Wild Oregon summer hiking series: Meander with a message

Oregonians have a great lineup of Oregon Wild hikes to look forward to for summer 2010.

Mirror Lake is on the Oregon Wild summer hiking series for 2010. The July 26 hike is a wildflower-identification outing. (Peggy Macko Special to the Statesman Journal file)

After a slog through the spring, there probably is a lot of pent-up demand for Oregon Wild's summer hiking series.

"For our spring hikes, we had to cancel just one and dodge some snow here and there," said Sean Stevens, a communications assistant for the Portland-based nonprofit conservation group. "And it's been OK. But I think for hiking, like for many things, it hasn't been so great so far."

That should change with the arrival of warmer weather, he added.

The 2009 summer hiking series was a victory lap of sorts, in lug-soled boots, to Oregon's newest wilderness areas.

This summer, the group is emphasizing sites that are in the process or being considered for federal protection in an effort to gain support for preservation.

"Last year ... we had just come off the wilderness victory. So we were taking people out to places we had just protected," Stevens said. "This year, it's more looking forward a little bit to some of the places we're looking to protect."

Hikes range from the Rogue and North Umpqua rivers in the southwestern corner of the state to Mount Hood and Mount Bailey in the proposed Crater Lake Wilderness.

The schedule is designed to highlight the places in their prime.

"This year we also have an Opal Creek hike and lots of Santiam hikes, very close and nice for folks in Salem," Stevens said.

Given Oregon Wild's mission, every outing on the schedule is a meander with a message.

"There's definitely an added perspective on our hikes," he said. "Aside from just going out and enjoying a beautiful place, you're going to learn something about why the place is unique and special and worthy of protection."

Interpretive topics range from ecology and plant and wildflower identification to history, geology and geography.

"Kids are welcome on any of the hikes," Stevens said. "And we do have one that's specifically for families to Memaloose Lake, and that one's in August (14).

"You hike up to the lake, and salamanders are spawning, so they're all over the place. It's a good place for kids, it's a short hike 21/2 miles, and there's lots of wildlife."

While hikes are rated easy, medium and strenuous and leaders do a rudimentary assessment of fitness levels, "there are times when some people are just a little bit slower," Stevens said. "And the group goes to the slowest person."

Almost all of the hikes are free, but some are members-only, and others have small fees.

And there is a flat $5 donation to the driver for carpool riders, a little more when gas prices climb or when distances to the trailhead are farther away.

Most carpools stage in Portland, but the more far-flung outings such as those in southern Oregon include several rallying points.

And if there is a group of people who signed up from an area such as Salem, Stevens said he tries to get them together.

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Click here to learn more about signing up for an Oregon Wild Summer Hike!