The Peak View Newsletter April 8th, 2024
Rose Young
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Full! Tuesday April 9th - Mulkey Creek Wildflower Walk
9:00 am - 1:00 pm
Distance: 4.5 miles
Elevation gain: 580 feet
Difficulty: Moderate
Pace: Slow
Registration required! Contact the outing leader to reserve a spot and obtain further details. Leader: Mary Beth Downes, mbcd...@gmail.com
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This week! Thursday, April 11 - Full Tour of Tiny Homes in Albany Hub Village
1:30 pm - 3:20 pm
Registration required! There is a 10 person limit on this tour, please contact Leslie Hogan to register and for directions to our meeting place in Albany. Minors need to be accompanied by an adult. qwi...@peak.org 541-799-9303
New! Saturday April 20th – Plunket Creek and South Ridge Hike, Beazell Memorial Forest
10:00 am - 1:00 pm
Distance: 2.85-mile loop (with optional and accessible 0.9-mile flat loop addition)
Elevation gain: 885 feet
Difficulty: Moderate
Pace: Slow
Registration required! Contact the outing leader to reserve a spot and obtain further details. Leader: Randy Rasmussen, quietre...@gmail.com
Group limit: 20
Our stroll starts at the old barn (now a lovely education and events center), located east of the main parking lot of Benton County’s Beazell Memorial Forest. There is a restroom at the parking lot. The main hike is not wheelchair accessible, but the optional flat loop hike is and is notable for birdwatching (Bird Loop Trail).
We’ll start along the long wooden bridge spanning Plunkett Creek and immediately enter into lush streamside woods. We’ll then follow a shaded roadbed that parallels the creek uphill, past a moss-covered gazebo, and then onto a single-track trail, which slowly gains elevation while crisscrossing the creek a few times along wide footbridges.
According to OregonHikers.org: "Here there are red alder, Pacific waterleaf, and wood fern. Spring brings the best wildflower viewing here, with meadowrue, bleeding heart, poison larkspur and three different trillium species in the understory. A few rare but spectacular Siskiyou false hellebore also grow here."
At a junction, the trail begins to climb further with several switchbacks. We’ll be sure to rest along the way. Once we approach the top of the forest’s South Ridge, we’ll be sure to take a side trail to view South Meadow spilling down the hillside. Back on the South Ridge Trail, we’ll descend via a few switchbacks to the base of South Meadow noting along the way some noteworthy “wolf” trees and evidence of the County’s meadow restoration efforts to protect habitat of the Fender’s blue butterfly. From there, we turn west and follow a roadbed through a sustainably managed, Douglas fir and big-leaf maple forest. In short order we’ll begin our somewhat steep descent on the road to a trail that brings us past the Plunkett family’s old cistern and back down to the barn/education center (note: both forks of the trail lead back to the barn). From there, the group can decide if we want to take the 0.9-mile Bird Loop Trail (after again crossing the long wooden bridge, then heading downstream).
Wear clothing appropriate for the weather. At this time of year rain gear may be necessary. The trail and dirt roads can be muddy, so you'll want to wear comfortable and sturdy shoes with traction. Bring water and a snack or lunch. Trekking poles are suggested if it's a muddy day. Our pace will be slow with frequent stops.
Typically, there is ample parking at Beazell. But let’s do our best to carpool by meeting at 9:30 am at the Bi-Mart parking lot (west end) at SW 53rd St./Philomath Hwy. It’s about a 20-minute drive to the trailhead from there.
2:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Join us on a short hike to see a creek that was previously blocked, buried underground, tilled, poisoned, commercially planted and harvested for well over 100 years and has been recently resurrected.
This 3-mile guided hike will illustrate how the landscape of a former camas/tarweed field at the western edge of the Missoula Floods zone was transformed in 1848 into the earliest colonial farm within Benton County, Oregon. That transformation included significant changes in the above and below-ground water flow, to meet the needs of the new agricultural practices. As a result, the headwaters of the North Branch of Dunawi (Kalapuya term for elderly wise woman) Creek disappeared. That former farmland is now part of the city-owned Bald Hill Natural Area on a 57-acre field east of the North Ridge of Bald Hill. In 2016, members of the Marys Peak Group and the Corvallis Sustainability Coalition partnered with the City to resurrect this seasonal headwaters creek and return it to a hydrologically, ecologically and culturally-functional waterway. This tour will reveal the landscape and cultural history of the creek, show how the creek was resurrected, and provide a vision of how the site may evolve over the next few decades. Two miles of the hike are on a paved path and one mile is on off-trail, uneven field soil that may be wet or muddy. Elevation gain is minimal.
This year, the MPG Outing Leader is Mary Beth Downes and the Tour Guide is Dave Eckert.
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New! Thursday April 25th - North Rim Trail, Silver Falls State Park
Registration required! Contact the outing leader to reserve a spot and obtain further details. Leader: Robert White, rlw...@gmail.com
Silver Falls State Park is one of Oregon’s most well known places for a good hike. The North Rim Trail was recently completed and provides excellent views of the Falls, plus shorter hiking options. This hike is just under five miles with about 550 feet of elevation gain. The North Rim Trailhead is at the North Falls Day Use area. There is ample parking plus new restroom facilities.
We will descend to the Canyon Trail past Twin Falls. The route continues downstream to the Winter Falls bridge. We will cross the bridge and then ascend to the Rim Trail. During our scouting we were impressed with actually seeing water flowing over the Winter Falls. Once we reach the Rim Trail we will head towards North Falls Trailhead. We will continue to Upper North Falls for a nice view. At this point we reverse direction and head to the North Falls Trailhead. However we will take the new North Rim Trail from this point. The new trail is around a mile long and well done. Some may want to photograph North Falls from the new observation point. We then continue on to our starting point.
The 5 mile hike is rated as moderate. Trekking poles may be helpful for steep and narrow portions of the trail. Bring good boots or shoes, water, and a lunch. We will eat our lunch at an appropriate location.
The group is limited to 12 participants. We will meet at the North Rim Parking lot at 10:20 for a 10:30 departure. Travel time from Corvallis to the new parking lot is about 1.25 - 1.5 hours. The turnoff for the trailhead is 0.5 miles past the North Falls Trailhead. There is a daily parking fee of $5.00 per car if you do not have an annual pass. Daily passes may be purchased online or by the machine at the new carpark—credit cards only.
This week! Thursday April 11th - Transforming Marys Peak Webinar
7:00-8:30 pm
This second of the three-part Liz & Bob Frenkel Spring Webinar Series presents five current transformational projects that will help the Marys Peak ecosystem thrive and overcome recent human impacts. The projects will also regenerate culturally-important resources for the Kalapuya, Wusi'n and Yaqo'n people for whom Marys Peak is a very powerful place. These plans are relevant to what needs to happen throughout Oregon
Presenters include Michele Holman, Doug Glavich and Matt Smith from the U.S. Forest Service; Scott Hopkins from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management; and Kathleen Westly from the Marys River Watershed Council.
To register for this free and open to the public webinar, click here: https://bit.ly/2024 frenkel series 2
Sponsors: Marys Peak Group Sierra Club, Marys Peak Alliance of AFRANA (Alliance for Recreation and Natural Areas) & Corvallis-Benton County Public Library
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Announcements:
The next meeting of the Marys Peak Group Executive Committee (ExCom) is Tuesday, April 9, from
6:00 pm to 8:00 pm via Zoom. The ExCom plans the events that MPG undertakes every year, such as
our outings and our lecture series. Come see what we have up our sleeves for the rest of the year! All
members of the Sierra Club are welcome to attend.
Contact Chair Julie Arrington for the Zoom link. Email her at MarysPe...@Oregon.Sierraclub.org
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2023 Champinefu Lectures are Now on YouTube
Closed-caption recordings on the first two Champineful Lectures are now available on YouTube.
Willamette River: Ancestral Highway
Fire is Life: Living in Relation with Indigenous Fire Practices of Western Oregon
Joe Scott (Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians), winner of the 2023 Indigenous Place Keeping Artist (IPKA) Fellowship, was the presenter. He discussed how he is connecting local indigenous people to the sacred fire resources and practices that have sustained people of this place through the seasonal round since Time Immemorial.
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The three 2023 Liz and Bob Frenkel Environment and Hiking Spring Series webinars are now available on YouTube with closed caption subtitles.
Reviving the Wetlands at Finley National Wildlife Refuge
This webinar will entice both those who have never been to Finley and those who have been there many times to visit the refuge with new eyes and new expectations. A high level of wetland restoration work has already established the Finley Wildlife National Refuge as a significant wildlife refuge that also attracts thousands of visitors each year. This webinar will show you a mature restoration site and how you can best enjoy it. Presenter: Jarod Jebousek is a wildlife biologist for U.S. Fish and Wildlife currently focusing on the Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program for the Willamette Valley National Wildlife Refuge Complex. His office is at the William L. Finley National Wildlife Refuge ten miles south of Corvallis.
Reviving the Wetlands at Herbert Farm Natural Area
Owens Farm/Jackson-Frazier Wetland Complex
and Events Dept., Meredith Petit, Director, Corvallis Parks and Recreation Dept.; Ellen Tappon, President, Alliance for Recreation and Natural Areas (AFRANA)
Each webinar presents a very different view of Kalapuya or indigenous placekeeping from the perspective of the Kalapuya. These webinars in ascending order will open the eyes to non-Kalapuya residents. Please take the opportunity to watch them and then share the links with your colleagues, friends and family members:
Shawala
Champinefu Webinar Series 2022: Shawala - Birthplace of William Hartless - YouTube
Kalapuya Seasonal Rounds and Their Removal from Corvallis
Champinefu Webinar Series 2022: The Kalapuya Seasonal Round at the Confluence - YouTube
Indigenous Placekeeping
Champinefu Webinar Series 2022: Indigenous Placekeeping in Corvallis and at the Confluence - YouTube
1) Newcomers to MPG outing events, please view the GENERAL OUTING POLICY on our MPG website http://oregon2.sierraclub.org/marys-peak before pre-registering for or attending an outing.
2) Contacting Marys Peak Group: Marys Peak Group contact information is obtainable at http://oregon2.sierraclub.org/marys-peak Listed are the Executive Committee members and the Administrative and Program Coordinators.
3) Facebook: Marys Peak Group – Sierra Club is on Facebook. Check out MPG’s Facebook page to view pictures of past hikes and events, and learn about upcoming opportunities. Post pictures from hikes and outings you participate in! https://www.facebook.com/pages/Marys-Peak-Group-Sierra-Club/159377960779
4) Minutes of the MPG Executive Committee can be viewed at the aforementioned website by clicking on the About Us/Ex Comm Meeting Minutes tab or by clicking on MPGMinutes_Jan2024 for the minutes of the last meeting on January 4th, 2024.
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OSU Forestry Recreation Updates: