Waldo Country
Continued from cover
To prove that his fish stories are
true. Sonny Rychard has plastered the
wall of his Oakridge sporting goods
store with photos of happy and some
times astonished anglers who hoist
strings full of hit pan-sized trout
reeled-in from bubbling mountain
streams or 20-pound monster Macki
naws taken from the cold depths of
Odell Lake.
“Look at this one,” he says, tapp
ing a photo of a man struggling to lift
a gigantic trout. “That’s the world
record, 47% pounds, and he caught
that right up the road. We’re in the
books. This is trophy country.”
Most activities seem to revolve
around the water. More than a thou
sand miles of hiking trails skirt hid
den water falls and a hundred high
mountain lakes including Waldo, the
state’s second largest natural lake and
proven scientifically to be the purest
lake on earth. Watersports include sail
boating, windsurfing, skiing and
scuba at the bigger lakes of Crescent
and Odell. Or purists can angle in the
fly-fishing-only North Fork, where
the riffles and eddies produce limits
quickly for a mid-morning fish fry.
CAMPING &
PICNICKING
The spirit of conservation fostered
by Judge John Breckenridge Waldo
has given Lane County residents a
recreation paradise at their own back
door. Old growth timber remains,
forests have been replanted (Oakridge
holds an annual Tree Planting Festival
each year), and dozens of scenic camp
grounds and three wilderness areas
here remain quiet, clean and largely
undiscovered.
The Oakridge and Rigdon Ranger
Districts maintain 27 campgrounds
and picnic areas in the Willamette Na
tional Forest. Many are isolated and
free and have only a handful of
spaces, like the three-site Rhododen
dron Campground on an island in
Waldo Lake, or the single-space Opal
Lake Campground found at the end
of a quarter-mile hike to 5,700 feet.
Others, like Shadow Bay, have piped
water, barbeque pits, 90 spaces and
an overnight fee Of $6.
Dispersed camping throughout the
National Forest and Three Sisters,
Waldo Lake and Diamond Peak wil
derness areas offers about 1.6 million
acres of camping opportunity.
HIKING
Hiking trails are a main attraction
here, with Waldo Lake a popular cen
terpiece. The loop trail of 21 miles
around the lake is a two-day adven
ture, while day hikers can take their
time and pick huckleberries along the
easy one mile Blue Lake Trail into the
Diamond Peak Wilderness. About
800 miles of clear trails from easy to
hard seem seldom-traveled and rich
in wildlife.
HOT SPRINGS
A popular diversion is McCredie
Hot Springs, located 10 miles east of
Oakridge on Highway 58. Undevel
oped, it’s up to bathers here to decide
what to wear—if anything—and to
prepare their own on-site mix of bub
bling-hot mineral water and the icy
flow of Salt Creek.
SCENIC DRIVES
Some are a mix of gravel and pav
ed road, like the 30 miles of Aufder
heide Drive (Highway 19) or the
Middle-Fork-Diamond Peak-Hills
Creek Drive, while others like the
scenic drive on the Hwy. 58-Waldo
Lake Road are well-paved and travel
ed lightly. All offer stunning vistas
and roadside attractions, such as the
gushing, ice cold Indigo Springs,
286-ft. Salt Creek Falls (Oregon’s 2nd
highest) and campgrounds.
LODGES
You'll be pampered and well-fed at
bargain prices at any of the lodges and
resorts at Willamette Pass, Crescent
and Odell lakes. Fir-paneled rooms
in the main inn or guest cottages are
surprisingly inexpensive—from $30.
Evening meals are often barbequed
over huge grates, sending the smell of
grilled chicken, steaks and corn on
the evening breeze. Boat rentals, fuel,
outdoor supplies and cold beverages
can be found at Odell Lake Lodge
(433-2540), Shelter Cove Resort
(433-2548) and Crescent Lake Lodge
& Resort (433-2505). Open for sum
mer dining is the Summit House Res
taurant at the Willamette Pass Ski
Area.
PUBLICATIONS
Old hands know that a weekend in
Waldo Country begins with a survival
kit of publications and maps, the key
that will swing the door open to fun
and adventure. Here's a basic list that
should round-out any map kit or glove
box:
Official USFS Willamette Forest
Map, $1.50, Oakridge and Rigdon
Ranger Stations. The authoritative
guide to all roads, geographical fea
tures, waters, landmarks, trails, camp
grounds, cities, parks and recreation
sites in 3% square feet of carto
graphies.
Oakridge Outdoors, free. Ranger
Stations. An informative guide to 27
local campsites and picnic areas,
popular trails, scenic drives and
swimming holes. Forest Service rules
and helpful tips are included and use
ful.
Willamette Pass Fun Guide, 50c,
Avocet Books, Sonny’s Sporting
Goods. Seven full pages of maps and
a compendium of recreation high
lights that includes a guide to local
trout identification and gold panning.
1987 Oregon Angling Regula
tions, free, local grocery and sport
ing goods stores.
KEYSTONE CAFE
—Good Home Cookin’—
— WEEKEND —
DINNER SPECIAL
FRI., SAT., SUN.
5:30-9:00 .
Baked Halibut
w/salad & cornbread
W. 5th at Lawrence
7 am-9 pm
Waldo Lake.
PHOTO BY JIM BOURDEIN
Judge Waldo Days Festival
The first week long festival to cele
brate the unique beauty of the Waldo
Country Wilderness will be held
August 8 through 16 amid the beauti
ful headwaters of the Willamette River
Basin, near Oakridge, Oregon.
The Judge Waldo Days Festival will
be both a recreational and cultural
celebration to introduce Oregonians
and visitors to the history and scenic
beauty of Waldo Lake and the sur
rounding Waldo Country.
The Festival is planned to celebrate
and appreciate the value of the natural
beauty and the human spirit found in
and around the Waldo Country. The
Waldo Country is one of the wildest
remaining forested regions of Oregon.
Waldo Lake is known scientifically to
be the purest lake on earth. The
Waldo Country boasts hundreds of
miles of hiking trails; at least 10 peaks
greater than 5,000 feet in elevation;
more than 60 mountain lakes; and
hundreds of miles of rivers and
streams, including the North Fork of
the Willamette River, famous for its
wild trout.
The Waldo Days Festival will kick
off with a full day of activities on
Saturday, August 8, including: a
special trip through the Oakridge Pio
neer Museum; an expanded version
of last year’s very popular trek to the
top of Fuji Mountain; and a chicken
barbecue dinner with fly-fishing
demonstrations and the unveiling of
the Judge Waldo fly. On Sunday,
August 9, the Circle Bar Golf Course
in Oakridge will host a public golf
tournament. Tee-off will be at 1 p.m.
Activities for the weekend of
August 14-16 include a spicy Blue
grass dance with authentic Cajun
band Etouffee; guided day hikes to
spectacular vistas; and the revelation
of some hidden surprises in the wilds
of the Waldo Country by historian
Bob Cox of Eugene. These events will
be followed by a public dinner on
Saturday evening at the Shadow Bay
Campground on Waldo Lake. A fee
will be charged for the guided hikes,
and route maps for the free non
guided hikes will be available. The
weekend’s activities will culminate on
Sunday with the popular annual
“Walk Around Waldo” for which
pledges are collected for each mile
walked, and a Cajun dinner at Odell
Lake Lodge.
The Waldo Days Festival is named
for Judge John Waldo (1844-1907), an
Oregon pioneer and early Cascades
explorer. Judge Waldo might well be
called Oregon’s John Muir. Waldo
was instrumental in the drive to create
national forests in Oregon and to
secure Crater Lake as a National
Park. The Festival will celebrate
Judge Waldo as a pioneer, explorer,
conservationist, and sportsman.
For more detailed information, call
Doug Norlen at 687-8335, or Oak
ridge Mayor Richard Culbertson at
782-3245. Sponsors of the Festival in
clude the Oakridge Chamber of Com
merce, the Oakridge Pioneer Mu
seum, Oregon Trail magazine, the
Waldo Wilderness Council, the Oak
ridge Audubon Society, the Oregon
Natural Resources Council, the Oak
ridge High School.
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