'e Clackamas P rint
Wednesday, April. 25, 2012
aced @ clackam as.edu
Canemah Bluff offers
By Isaac Soper
Arts & Culture Editor
Name: Canemah Bluff
Location: O ff o f South End Rd.,
turn left onto Fifth Ave; there will be signs for Old
Canemah Park.
Typ e; Groomed trails, wilderness
Length: Multiple trails; total area o f 158 acres
Difficulty: Easy to moderate
Equipm ent needed: Boots; compass recommended if
Hidden in Oregon 'City, a
town on the verge, of subur
bia, .sits a 158 acte protected
wilderness area known as the
Canemah Bluff. "
In 2008, Native American
artifacts and cefemonial sites
were found by park workers
in the. area, which was . 'used
as a meeting place for mem
bers o f , many tribes around
Oregon; between 30,000 and
60,000 -members o f various
tribes; would come to the Bluff
and fish the Willamette River
together,-
| There ; are many different
types of'wilderness in the loca
tion, including, of course, the
Bluff itself, along with ponds,
dense forest, open fields and
marsh lands. There are various
.trees iftthe area that are becom
ing rater by .the "minute, such1
as thé Oregon white oak or the
Pacific madrone, both which are
beautiful and unique trees.
There are à few offshoots
o f the trail that are terrtporar--
ily closed due-to water satura
tion and mild flooding, but the
new trail is very nice.. The new
trail begins a tth e C a n e m a h
Children sT ark (located 'at 815
Fourth Ave, Oregon .City), and
Canemah Bluff area.
Thé Bluff looks down upon
the Willamette River.
There are a plethpra o f beau
tiful wildflowers in the area,
including the bright yellow
Oregon sunshine, the upside-
down 'white fawn lily and the
common camas. Apart from
flowers, there are a wide variety
of mushrooms and fungi that
are very unique and magnifi
cent in their own right. O n the
hike, we were able to fin d a less-
common black jelly, fungus and
an elven saddle.
Jelly , fungus is an edible
fungi, although considered by
many to share the same taste as
dirt (see. story below).
Many of the rocks and trees
in the area have a thick covering
of moss; in some spots we were
able to find patches that were
over four inches thick, .
There are multiple trails that
are slightlyovergrown that will
rovide good views “o ff the
eaten path.”
Be careful, there is some, hoir
son oak. Poison oak can be iden
tified by its glossy oak-like leaf
structure (that during warmer
times o f the year will, turn from
reen to red). Its .leaves are. in
unches ;o f, three, “Leaves .of
three, let them be.” .
Apart from the cemetery trail,
which heads to the Canemah
tr ie ta r g e , ~ prp^
tected areas that make up the
"fff ft&îls that can' provide fairly'
easy hiking for hours and hours.
Unless its a really busy time
of year, Canemah is relatively
quiet, over a period o f three
hours; only four other people
were seen, hiking on the main
trail and the cemetery trail. ’
Most do not associate
Oregon City with “wilderness.”
Canemah is that. Once you hike
away, from the childrens park,
Canemah becomes a different
world' all together.
Cool Waterways, awesome
-trails and jutting rocks to climb
on, beautiful wildflowers, twist
ing, white oaks, Pacific madro-
nes— almost ‘human-like in
appearance. Canemah is one of
the best'places by far in Oregon
City.
A black jelly fungus grows oh
^O^anffrofraM , Oregon big-leaf
maple tree.
Wildman goes native, searches for local sustenance
By Isaac Soper
Arts & Culture Editor
Food is an important part of
a balanced diet. Other than gro
cery stores, fast food restaurants
and dumpsters, there are in fact,
other ways to find food. Look
out your back door. Do you see
any weeds? W hat we commonly
call weeds are in fact native
plants. Quite a few of these
native plants are edible, and in
many cases, quite tasty.
Throughout the year, find
ing food in the wilderness can
be relatively easy to impossible.
As I entered the woods on the
outskirts of town, I tried to
find some of the basic edibles.
For me, that includes plants
that I know are edible, without
my guide; such as the common
dandelion, the blackberry -and
the wild carrot.
A few dandelions were found,
though the slightly bitter taste of
the petals and the leaves left me
unsatisfied. Blackberries were
no more than thorny vines; the
wild carrot (also called Queen to mild lettuce and the petals
Anne’s Lace)~couldn’t be found. had a uhique but, satisfying taste
The Oregon grape, identified as well., Being the first large
by its holly-like spiny leaves, was amount o f wild edibles I had
flowering which means if|Tairly found on my search, I collected
bitter but edible berries would a few bunches of the plant. .
be in season £ soon. “Soon” was
Some wild, plants can be;
not soon enough; I was on a eaten raw, and some must be
quest to fill my stomach and cooked, for instance, the infa
hunger was setting in'. |
mous stinging nettle, a plant
I walked furdier, deeper into that when brushed up against
the woods,, seeking, something makes you really itchy, until you
palatable to eat. I looked down take a shower. Yes, it is a good
to see the white .flowers and dis idea to have some gloves to har
tinct leaves of the wild strawber vest the plant. If you do come
ry. The flowers meant that there into contact with it, another
would be no pickings though.
wild edible, the dock, has the
As I stood, I saw the thorny remedy. Just mash up the docks
stems of the wild rose, o f which leaves and rub. the juice on the
the leaves,, petals and buds site o f contact, and the sting will
(known as rosehips) are all edi subside.
ble. There werent any rosehips
As much as I, enjoy eating
or petals yet, but a few young mushrooms at home, without
leaves made a quick snack. I a detailed guide, I didn’t even
had to search for something consider eating the different
more filling; I came upon some fungi that I’d seen.--.
ostrich ferns. The young coiled
Those who may be interested
heads of the ferns (commonly in harvesting wild mushrooms
called fiddleheads) are edible (the* edibles, not the psychedel
if boiled in water. W ith only si ics) should look for an in-depth
pocket knife and a water bottle, guide on what exactly to look
the possibility o f boiling fiddle- for. If you eat a mushroom that
heads was nil.
isn’t edible, you will- most-likely
Giving up on my prior die.
knowledge and opening my
If you do plan on going out
guide, I started to search for in the woods (or in your neigh
some o f the plants .1 wasn’t bor’s weed-ridden yard)' to pro
as used to. Looking down at cure some wild edibles, make
some interesting mushrooms, ;I sure th a fy o u purchase a guide
noticed a large patch of wild to properly identify the plants
violets, which have heart-shaped you are going to consume. If
leaves and - -five-petal yellow you’re not' 100 percent sure it’s
flowers, both of which are edi edible, do not eat it. There axe
ble raw. The leaves tasted similar many edible plants that can
easily be confused with deadly
ones. In the case o f the wild
onion- and the death camas,
though they look very similar,
the death camasfs, you guessed
it, deadly. Other plants that
are easily confused are the wild
parsnip (also called cow , parsr
nip) and the poison hemlock.
I assume you can guess which
one is toxic.
Finding only a few edibles in
the woods, due to my lack, of
knowledge and practice, I still
left the forest with a feeling of
satisfaction, though the refrig-,
erator looked pretty good once
I got home.
The Oregon grape displays its vibrant yellow flow ers after a warm*
Spring rain. The fru its o f the p la n t w ill be edible by Summer.