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About Appeal tribune. (Silverton, Or.) 1999-current | View Entire Issue (April 14, 2021)
2B | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 14, 2021 | APPEAL TRIBUNE Hikes erty Road in South Salem. Coordinates: 44.8579491, -123.0827719. Continued from Page 1B West Salem greenways: Darrow and Spring Valley So combining the two into one walk is the best way to get the full experience while simultaneously being a courteous neighbor. Trailhead location: From downtown Salem, take Commercial Street NE south for two miles and veer right onto Liberty Road S. Drive 1.2 miles and turn right onto Skyline Road S. Drive 0.7 mile and make a right onto Kuebler. Drive a final 0.5 mile and turn right onto Joseph Street S and into Sprague School/Sky- line Park. The parking area and trail- head are immediately on the left. There are no restrooms. Coordinates: 44.8844352, -123.0810803. State Capitol State Park A man jogs at Minto-Brown Island Park in Salem on Wednesday, Sep. 26, 2018. ANNA REED / STATESMAN JOURNAL It’s entirely possible that I’m a sap for grand buildings, cherry blossoms and the history of Oregon interpreted through statues and marble façades, but few places are better for a walk than the Capitol during springtime. My favorite route starts at Willson Park at the corner of Court and Cottage streets and loops among the flags and trees, crosses the street to the lawn and winds back around the Capitol building on a route of 1.5 miles. Trailhead location: Find parking in downtown Salem and start the walk to the corner of Court and Cottage streets. Coordinates: 44.9388318, -123.0322736. Bush’s Pasture Park Historic buildings collide with forest and stream in the most distinguished park in Salem. Located just outside downtown, the park offers a peaceful stroll among rose gardens, grand old homes and surpris- ingly lush forest. The best way to explore the entire park is via the Outer Loop, which runs a total of 1.41 miles around the perimeter. Shorter trails branch off the main route, some interesting, some not as much. The park is packed with joggers on nice days. There are numerous parking areas on all four sides of the park, although the Mission Street entrance is the most popular. Trailhead location: The largest ac- cess point is the Mission Street en- trance in central Salem. Coordinates: 44.929238, -123.036938. Just outside Salem The Rhododendron Hillside Garden in Bush's Pasture Park. STATESMAN JOURNAL FILE Keizer Rapids City Park There are lush and great hiking op- tions in the signature park of our neigh- bors to the north. Loops that travel past giant trees and offer views of the Wil- lamette River can all be had at Keizer Rapids Park. In hiking here I’ve never mapped out distances, but you can get 2 to 3 miles of hiking by creating loops in the forested parts of this park. So have your own ad- venture. Trailhead location: Navigate to Keizer Rapids Park. There are multiple parking options for the hikes, including trailheads along Chemawa Road. Coor- dinates: 44.9934236,-123.0604599. Audubon Nature Reserve Tucked into a hill in West Salem and surrounded by an apartment complex, Safeway and houses, this odd little trail was preserved through the contribu- tions of the Gehlar and Schneulle fam- ilies in 1992 to the Salem Audubon Soci- ety. This hike holds a unique spot in my heart since it’s next door to where I used to live in West Salem. I used to hike with my first daughter in a baby carrier onto this trail to get her to fall asleep just about every night. In spring, it has nice wildflowers and birds to be seen. While it’s a very short hike, it’s certainly pleas- ant and a worthy spot to visit if you’re in the area. Trailhead location: There’s a small parking area along Eola Drive, just off Edgewater Street, in West Salem. Coor- dinates: 44.9389432,-123.0678741. Joryville County Park The Salem Audubon Nature Reserve trails are quiet in the middle of an area that feels urban. ZACH URNESS / STATESMAN JOURNAL Miller apart, at least until the J&J and AstraZe- neca one-dose vaccinations are widely available. Continued from Page 1B Speaking about clams As mentioned previously, the next minus-tide series is April 26 through May 1 (the latter falling on a Saturday), if you want to give it a shot. Make that two shots … several weeks A previous column about minus tides sparked a missive from the Oregon De- partment of Fish and Wildlife. Matt Hunter, the department’s Shell- Simple Cremation $795 Simple Direct Burial $995 Church Funeral $2965 SALEM 275 Lancaster Drive SE Salem, OR 97317 (503) 581-6265 TUALATIN 8970 SW Tualatin Sherwood Rd Tualatin, OR 97062 (503) 885-7800 PORTLAND 832 NE Broadway Portland, OR 97232 (503) 783-3393 TIGARD 12995 SW Pacifi c Hwy Tigard, OR 97223 (503) 783-6869 EASTSIDE 1433 SE 122nd Ave Portland, OR 97233 (503) 783-6865 MILWAUKIE 16475 SE McLoughlin Blvd Milwaukie, OR 97267 (503) 653-7076 “Easy Online Arrangements” OR-GCI0571428-02 There are two random but really nice little hikes just north of West Salem along Wallace Road / Highway 221. Both are greenways — forest along the Wil- lamette River left over from Oregon Gov. Tom McCall’s attempt to create forested buffers along the river to improve its health. The two hikes include “Darrow Ac- cess,” a parking lot on the side of the highway that leads to a really pretty loop through dense forest with a little access spot to the Willamette River where I used to swim on hot days. The loop isn’t any longer than a half mile at most. The other spot is a bit more well- known, and that’s Spring Valley access. Located just across from the Western Mennonite Church, there’s a network of short trails here that were among the first projects of the Salem Area Trail Al- liance. Both hiking and mountain biking is welcome here on four different short trails. There’s also a nice little boat ramp. Location - Darrow Access: From West Salem, drive north on Wallace Road / Highway 221 for 4 or 5 miles. You’ll see a sign on the right side of the road. Coordinates: 45.0092567,- 123.0802343. Location - Spring Valley: From Dar- row Parking lot, continue another 4 miles and again, keep an eye out for a sign on the right that leads to a long road down to a boat ramp and signs for the trails. Coordinates: 45.0627335,- 123.0768905. www.CrownCremationBurial.com There are surprisingly beautiful trails at this often-overlooked park just out- side of South Salem that also has nice picnic areas. Pathways start at the bot- tom and then head uphill through the forest. I can’t find any map of the park’s trail — I’d just head out there and start wandering around. Trailhead location: Navigate to the park located between Skyline and Lib- fish Project leader, sent a reminder that while bay clamming has been open from California to Washington, razor clam- ming on Oregon’s beaches has been, and remains, closed along the entire coast. The closure has been in effect since November because of elevated levels of domoic acid, a naturally occurring shell- fish toxin caused by marine algae. The closures are the result of weather and wind, a “stall” in ocean currents and the feeding patterns of razor clams, fac- tors that contributed to a rapid buildup of toxins. Hunter outlines the causes, and the resulting unfortunate effects about the ongoing domoic acid problems in an in- teresting and informative March 4 news release available on the Oregon Depart- ment of Fish and Wildlife’s website. And not to sound like a broken record (ask your grandparents, or better yet think of it as a hiccup in the livestream feed), you always should check online with the Oregon Department of Agricul- ture’s shellfish information page at State of Oregon: Shellfish - Recreational Shellfish Biotoxin Closures Or call the toll-free Shellfish Safety Hotline at (800) 448-2474. Food for thought What does the cuisine at a frat house poker-night kegger and a last night in elk camp, clean-out-the-coolers menu have in common? Both are similar to the trail diet of Emily Halnon of Eugene during her rec- ord-setting ultra-distance run. Halnon completed the 455-mile sec- tion of the Pacific Crest Trail between the California and Washington borders in July in slightly less than eight days. During which her on-the-go-go di- etary regimen consisted in large part of gummy worms, Cheetos, quesadillas, These pathways require a slightly longer drive from Salem, but they’re still Willamette Valley hikes for the most part. These include wildlife refuges, floodplains and county parks. Again, they’re often overlooked and rarely crowded. Stayton North Santiam Trails Although it’s popular in Stayton, I’m not sure many people outside the area know about the wonderful pathways created for an Eagle Scout project by Randy Smith and Isaac Jaeger. The trail system travels through for- est, past ponds and along the North Santiam River — circling the Geren Is- land Water Treatment Facility — while creating loops of different lengths that can run 3 to 4 miles, or much less. The trail system has two main access points — one at Pioneer Park/Jordan Covered Bridge and the other at River- front Park / Florence St. Trailhead and Pedestrian Bridge. There are maps at each trailhead. Note: The trail from the Pioneer Park side was closed, temporarily, following the ice storm. Double-check on its sta- tus before heading out. The access from Florence St. is open. Trailhead locations: Navigate to Pioneer Park in Stayton. The trail starts just across the covered bridge. Coordinates: 44.797268,-122.7903397. Navigate to Stayton Riverfront Park. Coordinates: 44.7962617,- 122.7890337. See HIKES, Page 3B Kay with her first post-vaccination cockle limit of the pandemic. HENRY MILLER / SPECIAL TO THE STATESMAN JOURNAL hot dogs and instant mashed potatoes. Of course, the aforementioned frat party/elk camp farewell diet of chum- pions is minus a key ingredient. That would be exercise. In case you missed it, Halnon’s ad- ventures were captured in a couple of excellent articles and a podcast by the Statesman’s Zach Urness. Words of wisdom The weakest link on any fishing boat is the pull cord to start the outboard. Contact Henry Miller via email at HenryMillerSJ@gmail.com