The Peak View Newsletter March 23rd, 2026
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Rose Young
Mar 23, 2026, 2:59:15 PM (3 days ago) Mar 23
to marys-pe...@googlegroups.com
The Peak View
Marys Peak Group - Sierra Club
P.O Box 863, Corvallis, OR 97339
March 23rd, 2026******
Hikes:
******
New! Mulkey Creek Wildflower Hike
Friday, April 3rd, 2026
10am-1pm
Hike length 3-4 miles
Elevation 500 feet
Pace is Leisurely
Hike is rated Easy
Registration is required!
Please contact Mary
Beth Downes at mbcd...@gmail.com to register and find out where to meet for carpooling.
Mulkey
Creek is a great place to look for wildflowers! We will look for early
bloomers like Trillium and Fawn Lilies. If you are knowledgeable about
wildflowers, please come and help us search. If you are still learning
about Oregon wildflowers, this is a chance to learn more.
Mulkey
Creek trail starts on the Oak Creek side of Bald Hill. Since parking
is limited, we will carpool. The length of the hike will depend on
what the group decides. We will be hiking up to a nice overlook where
we can stop for a snack.
The trails can be
muddy, so wear good shoes. Poles may be useful. You can bring a
camera. The pace will be slow enough for photos.
New! Dan’s Trail: Chip Ross Park to Dimple Hill
McDonald Forest, Corvallis, OR
Thursday, April 9th, 2026
10:00am – 2:30/3:00pm
Distance: about 7.5 miles
Elevation Gain: 1500 feet
Difficulty: Moderate-to-difficult
Pace: about 2 miles per hour
Registration
required! The group is limited to 12 participants. To sign up for this
hike and obtain further details, contact outing leader, Sheryl Thorburn,
at thorbu...@comcast.net.
This
moderately challenging out-and-back hike follows Dan’s Trail through
McDonald Forest to Dimple Hill. We will start at Chip Ross Park on a
wide trail/dirt road that will take us to the west end of the park where
we will join Dan’s Trail. We will follow Dan’s Trail to Dimple Hill. At
Dimple Hill, we will take a short lunch break to enjoy the view before
returning to Chip Ross Park taking the same route.
Due
to recent weather, there are currently many large downed trees near the
trail, which are amazing to see. Signs posted along the trail indicate
that they will be cleared later this spring (hopefully not before April 9th).
The gravel/dirt trails are wide and in excellent condition. There are
only a couple of trees across the trail to climb over. Wildflowers are
blooming. The majority of the hike is in shade, although the portion in
Chip Ross Park is exposed. This hike is rated moderate-to-difficult
because of the distance, the elevation gain, and some steep sections.
The majority of the elevation gain is in the first half of the hike, and
hiking poles may be helpful. The distance of this hike varies by
source, but it is somewhere between 7.3 and 8.4 miles. Bring water and a snack/lunch. Wear comfortable and sturdy hiking shoes/boots.
We
will meet near the parking area for Chip Ross Park at the end of Lester
Avenue. Additional information will be sent to participants closer to
the date of the hike.
******
2026 Earth Day Tour
Magical Willamette River Walk
Wednesday, April 22nd (the true Earth Day)
1:30-4:30 pm
The 19th Annual Corvallis Earth Day Interpretive Tour will take us along the Willamette River, from the confluence with the Marys River (Pinefu in Kalapuya) to the southern border of the City of Corvallis. We will observe and learn about the 10th largest U.S. River and its riparian edges as they are now and how they may have appeared 200 years ago when the Ampinefu Kalapuya nurtured and cultivated the area. We will walk along some river paths few people have experienced.
The hike is 4.5 miles long and there is one bathroom and one portable toilet along the way. The MPG Outing Leader is Mike Neeley-Brown. The Interpretive Guides are Gwendolyn Ellen and Dave Eckert. The hike is co-sponsored by the Marys Peak Group Sierra Club and the Corvallis Sustainability Coalition Water Action Team.
Magical Willamette River Walk
Wednesday, April 22nd (the true Earth Day)
1:30-4:30 pm
The 19th Annual Corvallis Earth Day Interpretive Tour will take us along the Willamette River, from the confluence with the Marys River (Pinefu in Kalapuya) to the southern border of the City of Corvallis. We will observe and learn about the 10th largest U.S. River and its riparian edges as they are now and how they may have appeared 200 years ago when the Ampinefu Kalapuya nurtured and cultivated the area. We will walk along some river paths few people have experienced.
The hike is 4.5 miles long and there is one bathroom and one portable toilet along the way. The MPG Outing Leader is Mike Neeley-Brown. The Interpretive Guides are Gwendolyn Ellen and Dave Eckert. The hike is co-sponsored by the Marys Peak Group Sierra Club and the Corvallis Sustainability Coalition Water Action Team.
To register for the hike and receive directions to our meeting place, contact Dave Eckert at dec...@willamettewatershed.com
******
Announcements:
******
The theme of the 2026 series is Listening to the Land.
Wednesday, April 8th
7 pm
Implications found in Ancient Douglas-fir of the OSU McDonald-Dunn Forest
By Dr. Meg Krawchuck & Charles Drake, OSU Researchers
By Dr. Meg Krawchuck & Charles Drake, OSU Researchers
Learn how our local ancient Douglas-firs help us understand how ancestral Indigenous cultural practices, including fire, reflected and impacted the human experience and why knowledge of such cultural practices matter for current forest management. Douglas-firs represent a different ecosystem and set of human cultural practices than of those represented by the Oaks from the first webinar. Dr. Krawchuk and Charles Drake have done us all a great service by sharing their unique research.
Registration Link: cbcpl.net/Frenkel2
Info: https://corvallisbenton.librarycalendar.com/event/2026-liz-bob-frenkel-hiking-environment-series-27208
Wednesday, May 13th
7 pm
Lessons from the Land: Cultivating Abundance through Land-Based Education
By Marta Capriles, Corvallis Waldorf School Agricultural Arts teacher
By Marta Capriles, Corvallis Waldorf School Agricultural Arts teacher
Learn how a local schoolyard was developed into a dynamic farmscape in which the students tend the land and learn to work with its gifts through an Indigenized curriculum developed at the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde. The students not only tend to the land, but they learn how to efficiently and sustainably utilize and benefit from the gifts of the land they tend. You will wish you had attended this school when you were growing up.
Registration Link: cbcpl.net/Frenkel3
Info: https://corvallisbenton.librarycalendar.com/event/2026-liz-bob-frenkel-hiking-environment-series-27209
The webinars are free, but pre-registration is required. Those who pre-register will receive a link to the webinar recording within three days following the webinar. So, register today! You will receive multiple reminders in advance and the Zoom link from the Corvallis-Benton County Public Library, which is providing all of the technical support.
And don’t forget to thank our three co-sponsors:
Marys Peak Group Sierra Club
Corvallis-Benton County Public Library
Corvallis Sustainability Coalition
******
Announcements:
******
(By Emily Bowes, Policy Strategist of the Oregon Chapter)
The Trump Administration has opened a 30-day public comment period on a proposal to rewrite management plans for nearly 2.5 million acres of BLM-administered public lands across western Oregon. The stated goal is to return timber production to 1980s levels, targeting some of the last remaining low-elevation old-growth forests in the Pacific Northwest, shrinking stream buffers for salmon-bearing rivers, and putting dozens of Areas of Critical Environmental Concern on the chopping block.
We have been here before. The clearcut era of the 1980s left degraded watersheds, collapsed salmon runs, and communities caught in boom-and-bust cycles the timber industry walked away from. Conservation groups spent decades fighting to restore what was lost. This proposal would take us back in the wrong direction.
The comment deadline is March 23. This is a scoping period, meaning your comment helps shape what issues must be analyzed in the full environmental review. It is one of the most meaningful intervention points in the process, and the window is short.
Click here to respond: https://act.sierraclub.org/actions/National?actionId=AR0602969
Or send an email to: BLM_OR_Revi...@blm.gov
******
Save The Date!
On
Sunday, June 28, 2026, we are having our Summer Solstice Potluck. We
are meeting at the Rotary Shelter in Willamette Park from 12-4 pm. Hike
in Willamette Park after we eat! Details to follow. If you have
questions, contact mbcd...@gmail.com. Hope to see you there!
******
The 2025 Champinefu Series is Now Available Online
This year marks the ninth season of the Champinefu Series, which was founded by the Marys Peak Group of the Sierra Club and the Cultural Resources Department of the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde. The purpose of these talks is to inform the general public about local Indigenous lands, rivers, and people. During the past nine years, there have been 27 unique programs featured through this series, some in person and others via webinar.
This year marks the ninth season of the Champinefu Series, which was founded by the Marys Peak Group of the Sierra Club and the Cultural Resources Department of the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde. The purpose of these talks is to inform the general public about local Indigenous lands, rivers, and people. During the past nine years, there have been 27 unique programs featured through this series, some in person and others via webinar.
The 2025 series was launched at OSU in October with an in-person program titled “The Future of Indigenous Foods in the Kalapuya Ilihi”. Members of the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde who work directly with developing programs related to Indigenous foods were featured. YouTube link: The Future of Indigenous Foods in the Kalapuya Ilihi
The
November talk was a webinar entitled “Indigenous Placekeeping through
Tea.” It featured David Harrelson from the Cultural Resources Department
of the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde. He is experimenting with
the processes related to Indigenous teas. YouTube link: Indigenous Placekeeping through Tea
The
December webinar was a dialogue between OSU’s Dr. Molly Carney and
David Harrelson as they focused on the cultural relevance of the tarweed
plant and the importance of regenerating tarweed ecology in the
Willamette Valley. That talk was called "Kalapuya Placekeeping through
Tarweed". YouTube link: Kalapuya Placekeeping through Tarweed
The Corvallis-Benton County Public Library's Champinefu Webinar Series YouTube playlist contains videos from this program dating back to 2021.
Co-sponsors of the series are the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde, the Corvallis Sustainability Coalition, the Spring Creek Project, the Corvallis-Benton County Public Library, the OSU School of Language, Culture & Society, and the Marys Peak Group. Champinefu Series programs and presenters are all chosen by the Cultural Resources Department of the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde.
Save the date!
The first program of the 2026 Champinefu Series will take place at OSUs
Patricia Valian Reser Center for the Creative Arts on October 15. The
topic and presenters are yet to be chosen. Admission is free.
******
Recordings of Spring 2025 Webinars Are Now Available
String of Pearls: The Magical River Parks of Corvallis was
the theme of the 2025 Liz and Bob Frenkel Hiking and Environment Spring
Webinar Series. Closed captioned recordings of two of the talks are now
available on the Corvallis-Benton County Library YouTube channel. The
talks provided the historical background, park ecology, and current user
opportunities for the City parks along the Willamette River and the
Marys River near Corvallis.
Webinar #1: The South Corvallis Willamette River Parks with Gwendolyn Ellen includes Willamette Park and Kendall Natural Area.
Webinar #2: The
Marys River Parks with Dave Eckert includes Herbert Natural Area,
Caldwell Natural Area, Marys River Natural Area, Avery Park and Natural
Area, Pioneer Park, BMX Park and Shawala Point.
Sponsors
of the webinars are the Marys Peak Group Sierra Club, Corvallis-Benton
County Public Library & the Corvallis Sustainability Coalition Water
Action Team.
******
General Notes:
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) Minutes of the MPG Executive Committee (ExCom) meetings for the last 5 years can be viewed by clicking on minutes. The ExCom meetings are held on Zoom and occur quarterly. All current Sierra Club members are welcome to attend. Contact MarysPe...@Oregon.Sierraclub.org to get the Zoom link.
******
OSU Forestry Recreation Updates:
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