Hiking the Great Northwest: Vineyard Mountain {McDonald-Dunn Forest}

I have heard of McDonald-Dunn Forest a bit since working in Corvallis, but hadn't made it out to hike the area until just last weekend. I had found a site with a ton of hikes in this area and decided to do one called Vineyard Mountain Loop. I'm still not sure if I did the right one, but I hiked and got lost in the world of wild for the morning, which made me happy.

So I can't really recount exactly my hike like I usually do. The directions I followed didn't really add up with where I was, so I was just glad to have found my way back to the car! The directions I had said: From the Lewisburg Saddle parking lot from the northside orange gate, take the 500 road (the right one) and follow to the junction 5010, go right onto 5010 and follow to the top of Vineyard Mountain and the "Antennas". Go right around the loop and look for a single track trail on your right. Follow this trail down through the forest till it "T's" with another trail. Go right on this trail as left is marked private property. As you go right follow the trail down to the side access road and back onto the 600. Go left and as the road starts down, take a left on to the 5030 side road and follow it up till it ends, take the single track trail back down to the parking lot.

It was beautiful, foggy, and cold. John Muir said that “No synonym for God is so perfect as Beauty. Whether as seen carving the lines of the mountains with glaciers, or gathering matter into stars, or planning the movements of water, or gardening - still all is Beauty!” I saw that in the stillness, in the quiet of the woods with the only sound that which rung from when my feet and the earth meet. I descended into a place that seemed like how the bible talks about the dwelling place of the Lord.

So even if it wasn't the path I was supposed to be on (or maybe it was, who knows!) I still was able to retreat from the noise of the world and enter into the dwelling place.

Date of hike: December 27th, 2014
Distance: 3 Miles (roundtrip) (I think...)

Elevation gain: no clue

Difficulty: Easy
Mile Mark: 217

Entrance to the hike, Road 500

McDonald Dunn Forest is a research forest maintained by Oregon State University. This Forest is extensively used for university instruction and research. Four distinct forest management themes, even-aged, two-storied and uneven-aged, plus reserved old-growth stands, allow side-by-side comparisons of the effects of implementing these themes.