Calendar

Past Activity

Vivian Lake

  • Start date: 07/22/2017

  • Start time: 12:00 AM

  • End date: 07/22/2017

  • End time: 11:59 PM

Description:

We'll drive up to the Salt Creek Falls parking lot, and admire waterfalls all day: first Salt Creek Falls itself, then Diamond Creek Falls, and then the tumbling cascades of Fall Creek up to Fall Creek Falls. The trail is fairly steep in places. Then another mile or so will lead us to lunch at Vivian Lake.

In normal years, this date would be too late for the rhodies to be blooming, but also too late for mosquitoes--but this year, all bets are off. Come prepared for possible mosquitoes, and we'll hope that discourages them!

  • Event Leader: Sue Wolling

  • Event Leader Phone: 541-345-2110

  • Event Leader Email: sue.wolling@gmail.com

  • Assistant Leader:

  • Event category: Trips

  • Area Type: Mountain

  • Departure Location: South Eugene High School, 19th & Patterson

  • Rating: Moderate

  • Roundtrip total drive miles: 127

  • Season: 2017

  • Permits Required:

  • Event Status: Passed

  • Supplies and Equipment Required: Food, water, hiking boots, poles if preferred, sun protection, mosquito protection, good spirits. Please be prepared to drive if you could drive, and bring along a Forest Service pass if you have one (whether you plan to drive, or not)

  • participant prerequisites:

  • Conditions:

  • Total Distance: 8

  • Member Fees: 1

  • Elevation Gain: 1600

  • Non-Member Fees: 5

  • Committee: Trips

  • Junior member fees: —

Trip Report

On a sunny morning, our ten hikers did introductions and then headed up to the trailhead at Salt Creek Falls. After stopping to admire Oregon’s second-tallest waterfall, we crossed the creek to start the hike. We were quickly greeted by hordes of mosquitoes--initially we thought they were all males, because they weren’t biting, but at some point the bugs got over their sexism. We kept a good pace on the way up, because as long as we kept moving, the bugs weren’t too bad. We enjoyed a surprising variety of wildflowers along the way, from beargrass to columbine to shooting stars. While a couple of trees had not been cleared off the trail, they were easy to walk around. The steep pitch of the trail, on the other hand, was not so easy--but good things never come easy, right? After a view of Fall Creek Falls, we hiked along the cascading stream to reach the junction where we appreciated the flat walk to Vivian Lake and our lunch stop. A slight breeze gave us a break from the mosquitoes, and we enjoyed a leisurely lunch (and a swim for Valerie). On the way down, we chose the part of the loop we had not taken on the ascent, and were rewarded with a view of Diamond Creek Falls and the Salt Creek Canyon on the way back to the parking lot. It was a great summer hike--and hearing George, a newcomer to Oregon, admire the wonderful scenery that the rest of us often take for granted helped us all to appreciate just how lucky we are to live in a place like Oregon.