Gary-Summer: June 30, 2024 - Peavy Arboretum

Sunday, June 30, 2024

June 30, 2024 - Peavy Arboretum

Title: June 30, 2024 - Peavy Arboretum
Hike Info : Description : Background : Extra Photo's : Flowers and Plants

Hike Info:

Type: Hiking :

Trail head: Peavy Arboretum Parking Lot

Trail: Forest Discovery Trail

Destination: Loop

Distance: 1.99 miles

Start Time: 2:48

End Time: 4:15

Travel Time: 1:26 (1.39 mph)

Moving Time: 1:12 (1.66 mph)

Elevation Rise: 398'

Descent: 303‘

Maximum Elevation: 623'

GPS Tracks

Description:

I got up at my usual time: 5:45. There was no lightning to report and that is a good thing. I then had my quiet time. After that, read and cleaned up a few files on my phone.

Happy Hiker Wanna Be's

When everybody got up, Lawrence made them an egg special with onion, mushrooms and some other stuff. I already had eaten breakfast, so I did not partake. Andrea then set up the sprinkler system we put in Friday. All of this is in anticipation of the 10:00am opening of Costco today.

You might ask, what is so special about that and why did I include this in my blog? Today I will be like a kid in a candy store. First, I have been eyeing a computer to replace my eight year old computer. I have decided on one and we got it. Then Sherri has been thinking about getting a fitness watch. She decided to get an Apple Watch Series 9. The sale on it ends today. We have been thinking about moving around the TV in our front room and need a wall mount. Steven and I eyeballed three wall mounts while Sherri and Andrea were evaluating the different watches, Steven and I decided in a couple of minutes which mount to get. It was in the basket by the time Sherri decided. Then she wanted to get a TV wall mount without observing our buy. Now comes the part of being a kid in a candy store. We wandered the aisles and come across several items which our Costco stopped carrying. So into the basket they went. This trip to Salem all of a sudden got a lot more expensive, but in a good way.

Firefighter Dedication

By this time, it is noon and time for lunch. We muck around for a little while. We still want to go for a hike today. Andrea has one lined up for us. At 2, we are off to go to a place outside of Corvallis. Instead of taking I5 south, we go out Highway 22 and then some other backroads. That is my kind of driving. Interesting looking around. After about 45 minutes we came to the Peavy Arboretum. This is an experimental forest run by Oregon State University. It is different from our Sierra forests, more broadleaf trees and less pines.

We take off on a trail. The first thing we come to is a Firefighter Memorial. It is a picnic area surrounded by nine pine trees. The site honors all firefighters who have died while battling wildfires. The nine pines represent the nine firefighters who died in Colorado’s Glenwood fire about 23 years ago. It is a somber moment for me, not because I knew them, but because of volunteering with people who are firefighters that put their lives on the line..

Sherri making it up a slope

We continue up the trail when we get to a sign saying that the road is closed due to tree falling and spraying activity. But there is a sign saying the dates are from June 25-28th. So we go up a ways. The operative word is up as that is what our way does. The whole road is covered with branches overhead, making for a delightful green-colored tinted cast to our walk. I am surprised that while we are going up this slope, I am able to easily talk with Andrea without having to do much catching my breath to talk. Maybe I am getting a little bit of my old lungs back.

I probably gave her a lecture on some of the devastating, deadly fires. She listens patiently, and asks a few questions. Is she appeasing an old man? Maybe, but that is not in Andrea’s way of doing things. We shortly get to a cordoned off area which we decide is where we are not to go. We see a bicyclist coming down that way. But we see another trail which we take. More uphill and more plants. There are several plants which we wonder if they are poison oak or something else. Later on Google identifies the picture we took as poison oak. Andrea beware!

There are many other plant life to look at. We wonder about some flowers we see, berries, plants with thorns and various kinds of trees. I think if we had picked up a brochure at the trailhead some of the trees would have been identified. As it is, there are small rounds with icons on them. I suspect the icons are keyed to the brochure to let us know what we are looking at.

The trail itself is pleasant to walk on. Most of the trail has something like small cinder stones on it, wide enough to allow two people to walk side by side, with a gradual slope. There are a few places which have some small roots coming through, but nothing which would cause too much a problem. Not quite an ADA compliant trail, yet most able bodied people could walk this with minimal effort. It made for an enjoyable walk.

Andrea and Case

After passing by a historic building and Randall Pond, we get back to the car a little after 4. I drove us back with navigational assistance from Steven and Lawrence. Pretty much when we get back to the house, Lawrence is on their family’s Sunday Zoom call. Andrea makes us dinner of Mac&Cheese with pulled pork. Pretty tasty. We get on our Zoom call with the Duran side of the family at 6:30 while we eat. Like most of our conversations, it is a combination of How are you doing, some serious talk about our lives, and lots of joyous frivolity.

I have gotten our car mostly packed and ready for an early morning take off. There is my Mom’s sewing machine case which is now Andrea’s. Lawrence, Andrea, Steven and I lug it upstairs-yes it does take us all to take it up the stairs. David built it solid and heavy

Sherri shows Andrea how to prune some of their shrubbery. And I? I just try to stay out of their way. It does get dark later on up here in Salem. When they come in, I am ready for bed. I get prone about 10.

Background

Deadly Fires I was referring to include: Mann, Glenwood (real title is South Canyon Fire and often the Storm King Fire) and Prescott (real title is Yarnell Hill Fire) fires.

Icons: These are keyed to the teaching materials for the Forest Discovery trail. Each one of these there is a cache which students are to goto find and explore the contents. If you are interested, there is a Brochure and Teacher’s Guide.

Extra Photo's