Eugene Must DO Caches

[+hallycat]

Hi, Barb from NY here.

I will be in Eugene for 4 full days May 2-5 for the marathon. Have any suggestions from must do caches in the area? I will have a car but will be busy some of the time doing other things

[+Team GeoBlast]

  hallycat said:

Hi, Barb from NY here.

I will be in Eugene for 4 full days May 2-5 for the marathon. Have any suggestions from must do caches in the area? I will have a car but will be busy some of the time doing other things

 

I can offer an visitor perspective of the area as I visit my Mom in Eugene at least once a year.

 

The local cachers are a GREAT group of folks. I am sure a few of them will be along shortly to offer some help. I've got a few favorites but understand that I tend to gravitate towards unique containers and interaction with things on the hunt.

 

Totally Tubular GCRB78. This is listed as a puzzle but I am not sure why. It is in a great little forested area that you can get to without too much hiking. You go to the first set of coords and get tubed!

 

Pipe Nightmare GCWQ2M. This is a great bird watching area and offer some great fun. Do this cache!

 

The Kernels First 4 Star Cache... I see this one is archived and this is a sad day. It was such a Great cache that I have to mention it even though it is unavailable!

 

I am not sure you could go wrong if you looked for anything hidden by the kernels or tobe4evr1.

[+CACHE KRAWLER]

If you can do one and only one cache. You need to take the time and go find Cool Place. You won't regret it and the short drive to it from Eugene is beauitiful.

[+hallycat]

  MAJOR LEAGUE INFIDEL said:

If you can do one and only one cache. You need to take the time and go find Cool Place. You won't regret it and the short drive to it from Eugene is beauitiful.

 

Thanks you guys, I intend to do more then one cache though

 

But I will definitely make sure to do this and the ones suggested by Team Geoblast and hope for more input.

One of my friends lives in Eugene (she teaches economics at the college) and I suggested her teen son might enjoy going with me and he agreed. I have most of Friday and Monday free of other obligations.

[+hydnsek]

  hallycat said:

  MAJOR LEAGUE INFIDEL said:

If you can do one and only one cache. You need to take the time and go find Cool Place. You won't regret it and the short drive to it from Eugene is beauitiful.

Thanks you guys, I intend to do more then one cache though

But I will definitely make sure to do this and the ones suggested by Team Geoblast and hope for more input.

I second the nomination of Cool Place (aka Oregon Hell Hole). Amazing crack in the earth, well worth the drive.

 

My recommendation for a GREAT day trip would be to drive out to the Cool Place cache, enjoying the scenic back roads and stopping at some of Oregon's many cache-laden covered bridges along the way.

 

My favorite is Office Bridge, the longest, reddest, tallest, widest covered bridge around. And there's a picturesque, historic B&B across the street.

 

 

There are several other cache-bearing covered bridges en route, including:

Got It Covered - The Lowell Bridge is a must-do, with a fascinating open-air museum about covered bridges.

Unity Bridge

Pengra Covered Bridge

 

And, while you're out that way, The Wedding series is quick and fun, and ends near another covered bridge.

Edited April 11, 2008 by hydnsek

[+WRASTRO]

I have cached in the Eugene area a couple of times while visiting a customer and have really enjoyed caches hidden by legoboyjj.

[+hallycat]

Making a bookmark list, thanks everyone!

 

I am noticing some of those caches in the hills have had little or no activity since the fall. Hope that area is safe to hike in beginning of May!

Edited April 11, 2008 by hallycat

[+CACHE KRAWLER]

It will be just fine. No snow, lot's of sun and lots of quiet, which is becoming more and more rare these days. Hit up that Cool Cache, take a lunch and enjoy it. It really is one of the neatest caches I've ever logged.

[+Super10commander]

MAJOR LEAGUE INFIDEL has got this one nailed down. I would gas up the rental car and head east on HWY 58. (150+miles RT)

 

A nice string of caches-

Got It Covered

Unity Bridge ~ Fall Creek

Pengra Covered Bridge

Office Bridge

Ride and Heide # 1

Ride and Heide # 2- watch your footing on this one its a awsome view but painfull fall(I'll give you two guess on how I know, but you'll only need one!)

Cool Place same warning as above but more fatal end !YIKES!

Ride and Heide # 3 Constitution Grove

Der Aufderheide

Ride and Heide # 4 Rebel Creek

Ride and Heide # 5

Ride and Heide # 6

Covered Bridge lesson # 2

 

ok so these all are not super memorable caches but it does make a nice trip with only a small bit of back tracking(first couple make a small loop) -but you get 3 coverd bridges- and one of my favorite forest drives (RD19) there are a ton more but as RD19 is like 60miles from HWY 58 to HWY 126 it makes for a LONG day if you try to grab a whole bunch. (total of 5 coverd bridge caches, one wicked cool one, and a great back country drive)

 

even without the caches this is road trip I tell people to take just for the view of the river its awsome!

 

if you do make the run I would say that Ike's lakeside pizza on 126 near leaburg is tasty for dinner(jo-jo's / broasted chicken / and pizza of course) but its not "heathy" so if your a marathon runner it might not be up your alley, but for a pudgy truck driver (like me) its good eats!

Edited April 13, 2008 by Super10commander

[+Super10commander]

I woke up thinking about this I still think cool place is #1 on my list in the area but its tough for me not to include ones from all over I mean there is the Un-Original Stash that takes you to where this whole game/lifestyle started! and then there are some good ones to grab as you travel down HWY 101 and I can't see coming to oregon without hitting the coast? so yeah thats only like 6-700 miles to cover like 1/4 to 1/3 of the state! sorry its the states fault for having so much to see...........oh man and that hike @ Multnomah Falls Cache........ok I quit- I'm sure you will enjoy the caching wherever you go.

[+hallycat]

Super10, and everyone else THANKS!!

[+TheBeanTeam]

You should drop into the local forum and ask the same question. Many of the individuals who placed teh caches that have been referred to you hang out here form time to time.

 

Emerald Valley Cachers

 

The snow issue might be different this year so I would check carefully before heading out with a rental car. It has been an unusually heavy snow year and I just received a severe weather alert for more snow this weekend at below 1,000 feet.

 

The Cool Cache is a hidden gem that is worthy of looking for but do some research before heading out.

[+hallycat]

  TheBeanTeam said:

You should drop into the local forum and ask the same question. Many of the individuals who placed teh caches that have been referred to you hang out here form time to time.

 

Emerald Valley Cachers

 

The snow issue might be different this year so I would check carefully before heading out with a rental car. It has been an unusually heavy snow year and I just received a severe weather alert for more snow this weekend at below 1,000 feet.

 

The Cool Cache is a hidden gem that is worthy of looking for but do some research before heading out.

 

Thanks for the link and the headsup. I was a little concerned that none of those caches have been touched since last October. I will not be disappointed now that I know and may have to have another plan.

[+chubby forest monkey]

Hi Barb, very heavy snowpack in the Cascades this year. Access to the Hell Hole is doubtful.

 

There are plenty of wonderful close in hiking areas that will be snow free, or at least the trailheads will be snow free.

 

In town- Spencer's Butte- one cache is called Spencer's Booty, but there are others up there.

Mt Pisgah Arboretum has a bunch of caches, and this is a great area for spring wildflowers. The cache I just highlighted is an offset from the summit. I dont actually recommend doing this one because it is located in a patch of poison oak, but I do recommend the hike to the summit and you can find several caches on the way up. This will be a great leg and lung strecther before your race. Might be a bit taxing afterwards during recovery.

 

Up highway 58- Goodman Creek, and the South Willamette trail will be accessible. This one is one of my favorites- short steep hike to an amazing rock amphitheater with a great viewpoint ,something about it just feels like an adventure. Also, there are several caches on the Falls Creek National Scenic Trail near Lowell- Go Ahead and Jump is one of them- this is a good place to see some big stands of old growth. All of these trails are easy hiking with very mild elevation gain.

 

If you want a taste of the Coastal Rainforest, Sweet Creek Falls is very beautiful with some clever trail engineering.

Edited April 18, 2008 by chubby forest monkey

[+hallycat]

  chubby forest monkey said:

Hi Barb, very heavy snowpack in the Cascades this year. Access to the Hell Hole is doubtful.

 

There are plenty of wonderful close in hiking areas that will be snow free, or at least the trailheads will be snow free.

 

In town- Spencer's Butte- one cache is called Spencer's Booty, but there are others up there.

Mt Pisgah Arboretum has a bunch of caches, and this is a great area for spring wildflowers. The cache I just highlighted is an offset from the summit. I dont actually recommend doing this one because it is located in a patch of poison oak, but I do recommend the hike to the summit and you can find several caches on the way up. This will be a great leg and lung strecther before your race. Might be a bit taxing afterwards during recovery.

 

Up highway 58- Goodman Creek, and the South Willamette trail will be accessible. This one is one of my favorites- short steep hike to an amazing rock amphitheater with a great viewpoint ,something about it just feels like an adventure. Also, there are several caches on the Falls Creek National Scenic Trail near Lowell- Go Ahead and Jump is one of them- this is a good place to see some big stands of old growth. All of these trails are easy hiking with very mild elevation gain.

 

If you want a taste of the Coastal Rainforest, Sweet Creek Falls is very beautiful with some clever trail engineering.

 

Thanks, I saw where it snowed there over the weekend close to town too! I may not have all that much time to hike either so the closer to town the better.

[+hydnsek]

  hallycat said:

  chubby forest monkey said:

Hi Barb, very heavy snowpack in the Cascades this year. Access to the Hell Hole is doubtful.

 

There are plenty of wonderful close in hiking areas that will be snow free, or at least the trailheads will be snow free.

 

In town- Spencer's Butte- one cache is called Spencer's Booty, but there are others up there.

Mt Pisgah Arboretum has a bunch of caches, and this is a great area for spring wildflowers. The cache I just highlighted is an offset from the summit. I dont actually recommend doing this one because it is located in a patch of poison oak, but I do recommend the hike to the summit and you can find several caches on the way up. This will be a great leg and lung strecther before your race. Might be a bit taxing afterwards during recovery.

 

Up highway 58- Goodman Creek, and the South Willamette trail will be accessible. This one is one of my favorites- short steep hike to an amazing rock amphitheater with a great viewpoint ,something about it just feels like an adventure. Also, there are several caches on the Falls Creek National Scenic Trail near Lowell- Go Ahead and Jump is one of them- this is a good place to see some big stands of old growth. All of these trails are easy hiking with very mild elevation gain.

 

If you want a taste of the Coastal Rainforest, Sweet Creek Falls is very beautiful with some clever trail engineering.

 

Thanks, I saw where it snowed there over the weekend close to town too! I may not have all that much time to hike either so the closer to town the better.

Just wanted to reiterate my earlier post about the covered bridges caches - those are all in the flatlands not far east of town and should have no snow issues. And very lovely countryside!

[+hydnsek]

  hallycat said:

  chubby forest monkey said:

Hi Barb, very heavy snowpack in the Cascades this year. Access to the Hell Hole is doubtful.

 

There are plenty of wonderful close in hiking areas that will be snow free, or at least the trailheads will be snow free.

 

In town- Spencer's Butte- one cache is called Spencer's Booty, but there are others up there.

Mt Pisgah Arboretum has a bunch of caches, and this is a great area for spring wildflowers. The cache I just highlighted is an offset from the summit. I dont actually recommend doing this one because it is located in a patch of poison oak, but I do recommend the hike to the summit and you can find several caches on the way up. This will be a great leg and lung strecther before your race. Might be a bit taxing afterwards during recovery.

 

Up highway 58- Goodman Creek, and the South Willamette trail will be accessible. This one is one of my favorites- short steep hike to an amazing rock amphitheater with a great viewpoint ,something about it just feels like an adventure. Also, there are several caches on the Falls Creek National Scenic Trail near Lowell- Go Ahead and Jump is one of them- this is a good place to see some big stands of old growth. All of these trails are easy hiking with very mild elevation gain.

 

If you want a taste of the Coastal Rainforest, Sweet Creek Falls is very beautiful with some clever trail engineering.

 

Thanks, I saw where it snowed there over the weekend close to town too! I may not have all that much time to hike either so the closer to town the better.

Just wanted to reiterate my earlier post about the covered bridges caches - those are all in the flatlands not far east of town and should have no snow issues. And very lovely countryside!

[+hallycat]

It's getting closer and I am updating the bookmarks as I go. Got all the covered bridges and Saturday we are going to King Estate for lunch, bookmarked the ones on that route. Of course I will be with non-cachers so it could be tough stopping 5 or 6 times. Did a 5 mile radius PQ from Eugene and got 453 caches! Yikes, guess I'll be very busy.

[+TheBeanTeam]

So how was the run? How about the cache run? Find any good ones?

 

I have a young friend who caches with me on occasion who was a participant. I wonder how many other cachers ran this thing?

[+hallycat]

I enjoyed my visit to Eugene very much. Did not get to all the caches I wanted to and had quite a few DNF's.

First day I hiked up Spencer's Butte (alone) where I was unable to find Cat. It might very well have been there but I only looked for about 10 minutes before moving on. Noticed the last log was a DNF is why. Beautiful views and pretty tough climb for a flatlander Didn't even go for the other cache when I saw where I would have to head into, had enough of the rocky terrain and headed up and over and down the other side. Saturday my quads were screaming, good thing I only signed up for the 5K after a foot injury. Rode out to King Estate for lunch and did the caches along that road, only DNF'ed one. Was a little disappointed to only find one big enough for a travel bug I had brought but still mostly fun finds. Sunday was the race and Monday I woke up with a sore throat and feeling kind of crappy so I ended up just wandering around close to town, only found two and had a few more DNF's. That and someone offered my services as a chauffeur to the airport at Noon which kind of cut a large swath into the day. So a total of 12, a few DNF's and one note posted because I left my pen in the car and didn't have time to go back and sign the log before I had to meet someone for lunch.

 

What a lovely town and area. I did get my picture taken with "The Duck" and had coffee at the famous Dutch Bros along with seeing all the locations where Animal House was shot. My hostess said between hiking Spencer's and those things I should be very pleased that I missed nothing of note in Eugene.

 

Here is a shot from near Cat

 

 

Thanks again for all the suggestions

Barb