Hiking Mount Pisgah near Eugene, OR…

 

Nestled here in Armitage, a Lane County Park, we are enjoying ourselves. Cable TV, blazing fast WIFI, large lots and full hook ups inside the city limits of Eugene Oregon… Perfect!!! So what to so…

Mount Pisgah is just a few minutes from downtown Eugene near Springfield, OR. Part of the Howard Buford Recreation Area, Mt. Pisgah's is comprised of wetlands, prairies and savannahs that are typical for the Willamette Valley. There are over 16 miles of trails on this 2,363 acres maintained by the Lane County Parks Department. The various trails attract more than 100,000 visitors a year.

The summit is accessible by a pretty steep 1.65 mile trail from a gravel parking lot near the base of the hill. If you park just outside the entrance of the adjacent arboretum parking is free (or so it seems), otherwise there is a $3.00 parking fee. Mount Pisgah rises 1,060 feet above the surrounding Willamette Valley to a maximum elevation of 1,531 feet. Although it is a short hike to the top the slope was relentless and it made for slow climbing. Thankfully the trail was lined with ripe berries so our rest stops yielded treats… but watch out for the poison oak. Remember… leaflets three… let it be!

Once we made our way to the top we were not only rewarded with panoramic views of the Willamette Valley but there was also a bronze memorial sculpture illustrating the surrounding topography and identifying some nearby geographic features. We were happy to see some benches nearby allowing us a slight respite from our very tiring climb to the top.

Making our way back down was much less painful but the trail down consisted of loose gravel slowing our descent. And once we made our way back to the car we were pretty thirsty. A quick search on the GPS showed where the Ninkasi Microbrewery was and off we went following Alice’s directions…

The Ninkasi Brewery is located just west of downtown and is housed in a funky little building in what appeared to be mostly a neighborhood. The first thing we noticed walking in was the interesting lights above the bar made from upside down beer bottles. We ordered a pint of Tricerahops IPA and one of the Double Red. The IPA had a bit of a bitter taste but was very good to me whereas Sharon thought her Red was a little too hoppy. Nonetheless this stop did quench our thirst and we were glad we went.

Some have asked how Sharon is doing… quite well considering she still has a broken bone. She is healing slowly and doing her PT exercises and wishing that everything would heal faster than possible. But as we all know, patience is a virtue…