Hike Coordinator: Diana Pace
“The McKenzie River Trail is a spectacular spring hike along the quick-flowing waters, offering early glimpses of beautiful budding flowers, as well as a quintessential walk through thick evergreens and marvelous deciduous trees.”
That may very well have been the opening line for this hike, had we actually hiked the McKenzie River Trail as planned. But the weather forecast for that area didn’t seem promising, with a mix of rain and snow predicted for our hike. So, it was decided to hike elsewhere.
There were six hikers who showed up to “brave” the weather at Cooper Creek Reservoir. The forecast called for morning showers, tapering off around midday. But so far, it wasn’t raining, nor was it too cold. And it didn’t take long at all to reach the trailhead at the dam on the west end of the reservoir near Sutherlin.
Our group consisted of Diana (hike leader), Rheo, John, Lane, Julie and David. In typical fashion, John immediately jetted out in front, with Julie in close tow. Lane meandered around in the middle while Rheo and Diana brought up the rear. David let the group know that he had to take it easy and would be going slow and that he would not be hiking the whole trail. So we basically said our goodbyes to him from the get-go and bid him farewell.
The skies were partly cloudy, partly sunny, but mostly promising. We were still waiting for the morning showers to make their appearance, but as we made our way further and further down the trail, it seemed less likely that we were going to get rained on. In fact, we were fortunate enough to have not one rain drop fall on to our dry foreheads during the entire hike.
The trail weaved its way in and out of small creek drainages on the south side of the reservoir, and even had gentle hills to climb up and down, giving it that true hiking trail feel. The Sutherlin Rotary Club did an excellent job on this trail, in fact. It apparently replaces an older trail, whose remnants are still visible in places alongside the new trail.
Much logging had taken place on the hillsides just above the trail. Vast clear cutting had been done last summer, at some points right down the trail’s edge. Although it doesn’t make for the most scenic views, we do live in Oregon, so this is certainly not unusual.
On the far east end of the reservoir the trail crosses a large open field and then emerges onto a gravel road. A short quarter mile walk on the road led to the trail again, this time winding it’s way along the north side of the reservoir. The view from the north side is a lot different and much more open. Grassy fields made for great views of the sun reflecting off the water. It was easy to forget that a road paralleled the trail just mere yards up the hill out of eyesight, just as it should be.
Upon reaching the boat ramp, John and Julie reversed direction and made a lunch stop at a picnic table on the shoreline. Lane soon joined them, but Rheo and Diana chose to continue on with a road hike back to the vehicles. It’s estimated they hiked about 6 miles.
After lunch, John, Julie and Lane hiked back from whence they came, enjoying the views again, this time in reverse. It was noted that Julie matched John’s pace, and in fact, she eventually took lead position. John and Lane were able to keep up with Julie’s fast pace, but not without some labored breathing as they sped up and down the hills. Those darn young people and all their energy!
After finishing the hike with 8 miles on their boots, the three speedsters arrived at the vehicles exactly at noon, greeted by dutiful hike leader Diana, who was awaiting for their safe arrival. All hikers piled into vehicles and another hike was in the books. It was determined that this trail is a good backup option if bad weather or other calamity forces us to cancel hike plans elsewhere.
It wasn’t even 10 minutes after leaving Cooper Creek that the heavens decided that now would be an ok time to spill their liquid goodness all over the earth. It started out as a sprinkle and quickly turned into pouring down rain! So, the morning showers we were expecting showed up late. Which makes for very happy hikers.
Pictures by Lane Harris
More pictures of this hike on Lane’s Flickr page
Great pictures. The Hiking club has hiked Cooper Creek several times in the past, just not lately. It’s good for a winter hike. Also good to see you keeping the trails pounded.