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S5. Hike #15 - Allen Throop Loop, Fitton Green Natural Area, Bald Hill

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 S5. Hike #15 - Fitton Green Natural Area, Bald Hill Starting Location: Allen Throop Loop Trailhead Point of Interest :  Views of South Willamette Valley Distance : 1.5 miles, many trails available of various lengths Difficulty : easy to medium, trails in good shape, some steep Bathrooms:  porta potty Parking : small gravel lot EV Chargers :  No This is a tale of 2 hikes. We started with the Allen Throop Loop, part of the Fitton Green and Bald Hill Natural Areas. There are lots of trails, so you do need to pay attention to what trail you are on. They seem to be marked well enough. The trail is easy, and the views are amazing. We drove up to the trailhead, and this trail was only about 1.5 miles, it went by very quickly. The other trails in the area that connected were longer than we wanted to go, so we ended up driving down to the Bald Hill Natural Area. Bald Hill is more established, and busier, with bikers and joggers, as well as other hiker/walkers. Some...
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S5 Kayak #4 - Santiam River from I5 to Buena Vista

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S5 Kayak #4 - Santiam River from I5 to Buena Vista Starting Location:  I5 Rest Area at the Santiam River (accessible from either side.) Point of Interest :  Beautiful River scenery Distance : Just over 8 River Miles Time on float: about 3 hours Bathrooms:  Plenty at the Rest Area! Parking : Lots of parking. Trailers may need to drive back over to the rest area EV Chargers :  no Rentals:  no This was our first time on the Santiam. We've heard about this float, and finally decided to try it. The hardest part? It was just the 2 of us, and taking 2 cars would mean an extra hour of driving between the put in and take out area. Luckily, we talked our son into coming with us to drive the truck back to Buena Vista! So off we went. The boat ramp is concrete, and gently sloped. There is some parking nearby, on gravel, but with a trailer it would be hard. However, there is a rest area nearby with plenty of trailer parking. It's a short walk to the boat ramp. I could ...
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S5 Hike #14 - Ankenny National Wildlife Refuge

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  S5 Hike #14 - Ankeny National Wildlife Refuge Starting Location:  parking lot at Ankeny Hill Nature Center Point of Interest :  hiking, education, Distance : depends on trails. Difficulty : easy, flat Bathrooms:  nice bathrooms at Nature Center Parking : yes, paved, and other parking at trail heads EV Chargers :  No I've come across this Refuge on a "shortcut" to I-5. It's just a few miles from I-5, and the Buena Vista Ferry. There's a short hike of less than a mile at the Nature Center, and then you have to drive to a trailhead. The short trail at the Nature Center winds through some wetlands, and connects some building which are used for education purposes, like field trips. There are nice views and a variety of plants which are labeled. While this is a good place to start, if you want to hike, you'll need to drive to a trailhead. So we went to the Pintail, Egret Marsh Boardwalk trailhead. There's a nice boardwalk that winds through a pretty dense ...
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S5 Hike #13 - Big Tree Boardwalk - Rockaway Beach

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  S5 Hike #13 - Big Tree Boardwalk - Rockaway Beach Starting Location:  parking lot off Hwy 101 Point of Interest :  Large Cedar Tree, boardwalk, nature Distance : 0.5 miles each way Difficulty : easy, and accessible Bathrooms:  portapotty Parking : yes, but small lot. Some parking on side of road EV Chargers :  No This is the only sign you get for this hike. It's just after Twin Rocks, before Rockaway Beach. I was lucky enough to get here when it was raining. Pretty hard. I did have my hiking gear, minus my rain pants. So I got pretty wet. However, this is a pretty hike though a dense forest. The boardwalk goes the entire distance, and was in great shape. Honestly, I was almost as interested in the craftmanship of the boardwalk as I was with the sights along the hike. There is a small offshoot of the board walk that goes to an observation platform, but all I could see was underbrush. There were picnic tables, however. When you do get to the tree,...
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S5 Hike #12 - The M Trail - Missoula, MT

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  S5 Hike #12 - The M Trail Starting Location:  parking lot on Campus Drive across from Aber Hall Point of Interest :  The large concrete M above the University of Montana, Missoula Distance : 3/4 mile each way Difficulty : moderate, due to steepness, decent path with rocks to watch out for. Bathrooms:  flush toilets at base of trail at parking lot Parking : yes, but pay attention to if you need a permit EV Chargers :  No, but some other places around campus. We were in Missoula, helping our daughter move into student housing, and this looked like a fun, Missoula thing to do. Apparently this is a very popular hike. The trail is in good shape. The main issue is the steepness. There are 13 switchbacks to help make the trail manageable, with plenty of places to stop and rest, including some nice benches. While we were there, we saw runners going up and down the trail, families with small kids, and one mom carrying her young son in a backpack. There w...
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S5 Kayak #3 Beaver Creek

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  S5 Kayak #3 Beaver Creek Starting Location:   Boat Ramp at Brian Booth Day Use Area, just off HWY 101 on the East side, across from Ona Beach Point of Interest :  Estuary wildlife and fauna Distance : Just under 4 river miles, 2 in and back Time on float: about 3 hours Bathrooms:  1 vault toilet at Day Use Area, another at Kayak launch upriver Parking : EV Chargers :  no Rentals:  no This is actually where we went for our first kayak trip with our new kayaks, 4 years ago. We remembered liking the abundant nature, and easy paddle. We put in at the Brian Booth Day use area just off Hwy 101, right across from the Ona Beach State Park. If you park at Ona Beach, you can drag your kayak to Beaver Creek, but there's not an official boat ramp. There is also a kayak launch farther down Beaver Creek road. We ended up paddling upstream to that launch, and then back. We had timed the tide so that we got there at slack tide, as high tide was ending, so we would ...
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