Kayaking and Hiking Adventures

 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...

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 ...