Goodman Creek hike

Looking for a hike nearby Eugene yesterday I headed south on Willamette Highway 58 to a trailhead near Hardesty Mt. The 2 mile hike back to the waterfall on Goodman Creek Trail would leave me enough time to get back before dark, so I headed out.

From MattStansberry

I wasn’t expecting much. Looking at Goodman Creek from the road it’s kind of a wasteland, a dirty stump-filled gulley leading to Lookout Reservoir. Plus, starting out on the trail I realized how busy Rte 58 really is. You could hear the traffic for at least the first mile and a half.

Huge trees were down across the trails and it was pretty slow going at first. Which is lucky because I found an Oregon rough-skinned newt.

From MattStansberry

I spotted more wildlife at the end of the line at the falls. There was a little charcoal-black water ouzel singing. It would look at me, sing a few lines, and dips under the water. It sounded like a medley of songs from different birds.

The sound of the bird, the falls, the little grotto -- it reminded me of some sort of cheesy waterfall you’d buy at a landscaping store. The overhanging ferns and moss, the glassy pool in no way seems related to the dusty trickle running to the highway.