The Ridgeline Trail

Katie D.

May 19, 2011 - 9:42 PM

Alternative title: Eugene Never Ceases to Amaze.

Today was an amazingly beautiful day. Spring is finally in full swing in Eugene, with an explosion of flowers, migrating birds, and overgrown lawns. Every year, Eugene still manages to take me by surprise when the rhododendrons start blooming and the spring flowers make their appearances: first the flowering trees, then the daffodils, then tulips, then everything else under the sun. There are colors blooming in my neighbors' yards I had never even imagined before arriving here in Oregon. It makes the long, cold winter worth the wait.

I celebrated by going on a walk this evening, beginning with a stroll through the South Eugene neighborhoods, then proceeding down the Amazon trail. Eugene is full of these beautiful pedestrian through-ways. I've taken this particular walk many times in the three years I've lived in the neighborhood, and I always love it. Eugene has enough character that walking down a city street can be an adventure.

But the day got better.

I walked to the end of Amazon Park, and remembered hearing that there was a trailhead out toward Spencer's Butte near the end of Amazon. Completely by accident, I had stumbled upon the Ridgeline Trail (see map here: http://www.eugene-or.gov/portal/server.pt/gateway/PTARGS_0_2_359713_0_0_18/RidgelineMapBrochureWEB.pdf)

Within moments, I was hiking in wilderness. It's shocking how fast the city dropped away and I was in a maze of ferns and mossy trees. I was walking along the headwaters of Amazon Creek, listening to the sounds of water and birds singing. It's migration season in Eugene, so I was surrounded by flocks of tiny migrating songbirds. The sun was slanting through the treetops, and the whole world looked completely beautiful from that small, well-maintained trail.

I hiked a mile along that trail, until I arrived at the Fox Hollow Trailhead. It was getting on toward dark, so I paused only long enough to study the map, and realize that there was a whole network of beautiful wilderness trails available from that point. From that point, it would be only another two miles to the base of Spencer's Butte, which is one of the most beautiful spots in Eugene and which I had previously only accessed by car. I saw that there was this whole series of trailheads and hikes within this walking distance from my home. As I walked back down the beautiful trail and back into the Eugene streets, I was so excited for future day hikes.

When I got home, I looked at the map and used mapquest to really figure out how far I had gone. On the ridgeline trail map, you can follow my route. I essentially walked from 30th and Potter (near my house) to the end of Amazon Parkway at Martin Street. Then I hiked from the Martin Street Trailhead up to the Fox Hollow Trailhead. All told, I walked 6.5 miles in two hours. And all I had planned was a late afternoon stroll in the sun.

I love Eugene so much for its intense natural beauty and the easy access to such a diversity of cultural and social activities. I love the folks who live in Eugene, and the near-universal tendency to walk through the city wearing hiking gear. It's like we're a whole city of people just dying to stumble into the wilderness on the way home from a social protest.

Now I'm exhausted and happy back home, and feel so happy to have been in motion in the sun. My next Ridgeline adventures will hopefully include an exploration of the Ribbon Trail to Hendricks Park, and perhaps a climb of Mt. Baldy along the Spring Boulevard Trail (which will be adventure in itself through the South Eugene Hills.

I have a month left in Eugene, and with weather like this I'm dying to hit the trails. From front door to wilderness in 45 minutes! It is such a blessing to live in this beautiful place.