hill in the McDonald Forest (
The other two abandoned cars, these were outside of the natural area.
Arriving at the east trailhead.
One of the more impressive trees along this section of the Cardwell Hill Trail
The Fitton Green North-South Trail.
Watch your step.
Amy’s Trail
The clouds were beginning to break up as we climbed up this trail.
The western end of the Throop Loop.
The eastern end of the Allen Throop Loop. Continuing on the Fitton Green North-South Trail would have brought us to the 
There seems to have been a spelling error (Alan vs Allen) on the trail marker.
Plaque at a viewpoint along the Allen Throop Loop. Note that it is Allen not Alan on the plaque.
Despite the clouds breaking up we didn’t have a view of Marys Peak, the highest peak in the Oregon Coast Range (
The trail overlooks the cities of Corvallis (to the left/east) and Philomath (straight/south).
Bald Hill with Corvallis beyond from the Throop Loop.
East toward the Coast Range.
This is the trail that connects Bald Hill with Fitton Green.
The junction from the Throop Loop Trail.
Map at the start of Amy’s Trail.
Gate at the Fitton Green-Crestmont Land Trust border.
Creek along Amy’s Trail. With all the wet weather there was a fair amount of water in all the streams/creeks in the area.
On the hillside above the picnic table is the Creek Trail.
Switchbacks along the Upper Forest Trail.
Arriving at High Road.
The Mid Forest Trail is hidden behind the tree on the left. To the right is the Creek Trail while High Road continues straight ahead.
Lots of green moss along this trail.
A little snow on the ridge in the distance.
Rabbit that Heather spotted.
The junction was at the far end of this open space.
This was by far the most confusing junction we’d encountered all day. It was one of only a couple that was unsigned and none of the maps that we’d seen or had brought with us showed the road continuing to the left. Since we’d planned on staying left at all junctions except for at High Road we initially turned left here thinking it was the River Trail, but it just didn’t feel right so we turned to the Garmin which did show the road continuation. It didn’t look anything like the River Trail route so we promptly turned around and returned to the 4-way junction and took a left downhill through the meadow.
Lower Meadow
Gate along the River Trail just before Marys River.
Marys River
Male common merganser floating Marys River. I only had a brief second to try and get a picture as he floated by thus the poor focus.
A short spur trail led down to the river bank.
Not flowers but mushrooms are always fun to spot.
Lower Meadow Road crossing the creek and ending at the Cardwell Hill Trail.
The short Trestle Extension led to a view of a railroad trestle over Marys River.
The signboards at the North Trail junction from the Cardwell Hill Trail.
Robin near the North Trail junction.
No more fog.
Coming up to the SW Greenway Ave crossing at the 0.3-mile mark.
Mossy bench
Small trailhead at SW Fairmount Blvd at the 0.5 mile mark.
At the 1-mile mark the trail crosses NW Sherwood Dr.
Maybe the steepest section of the hike was the tenth of a mile between NW Sherwood and the Sunnyside Trail.
The Sunnyside Trail junction.
Every (official) trail junction was well marked by pointers which helped us stay on course.
The Shadyside Trail on the far hillside.
One of two hairy woodpeckers that were busy foraging for breakfast.
Coming up on the Marquam Shelter.
We saw little fungi, but these turkey tails added some color to the forest.
The Marquam Shelter.
A tenth of a mile from the shelter we passed the Connor Trail on the left. This trail would have taken us to OHSU and the 
The Marquam Trail to the left and right with the Basalt Trail in the center from the first switchback.
Trail marker near SW Gibbs.
The Flicker Trail from the Marquam Trail.
Note it is still not “mostly sunny” even though it was now almost 10am.
While not a warbler this spotted towhee graced us with a song.
Checking out a budding leaf.
The end of the Warbler Trail.
Pointer for the Marquam Shelter at the trailhead.
Bench along the switchbacks down to the Marquam Trail.
The Towhee Trail junction with Marquam Trail was nearly all the way back down to the Basalt Trail (the lower trail in the photo).
Not sure what the story is behind this post but it was the only one we spotted with this type of number.
We passed the Shdayside Trail after half a mile.
There was a short section with some railing before dropping down to the Sunnyside Trail.
Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Rainier, and Mt. Adams are out there beyond the clouds.
Freemont Bridge spanning the Willamette River with the Columbia River in the distance.
Hummingbird
Hermit thrush looking for snacks at Council Crest Park.
Unnamed waterfall along Riley Creek in the Mt. Adams Wilderness
Unnamed waterfall below East Boulder Lake in the Trinity Alps Wilderness.
Cascade on Wahkeena Creek.
Small cascade along the North Fork Silver Creek.
Mosier Creek Falls (
Black Hole Falls (
Susan Creek Falls
Toketee Falls
Surprise Falls
Columnar Falls
Watson Falls
Warm Springs Falls
Lemolo Falls
Alsea Falls
Green Peak Falls
Yasko Falls
Hemlock Falls
Tributary Falls
Middle Hemlock Falls
Clover Falls
Grotto Falls
Fall Creek Falls
Upper tier of Wolf Creek Falls
Lower tier of Wolf Creek Falls
South Umpqua Falls (
Union Creek Falls (
Chitwood Creek Falls
Multnomah Falls
Lower Dutchman Falls
Upper Dutchman Falls
Wiesendanger Falls
Ecola Falls
Fairy Falls
Wahkeena Falls
Upper North Falls
North Falls
Twin Falls
Winter Falls
Middle North Falls
Drake Falls
Double Falls
Lower North Falls
Lower South Falls
South Falls
Sorenson Falls
Metlako Falls
Lower Punchbowl Falls
Punchbowl Falls
Loowit Falls
Skoonichuck Falls
Four Mile Falls
Tenas Falls
Wy’East Falls
Grand Union Falls
Tunnel Falls
Twister Falls
Seven Mile Falls
Junction with the spur Wetlands Trail. The larger sign on the left is a 
End of the trail at East Tide Ave.
The wetlands.
Devil’s Lake from Regatta Park.
Pointer for a heritage tree.
Another Trail Challenge sign.
Heading out of Regatta Park
Neat dragon sculpture.
West Devil’s Lake Road. The trail is ahead on the right just beyond the driveway on that side.
There was no sign along the road but there was a trail marker just uphill.
The trail briefly leveled out atop the ridge before diving down the other side.
This junction is where our loop began and ended.
Another fork just beyond the one in the previous photo.
Footbridge over the northern arm of the lake.
Spring Lake from the footbridge.
Found another one.
Small trailhead at 14th Street.
Spring Lake from the 14th Street Trailhead.
We had to walk a few feet along 14th Street to find the trail on the east side of the lake.
Approaching the junction at the end of our loop.
This forested loop was full of bright green mossed covered ground.
The connector trail at the south trailhead.
Two short out-and-back trails begin at the north trailhead. We started with the left hand trail.
The left hand spur abruptly ends on a ridge above what we assume was Agness Creek although we couldn’t really make out an actual creek.
Agness Creek?
Approaching SW 19th Street.
This should have been the end of our loop, not the beginning. Had we realized we weren’t on the perimeter trail we would have taken the first left hand trail which would have allowed us to do our planned loop in reverse (clockwise). Instead we headed straight up the ridge.
The Trail Challenge sign here was located at a second junction, near the ridge top. A short distance beyond was another junction with an unsigned trail veering off to the right. We still hadn’t figured out our mistake and thought that the right hand trail was a spur trail shown on the map leading to a neighborhood so we went left.
A lot of clearcuts is what I could see.
We were really surprised that this was the only real obstacle we encountered all day given the recent storm.
An example of the fainter tread along this section.
The spur to the left led to a neighborhood so we turned right.
The trail arriving at the trailhead entrance road. The chain link fence at Taft High is on the left.
Siletz Bay from the brewpub.
A gull and an egret.
Waverly Lake at sunrise.
Mallards
Buffleheads
I think this is a ruddy duck.
American coots
Guessing these are some sort of domestic/mallard? crossbreeds. Very interesting looking.
More mallards near Cox Creek
Cox Creek flowing toward Waverly Lake.
Nearing the outlet of Cox Creek.
We almost got off-track here. This path on the right (just after passing under some railroad tracks) does lead into the wetlands but it wasn’t part of the Oregon Hikers described hike.
One of several interpretive signs along the trails.
Frosty leaves, it had been a chilly 28 degrees when we started out.
Simpson Park
The Simpson Park Trail is a 1 mile out and back along the Willamette River. It also offers access to the Riverfront Trail which one could follow SW almost 3.5 miles to Monteith Riverpark at the mouth of the Calapooia River. With Heather being limited to shorter hikes for now that wasn’t an option today but will be something we look forward to trying in the future.
Map on a welcome sign.
Frozen leaves
American wigeons
Bald eagle fly over
Flock of geese flying over
One of many unsigned intersections.
Robin
One of two memorials in the gardens.
Bufflehead
Green winged teal
Northern shoveler
Frost
Simpson Park across a pond.
Fishermen heading into the fog at Waverly Lake.
Mallards hanging out in the fog.
Dark eyed junco
It was hard to tell at times which parts were frozen.
Snow at the higher elevations.
A pink cloud in the direction of the Columbia River Gorge.
Sorenson Falls splashing down into Eagle Creek.
Looking back down Eagle Creek. It was hard to tell where the spur trail had been.
Runoff falling from the cliffs into Eagle Creek.
Metlako Falls
Metlako Falls
Lower Punchbowl Falls
Rocks from the landslide on the right.
Tish Creek Bridge
Tish Creek
More snow on the ridge.
Fern Creek Bridge
Fern Creek
Careful where you step.
The last part was ice free.
Passing Loowit Falls.
More cable passing Loowit Falls with High Bridge in
Eagle Creek from High Bridge.
Eagle Creek from High Bridge, looking upstream.
Skoonichuck Falls
Not my worst varied thrush photo.
Another nice view of Skoonichuck after I’d given up on the thrush.
Sad looking penstemon but I’m counting it as a flower.
Some nearly as sad pearly everlasting.
This fall was visible across the creek on an unnamed creek (at least on the maps I’ve seen).
I arrived at nearly the same time as the Sun.
Beach and Summer swimming hole at 4 1/2-mile bridge.
Tenas Falls
Opal Creek flowing into Eagle Creek.
The wilderness begins a little over 5.5 miles from the trailhead.
A bluebird sky above a few green topped trees.
Near the six-mile mark I passed the signed Eagle-Benson Trail which hasn’t been maintained since the fire, in fact the sign was the only sign of a trail here.
Sunrays over Eagle Creek.
Note the hexagonal shape of the basalt columns making up the trail surface here.
Grand Union Falls
Tunnel Falls on East Fork Eagle Creek.
I had brought my micro spikes just in case, but even though there were some impressive ice features there was enough good footing (and cable) to not require putting the spikes on.
The slickest section was exiting the tunnel here.
This was the trickiest section but again there was just enough good footing to allow passing without need spikes.
A bit more overgrown here.
Hair ice, only the second time I’ve encountered it.
I stopped at this campsite which some maps show as 7 1/2 Mile Camp, but I pulled out my National Geographic topo which showed the camp a little further ahead near a pair of small creeks. I think both are correct and this was just the first of the sites that make up the “camp”.
Eagle Creek near the first campsite.
More campsites near the first creek.
The first small creek. This one was a lot icier than any of the other creeks I’d crossed. I was able to find enough dry rock to make my way to the other side though.
Looking back at the creek.
This cascade was across Eagle Creek near the last campsites.
Woodpecker
Green pool above Twister Falls.
Above Twister Falls.
Plant in ice.
Wren
Chipmunk
wanderingyuncks 