Outdoors

The Menagerie Wilderness is relatively unknown to those who aren’t rock climbers or from nearby, and the Trout Creek Trail showcases a good taste of what the Menagerie Wilderness outside of Sweet Home has to offer. This area was protected primarily because of the plentiful rock pinnacles, which are favorites of climbers and threatened birds. Even if you aren’t a rock climber, the unique forest that blankets the area is reason enough to visit. Towering Douglas fir, western hemlock, Western redcedar and Pacific madrone all surround the trail.

Recently I’ve had the craving to hike around Oakridge. I’m not sure if it is the incredible forest or the food and beer at Brewers Union Local 180 after the hike. Regardless of the reasoning, I’ve been twice in the last week. The first hike was a lower portion of the Middle Fork Willamette Trail and the second was the Larison Creek Trail. For those who don’t know, Oakridge is a mecca for both hiking and mountain bike riding. I like to do both, but prefer hiking.

Some weekend during spring term of my sophomore year at college, a group of us decided to go rafting down the Columbia. An old, old friend of mine, Scott, organized the trip, with promises that he’d take care of everything. All I was to do was grab three or four of my college buddies, and provide a second car for setting out.

Scott’s purportedly well-nigh professional preparations consisted of: A raft, four mismatched paddles, two fifths of whiskey and six waterlogged life preservers that looked to be circa 1953 or so.

In a crowd of writhing bodies that slip, splash, squirm and somersault through nearly 4 miles of muck, it won’t take long before you find yourself face down in a mud puddle the size of a small pond. Sound like fun? Welcome to Eugene’s First Annual Dirty Dash!