Birding and Blackberries: Pete's Slough, Sauvie Island

All the serious birders know that Rentenaar Road on Sauvie Island ends at a locked gate. Well, in the summertime, that gate is thrown open to golden fields, deep green thickets, and a dozen sleepy lakes full of gigantic carp and bass. It's a nirvana of sunlight and silence and cows.

It also has an insane amount of sugar-sweet blackberries.

The great thing about the secret trail I found is that, despite its open savannah feel, it's mostly in the shade. Cows are savvy, they know how to stick to the cool, breezy routes under the trees. I just followed the hoof prints to fields of wild mint, warblers, dragonflies, egrets, and kingfishers. It's open rangeland out there so you get the occasional mother with nursing calf, too. Adorable. Adore a bull?

We'll do about 1.75 mi. total out and back, following Pete's Slough briefly and then veering around Aaron's Lake where Mt. St. Helens is perfectly framed over the water on a clear day. We'll be moving slowly and pausing often for birding, photography, and general nature lovin'. The hard dirt trail is a tad overgrown in spots and sometimes lumpy from cow hooves, so poles and insect repellent recommended.

Afterwards, we'll get back in our vehicles and leisurely tour 3 mi. of flat dirt backroad on a scenic safari drive past wildflower meadows and sleepy little lakes. We'll visit Big McNary Lake for sandpipers and purple martins, pass by Otter Pond (well named), and end up back on NW Reeder Road right near Collins Beach. Collins is a clothing optional beach, so bring a towel. Just kidding.

We'll stop at several good blackberrying spots I know along this route and do some pickin' (they're really sweet this year!) Bring hand pruners and leather gloves so you can cut away bramble canes to get at the good stuff--the biggest berries are always hidden inside the bush in the shade. We'll be in the full sun at this point, so wear the hat.

$10 daily parking fee available at ODFW website as well as hunting and fishing stores around town, you'll need a hard copy to put on your dashboard: https://odfw.huntfishoregon.com/login (Go down to "Guest Checkout," scroll down to "General," then "View All," and select "Daily Wildlife Area Parking Permit." Then, print it out.)

DIRECTIONS: From Highway 30 take the Sauvie Island Bridge and turn left onto Sauvie Island Rd. At 2 mi turn right on Reeder Rd. At 9 mi. turn left on gravel Rentenaar Rd. We'll meet in the Mudhen Unit Parking area, a big gravel lot 0.8 miles down at the end before the sharp little hill. Look for my deep blue Honda CRV. ODFW Wildlife Area Parking Permit required.

Bring $5 cash, printed parking permit for your dash, water, binoculars/spotting scope, camera, trekking poles, garden hand pruners and leather gloves, rigid Tupperware-type plastic containers for blackberries (they mush together if they're in baggies), and WEATHER appropriate clothing including sun hat. No restroom on site but there's lots of cover (if you know what I mean) and portapotty restrooms along Rentenaar Road and at Mudhen Unit Parking Area. Adults only, please, and no pets, thanks.