Appeal Tribune
| WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 2020 | 1B
OUTDOORS
WILDFLOWERS
The meadows of Crescent Mountain feature stunning wildflower displays.
Crescent Mountain hike features
spectacular wildflower meadow
Zach Urness
Salem Statesman Journal
USA TODAY NETWORK
The ancient volcanoes of the Old
Cascades put on quite a show in July.
The cluster of peaks near Tombstone
Pass and Santiam Junction light up with
wildflowers this time of year, with high
alpine meadows turning purple, red and
gold while showcasing views of every
major mountain in northwest Oregon.
The best-known wildflower show-
cases in the Old Cascades is Iron Moun-
tain, but there are a few others just as
good right next door.
That’s where Crescent Mountain
comes in.
Located just north of Lava Lake Sno-
Park, Crescent Mountain lives up to its
name: it’s shaped like a perfect letter C.
And it features one of the best, if not the
best, of these hikes in July.
The journey begins in old-growth for-
est and climbs to one of the most beauti-
ful alpine meadows in Oregon, before
climbing again to a 5,750-foot summit
with views from Mount Hood to Dia-
mond Peak.
The hike is challenging at 9 miles
round-trip with 2,200 feet of climb. It’s
fairly accessible off Highway 20, with a
drive of about an hour and a half from
Salem and Albany.
In the COVID-19 age, it’s a good one
for social distancing. You’ll find a hand-
ful of cars at the trailhead on a perfect
weekend in July, but everyone spreads
out pretty quickly on the long trail, and
there’s no problem stepping aside 6 feet
or more for passing hikers.
It makes a nice alternative to Iron
Mountain, which gets slammed with
boots this time of year.
The Old Cascades geologic region
The Old Cascades, also known as the
Western Cascades, are a fascinating re-
gion geologically.
As the name suggests, they're an old-
er range of volcanoes and lava vents
nestled between the Willamette Valley
and today's modern or "high" Cascades
such as Hood, Jefferson and the Sisters.
We often think of them as the Cascade
Foothills.
Here's how geologists think our cur-
rent mountains came together.
Over the millennia, volcanic activity
has shifted eastward in Oregon. There
are a few theories as to why, but it likely
has to do with the rotation of tectonic
plates or angle of subduction.
The oldest parts of the Western Cas-
cades, near the Willamette Valley, are
more eroded and 35 to 40 million years
old. They've been so eroded over the
Striking views of Mount Jefferson greet visitors on the summit of Crescent
Mountain. PHOTOS BY ZACH URNESS/STATESMAN JOURNAL
Crescent Mountain
In a nutshell: Steep and challenging
hike through meadows to the summit
of a former lookout tower.
Length: 9 miles round-trip
Climb: 2,200 feet
Difficulty: Strenuous
Best time to hike: Mid-July for
wildflowers, although it’s a stunning
hike any time of year, even when
wildflowers aren’t blooming.
Directions: From Salem, head east on
Highway 22, past Detroit Lake, to
Santiam Junction. Merge onto
Highway 20 west toward Albany and
keep an eye out for Lava Lake
Sno-Park. Turn right into the parking
area and stay right onto Forest Road
2067. After a mile, veer left onto
gravel Forest Road 508 (you’ll see a
sign pointing left with a hiker). In
another 0.8 miles, you’ll come to a
large and obvious parking area where
the trail begins.
See CRESENT, Page 2B
How to save money and spend time
Fishing
Henry Miller
Guest columnist
“Work expands so as to fill the time
available for its completion.”
- British historian C. Northcote Par-
kinson.
And then some.
The maxim known as “Parkinson’s
Law” readily applies to any and all DIY
projects at our house.
And those provide an umbrella ex-
planation about how to cope with the
self-imposed exile during the current
pandemic.
Case in point: Reel repair.
Pre-pandemic, a handle worked
loose on a Quantum Optix 80 saltwater
spinning reel during an outing to New-
port, with a critical part falling through a
space between the slats on the dock and
into the bay.
Which provided (actually still is pro-
viding) a wealth of time-sucking tinker-
ing during the shutdown.
At first blush, the problem looked
easy peasy.
The part in question is known as a
“dust cover,” a cap with a short length of
screw in the middle that goes into the
reel handle to hold it in place.
It’s an ingenious little bit of plastic
and steel that when unscrewed allows
you to take the reel handle off of one
side, put it in the other side, then screw
the cap back down.
Et voila!
Your lefty reel is now a right-handed
model, or vice versa.
At this point in what is turning out to
be a Ted Type-experience, a famous
quote from the late journalist and cur-
mudgeon H.L. Mencken serves as a per-
fect corollary to Parkinson’s Law: “For
every complex problem there is an an-
swer that is clear, simple, and wrong.”
The dust cover is actually a two-part
problem.
Part A is the threaded-screw part.
Part B is the plastic cap, which as the
name “dust cover” loosely implies,
keeps water, sand etc. out of the reel in-
terior.
“Dust” in the “dust-cover” descrip-
tion being a polite way of saying “slime”
and “gunk.”
In the interests of full disclosure, I
should say that, yes, you can buy a new
reel online for $34.99 with free shipping.
The appeal of this approach is you
can always cannibalize the reel with the
missing part to fix the new reel.
The reality is that the only part that
you’re ever going to need is that $%#&*
dust cap. I’ve got a drawer full of “spare-
part” reels to prove it. Call it Henry’s ad-
dendum to Mencken’s corollary to Par-
kinson’s Law..
Or you can go the online-parts route.
The dust cover, plus reel handle, is
$16.95 with free shipping on eBay.
There are two parts to my at-home
repair decision.
First and foremost, the reel has some
sentimental value.
I bought two of the Optix 80s at
Dockside Charters in Depoe Bay when
the late owner, Jim Tate, was downsiz-
ing prior to selling the business for
health reasons to Loren Goddard, one of
my favorite charter skippers.
And before you ask, yes, the second
reel is intact, and the dust cap is secure-
For the want of a nail … a duplicate of
this dust cover off of the functioning
reel is at the bottom of Yaquina Bay.
HENRY MILLER/SPECIAL TO THE STATESMAN
JOURNAL
ly fastened, thank you very much.
But I use the two reels and rods in
tandem when throwing fishing-rod crab
traps, so I wanted both in working order.
I digress.
See MILLER, Page 2B