Trip Report
Our Fall Color Trip of 1995 on October 7 went up into the Upper McKenzie River. We left at 0800, stopped in, short of Blue River, to visit the McKenzie H<sub>2</sub>O Company where they have am artesian well, from which they pump water 230 ft. and manually fill 16-oz. plastic bottles, box them and deliver to many firms in Eugene and Springfield. There seems to be a big demand for bottled water, as they get calls from all over the world. It is a family affair with two owners, one of whom, the resident, has two cute little boys that help. Next stop was picking up Bill Burwell on the highway at the turn off to the Blue River Lake road; we stopped at the new Experimental Forest HQ, which has dormitories for visiting foreign scientists (but primarily for OSU in Corvallis). After a talk by Station Manager Greg Downing, from Massachusetts, and with Bill’s directions we went up Rd. #15 to the impressive looking Wolf Rock. Then back along Rd. #2650, which is on the edge of the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest. All roads were gravel, #15 going up and #2650 coming back - all downhill, after the pass at the junction of several roads; #2650 merges into #1506 which follows Lookout Creek through the center of the Forest. We dropped off Greg at HQ and Bill and his lady friend, another guest, at the highway, and drove four miles to the Rustic Skillet, where the head lady, Carolin, runs the place and makes all the delicious pies, with doughnuts if left over from the morning, with excellent service and surroundings. We were home at 5:15 pm. We saw all kinds of beautiful colors in many spots with a delightful lunch at the top of the pass. Beautiful views of the Three Sisters, Mt. Washington, many others and even Mt. Hood! A magnificent day with sunshine, no wind - and rain the following day! It pays to press the sunshine button in January!
Fall Color riders were Ethel, Allen, Rita Baxter, Marian Borchardt, Ingrid Carmichael, Clair Cooley, Harriet & Paul Civin, Helga DeFoe, Bette Hack, Ray & Jean Jensen, Helen & Lillian Johnson, Rosella Jones, Beverly Lynch, Beatrice LeFevre, Dody Lippman, Cleora Mersdorf, Janice Pattison, Edna Robertson, June Smith, Louise Thurber, Virginia Vincent, Hank Williams and William E. Eaton (trip leader).
