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Outdoors
Black Creek:
The biggest trees in Lane County, and a gorgeous waterfall to boot.
Morsels
Black Napkins, Spilt Wine: Mini-reviews of area dining experiences.
Black
Creek
The
biggest trees in Lane County, and a gorgeous waterfall to boot..
By
James Johnston
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Maureen (Marla Norton)
berates Mag (Margot Trieger).
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The mountains east of Oakridge hide the
best summertime destinations in Lane County that youŠve never heard
of. In one day, this trip up Salmon Creek to Black Creek Canyon will
take you from campground to wilderness and É in whatever order you
want É from an ice-cold swimming hole to a stunning old-growth stand
to a beautiful waterfall deep in the heart of the Cascades.
Directions: Take I-5 south from Eugene for approximately
three miles. Take the Oakridge/Klamath Falls exit (Exit 188A). Stay
to the left onto Hwy. 58. Take 58 for approximately 35 miles to Oakridge.
In downtown Oakridge, take a left on Crestview Street. In a quarter
of a mile, take a right on 1st Street. 1st Street turns into Forest
Service Road 24.
Just three miles up FS 24, youŠll see a sign for
Salmon Creek Falls Campground. The short falls churn a deep blue pool
to frothy white foam. ItŠs the perfect place for a dip after a hot
day of hiking.
For the big trees, continue up FS 24 for 10 miles
from Oakridge, where youŠll stay right onto Black Creek Road and cross
Salmon Creek. Black Creek Road turns to gravel in about three miles.
6.5 miles after you cross Salmon Creek, take a right at the sign for
the Joe Goddard Nature Trail. YouŠll walk across a rustic log bridge
over Black Creek É a remnant of past logging operations É and find
the trailhead on your left. Peering off the bridge youŠll notice that
the rocky creek bottom is covered in an eerie black moss.
The Goddard Nature Trail is a short loop É only about
a quarter of a mile É but you can spend hours ogling the monstrous
trees. YouŠll stroll past a nine-foot diameter Western red cedar and
several Douglas firs that are more than 200 feet tall and 10 feet
wide. The most impressive specimen is a three-and-a-half-foot diameter
Pacific yew conveniently located next to a picnic table.
There are taller trees in Lane County (up Little
Fall Creek) and thereŠs big Sitka spruce north of Florence that might
be bigger by volume, but for pure size É girth and crown diameter
É the Doug firs in this small grove are the biggest trees in Lane
County.
When youŠve had your fill of big trees, continue
up Black Creek Road another 1.5 miles to where the road deadends at
the Black Creek trailhead. The trail winds through an old tree plantation
for several hundred yards until it crosses into the Waldo Lake Wilderness
and enters a nice old growth forest of Douglas fir, western hemlock
and Pacific yew. ItŠs just slightly more than a mile to Lillian Falls,
which is really a series of small waterfalls that tumble over boulders
draped in brilliant green moss.
Black Creek Canyon is a glacier carved furrow that
reaches from Salmon Creek almost to the shores of Waldo Lake. At the
extreme eastern end of the canyon thereŠs just a thin rocky lip separating
Black Creek from Waldo Lake, the largest natural lake in western Oregon.
The trail to Lillian Falls is an easy hike, but if
youŠre up for more adventure the Black Creek Trail climbs steeply
from the falls and strikes Waldo Lake just north of Klovdahl Bay,
another three miles from Lillian Falls.
At the turn of the century, a local entrepreneur,
James Klovdahl, hatched a scheme to tunnel from Waldo Lake to Black
Creek and draw water from the lake to irrigate farms downstream. Luckily
for Waldo Lake and Black Creek, the plan was abandoned, although you
can still see the headgates of KlovdahlŠs dam works by hiking south
on the Waldo Lake Trail.
Take some time to explore the other summertime attractions
of the Salmon Creek area, including Waldo Mountain, Huckleberry and
Blair Lakes and Salmon Creek Trail. Be sure and leave time to hit
the swimming hole on your way out.
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Black
Napkins, Spilt Wine
Mini-reviews
of area dining experiences.
Iovino's
Ristorante
126 SW First, Corvallis, (541) 738-9015.
5-10 pm, M-SA, 5-9 pm SU. $$$. --LS
Continuing our epic quest for the golden fleece of fine food in
our lovely sister city of Corvallis, we journeyed to the heart of the heart of the
city. While Eugene considers investing about a gazzillion dollars to build a charming
new asphalt-highway-cum-stripmall, Corvallis has begun a massive project to renew
and rebuild its waterfront park. Country people, go figger.
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Just about mid-park on SW First Avenue (road still under destruction),
sits a fine little Italian eatery, Iovino's Ristorante, its few windows overlooking
the river, trees and (currently) back-hoes, front-loaders and graders. Inside, the
decor is nouveau industriele fonque minimalisme: waxed/unpainted concrete
floors; one wall painted olive green, one painted deep brick-red, one pure black
with a block of white to provide sharp contrast to the sole piece of art, a large,
illuminated abstract in stained glass that hangs above the open bar. Tables are squares
topped with brushed stainless steel, black napkins, black cafe chairs.
Menu arrives with water, bread, olive oil on plate, cocktails available,
small wine list heavy on Italian and Oregon/Northwest (smart choices, fair prices).
Antipasto plate is beautiful and bountiful with veggies, cheeses, meats, olives,
etc. Among appetizers, too, is delicious Melanzane Frito, fried eggplant with a crunchy
crust on a bed of zesty plum sauce, topped with ground fresh Parmesan. Nice array
of pastas priced at $14-18, but also served "small" (no salad) at $6-$8.
Couple of interesting vegetarian items, some fresh fish, meats. Among the desserts,
the Tiramisu is a generous portion ($6), tasty, slides down just fine with espresso.
For Bluegeneans, visiting Cornvalley can be irksome. Not only have
the Corvallisites preserved many lovely old homes and fine old buildings in a still-living
downtown, they apparently can choose to eat foods that go beyond chicken-fried steak.
It's enough to make us see black and orange. Wheelchair accessible; smoke-free; Visa,
MC.
Chef's
Night Out 2002
Sell-out crowds filled the Hult Center on the last Wednesday
in April for the annual extravaganza of culinary showing-off that is Chef's Night
Out. All the people you never see shopping at the Kiva or hanging out at the library
kid's section put on their finest and spend the evening spilling food and wine on
their best dresses. At $50 a ticket, this is certainly one of the pricier meals in
town, but if you're a foodie, it's actually worth it. All profits, and there must
be quite a lot of money involved, benefit FOOD for Lane County. Five levels and 54
booths of gourmet food, fabulous wine and microbrews, coffee, deserts, you name it.
Your ticket price gets you samples of some of the finest places in town. Sweet Life
and Euphoria, West Brother's whole slow roasted hog, manicotti by Mazzi's, sushi
from Bamboo, Chantrelle's basil scallops, Soriah's Lamb Tagine -- I could list them
for hours, it took hours to nibble through them all. If you get a chance to go, pace
yourself, and take small servings! -- MT
From the Doggy Bag:
Dean's Famous Taqueria has called it quits for now,
but keep your eye on this column and we'll let you know if he re-opens shop in an
empty lot or festival near you. A new (or newly noticed) taco stand is open for snacking
on the corner of 7th and Blair. It's called Pupusas Cavelitas, and packs a
crowd at lunchtime.
Jack Bresser has Crossroads in Springfield back on its feet
again. Chapala's and Café Yumm! are opening new branches in
Oakway center, likely in mid June. It looks a little like a college campus back there,
lovely landscaping, grassy knolls, hopefully it's a worthwhile investment!
Morsels is a revolving feature that tries to capture the atmosphere
as well as the cuisine of some of our favorite places to eat in and around Eugene
& Corvallis, along with food news. Suggestions? Call Ben or Marina at 484-0519
or e-mail cal@eugeneweekly.com
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