For today’s hike, I decided to go to Benegar Butte, which is near Lebanon and Waterloo, OR. I found the “trailhead” by accident, which turned out to be a logging road. While there wasn’t any active logging at this time, I was greeted by this:
It didn’t say hiking was prohibited, and there was a phone number… so I called it. I talked to a very nice lady named Annette, and she thought it would be okay if I hiked there. She had me leave a message on another person’s voicemail and off I went!
This was a weird bit of fungi. It looked very slimy, so I didn’t touch it.
The road was rough in areas, but wide open. Maybe spooky.
In some areas it looked like there had been a recent storm, with quite a bit of fallen branches and needles.
I wish the colors would pop the same way the human eye sees it. The green in parts of this hike was incredibly vibrant!
More of the GREEEEEN. The ferns and moss were like a blanket.
A nice view on the way up.
Teeny, tiny greenery. I don’t know what it is (moss of some sort), but it looks like little mini ferns.
On the summit (the landing), looking north.
Still on the summit, looking east at the little town of Waterloo.
A small clearing – I couldn’t help but think bears would like this area, especially if there are fruit trees in there somewhere.
A fork in the road. I was happy that I had my downloaded map! Much of the road had this kind of rock though – I think it’s called ballast? Some of the rock of as big as my fist, making it uncomfortable to traverse.
A short section of the road was like this. So much nicer to walk on! I really enjoyed it, and I wondered why it was like this. Did they never drive on this part?
Alas, as you can see, the regular gravel road started up again. I think it was around here that I found some poop. It looked like bear. To be honest, I’m a little paranoid when I hike solo, and this did not make me more relaxed. However, it didn’t look fresh, so at least that much was reassuring.
This was interesting – please turn your sound up to hear the electricity! It was weird, intimidating, and fascinating to walk under these lines for a little while.
Wicket, is that you?? (Where are you, my fellow nerds?) Yub Yub!!
Again, I wish you could see how the moss just GLOWS.
Um, more moss and ferns. You know, Oregon stuff.
This was an okay hike. I was a bit on the paranoid side. There was very little parking (it was basically a pullout), I found Cat (Caterpillar) tracks that looked relatively fresh, the possible bear poop, etc. It was okay though. I won’t do this one again, but I’m still glad I did it.
Miles: 3.8, Elevation Gain: 713 feet.
The Happy Viking 