Yesterday was so much fun, I still feel giddy from our little adventure. The day started with a beautiful drive to one of my all time favorite places to eat, Camp 18 in Elsie, OR. After fueling up on a breakfast fit for a logger, we headed towards Vernonia, OR to go on a hike I have been wanting to do for some time. The hike is called the Lake Loop Hike, and the trailhead begins in Anderson Park.

The biggest appeal of this hike for me was that it goes by an abandoned fuel bunker that was last in operation in 1957. The lake across from the bunker is called Vernonia Lake and is the old mill pond where logs were dumped from railroad cars for sorting, and stored until ready for sawing. 

At first we didn’t think we were going to be able to see it, because the actual trail was closed to the public for maintenance. We thought our plans had been foiled until we saw some bikers on the same path we were on, and they gave us directions on how to get back on the trail a different way. I’m not sure we totally followed their directions, but after walking in the general direction they told us, we found an access road where we could see the top of a very tall building we thought could be the bunker. And sure enough, there it was!

The building is super cool, and the surrounding area is beautiful. I would definitely recommend checking it out!