Trip Report

Our group left Eugene at 8:00 a.m. on a beautiful fall day (25 riders, one bus driver and his wife) for a 250 mile trek through the central Cascade foothills. Route 46 was full of magnificent fall colors. We enjoyed a coffee break and snacks at the Fisherman’s Bend State Park on Hwy. 22 just west of Mill City. The little towns of Lyons and Mill City were very active with their large plywood and sawmills in full operation. It appeared that logging in the area was alive and well. Enjoying a brief walk along the North Santiam River we noticed the river seemed to be running about 2/3 of normal flow for this time of year, but high enough to support the salmon and steelhead runs for fall. As we enjoyed goodies and coffee prepared by our Hospitality Committee (which we give a huge THANK YOU to) some kids rode by on bicycles. They had been upriver and could see several salmon in the river, a good sign for the fish runs next year.

We continued east on Hwy. 22 to the community of Detroit. At Big Cliff Dam lots of water in the reservoir, but Detroit Reservoir was very low, just a trickle of water at the community of Detroit. We turned north on Hwy. 46 following the Breitenbush River to where it connects with the Clackamus River. The confluence of the Collawash River and Clackamus River is the location for the Two Rivers picnic area. We stopped briefly at Ripplebrook Guard Station and maintenance area before arriving at Timberlake Job Corps for our lunch. The Job Corp was celebrating their 50th anniversary so lots of the 170 students had gone home for a long weekend. The Job Corp is a dorm living situation for students as they are on campus for most of their education before graduating. The Timberlake facility is one of seven or eight Job Corps around the state. Timberlake was the first to open in the state. The student tour guides and director, Sharon Hernandez, gave us excellent information about the Job Corps and opportunities available to the students. Programs offered at the Corps are forestry, business, culinary, electrical, painting, welding, auto mechanics and carpentry. The location is a beautiful setting in the Mt. Hood National Forest with a fishing lake, wildlife, skiing, and snow play in winter months. This is a refreshing place to teach young people the importance of conservation and skills for life following their school years.

After a great lunch in the facility we headed for Estacada and more vivid colors of fall. As we turned south on Hwy. 224 at the outskirts of Estacada we enjoyed a mixture of many shades of orange, yellow and red, such a spectacular array of colors. Arriving at Woodburn we turned south on Hwy. 99E, then traveled to Bauman’s Farm which greeted us with still more color; lots of pumpkins and scary faces painted on the ends of hay bales such a sight to see. We shopped and enjoyed ice cream before boarding our bus for home. We enjoyed having our special guest, Char Bergman, with us on this trip.