Past Activity

Central Oregon Explore

  • Start date: 05/24/2019

  • Start time: 12:00 AM

  • End date: 05/26/2019

  • End time: 11:59 PM

Description:

SPACE IS OPEN FOR ONE PERSON - SIGN UP!
This is a 3-day experience into Central Oregon's Outback that includes learning about early human habitation, geology, and the Pleistocene. Our route will include the archaeological site of Fort Rock Cave, the 2-mile long volcanic fissure known as Crack in the Ground, and the Fossil Lake area. The last third of this trip is exploratory.
We will depart Eugene and enjoy a short rest at Salt Creek Falls before continuing to the curious 3-sided vertical-wall formation known as Fort Rock. Fort Rock was once an island on an ancient lake and smoothed area from wave action can be seen on its walls. We will hike for about 2 miles exploring this curiosity. On our way out, we'll visit the local Homestead Museum and learn about how the area's modern water supply has affected more recent history. Our camp is 15 minutes away, there are showers, a small store, and (if allowed) we will be able to enjoy a fire. The nearby area is open space with trails. Being the Friday of the Memorial Day Weekend this campsite might be busy, bring earplugs.

The next morning we will visit the rarely seen Fort Rock Cave with an interpretive guide. Only about 100 members of the public get to see this cave every year and our group has tickets! It's at this cave where 9,500-year-old sandals were discovered, and it was once thought to be the oldest site of human habitation in the western US. In the afternoon we will drive to Christmas Valley to resupply as needed then off to "Crack in the Ground" an ancient volcanic fissure. The fissure is over 2 miles long and in places 70-feet deep. In the late afternoon, we'll drive about ten miles to a rustic ranch to camp. That evening we'll tent camp under the stars listening to coyotes. The area is remote and off-the-grid, electricity will not be available, but there are water and an outhouse. There are a couple of friendly, but large ranch dogs that will be wandering around. We will have a fire if conditions allow. The moon will be waning gibbous with about 60% illumination.

On the third day, we drive less than 10 miles to Fossil Lake. During the Pleistocene, this area was part a vast lake. Today, this high desert region is important because of fossil evidence from the many animals that once swam in the lake and walked its shores. It is in this area that a racetrack of 43,000-year-old mammoth tracks was uncovered in 2017. Our visit to the area will include 2 to 3 miles of walking. There will be little to no shade, bring sun-gear. In the afternoon we return to Eugene, the plan is to be home by dinnertime.

Trip Departure:The departure location will be e-mailed to participants closer to the trip date (it will be in south Eugene).
Camping & Ticket Fees:
Reservations have been pre-paid by the trip leader. Participants need to pay $40 (includes, 2-nights of camping fees and coveted tickets to Fort Rock Cave) to the trip leader at the beginning of the trip. Admission to the Homestead Museum is additional

Mileage & Carpool:
While most of the roads are paved about 40 miles will be on dusty roads. Driving mileage has been determined by Google Maps, however, we will be using backroads for parts of the trip and estimating mileage is not always accurate. Please allow for some flexibility with odometer readings and bring a few extra dollars to have on hand to voluntarily reimburse the drivers.

  • Event Leader: Mark Hougardy

  • Event Leader Phone: 541-206-9532

  • Event Leader Email: hougardy@gmail.com

  • Assistant Leader:

  • Event category: Trips

  • Area Type:

  • Departure Location: See Trip Description

  • Rating: Easy

  • Roundtrip total drive miles: 401

  • Season: 2019

  • Permits Required:

  • Event Status: Passed

  • Supplies and Equipment Required: Bring your camping gear (tent, sleeping bag, camp stove), and your own food. Dress for the weather.

  • participant prerequisites:

  • Conditions:

  • Total Distance: 8

  • Member Fees: 2

  • Elevation Gain: 300

  • Non-Member Fees: 10

  • Committee: Trips

  • Junior member fees:

Trip Report

This was a 3-day experience into Central Oregon’s Outback to learn more about early human habitation and the area’s geology. Our route included the archaeological site of Fort Rock Cave, the 2-mile long volcanic fissure known as Crack in the Ground, and plans to visit the Fossil Lake area. On our first day, one member discovered she didn’t have the right key to the car carrier which held her sleeping bag. Our caravan stopped at a hardware store in Oakridge where the employee emerged with the largest pair of bolt cutters ever seen. He quickly removed the troublesome lock. For lunch, we stopped at Salt Creek Fall for a break and later at an info kiosk on Hwy 31 before continuing to Fort Rock. At Fort Rock, we hiked to “the notch” along the western tuff ring where the wind was really strong. We made our own trail back down the rough side to more level ground. Afterward, we visited the Homestead Museum to learn more about homesteading was like in earlier years. At a nearby private campground, we set up our tents and enjoyed a fire for an hour or so when we noticed a mist in the distance. Within a minute or two it started to rain. We called it an early evening. On the second day, in the early morning, the sunrise was beautiful and a coyote was heard yelping in the distance. One participant had green shower shoes and after a miscommunication about where they were to be delivered, gave everyone a good laugh. At 9 am we drove to Fort Rock for our interpretive tour of the Fork Rock Cave where 10,000-year-old shoes had previously been found. The Oregon State Park Ranger had driven from La Pine and was delayed a few minutes because of traffic. Our group and two others joined him in a state park van and we drove ten minutes close to the site. Then we walked about half a mile to the cave. He shared 3 prevailing theories about how humans arrived in the Americas and included a traditional story about how Fort Rock had been formed. We were asked that the story remains in the cave. As we walked back to the van one participant was keenly interested in the bleached bones of a dead cow. Back at Fort Rock we ate lunch and watch some of the birds on the cliff face. We drove half an hour to Christmas Valley then to Crack in the Ground. We hiked several sections that we could scamper through and also hiked along the top of the fissure. Several participants disturbed a prairie falcon who was not happy to see them. The falcon made a lot of noise, and as they moved away it acted as though it wanted to nose dive them. Storm clouds were approaching; we left about 3 pm and drove to an isolated ranch. The directions were a bit off and we took several wrong turns before arriving. We were greeted by two rambunctious dogs, a golden colored and bear-sized dog and a smaller ten-month-old border collie. As we were unloading our cars the collie jumped in the back of the trip leader’s car when a door was open and pee’d on the back seat. Just as we completed setting up our tents a 20-30 mile-an-hour wind blew past and dark clouds rolled in. The rain started at about 6:30 pm and everyone quickly disappeared into their tents to eat. The rain poured throughout the night. We didn’t see anyone again until the next morning. On the final morning we were happy to hear that everyone pretty much stayed dry during the rain. We decided that traveling on muddy back roads might be problematic so we canceled the last portion of our trip to Fossil Lake. Just as we packed the last of our gear the two dogs reappeared but now they covered in mud – quickly we departed. We stopped in Fort Rock at a convenience store for gasoline and a break, then another break at Fort Rock, then again Salt Creek Falls before returning home.