Commentary: The royal family of Salt Creek is moving to the sunnier side of Oakridge

By BEN OLSON/For The Herald — Once upon a time, King Ben the Mirthful and his lovely bride, Queen Holly Virginia, ruled the entire vast region of the Upper Salt Creek drainage.

Their castle was overlooking the banks of the magnificent Salt Creek very near Milepost 37, and they controlled all the waters that drained into the Salt Creek to its headwaters at Gold Lake.

The Oregon State Police would, of course, patrol the path that wove its way through the forest — the path that is known as Highway 58 — and King Ben’s loyal troops would patrol the rest of the land.

It may have well been like that. When we bought our cabin on Salt Creek four years ago, we became the most upstream denizens on the entire waterway, although it took a while for that to occur to us.

Gold Lake is a hundred-acre lake located on the west side of the Willamette Pass at 4,800 feet above sea level. Between there and the castle of King Ben the Mirthful, the creek drops more than 3,500 feet, including a 280-foot drop at Salt Creek Falls, Milepost 57.

Following Highway 58, (actually, Highway 58 follows it), the creek crashes its way downstream until it empties into the Middle Fork of the Willamette River, just three-fourths of a mile downstream from the formidable castle of King Ben. Ten more small fiefdoms take up the area downstream from the castle of King Ben.

Sad to say, King Ben and Queen Holly Virginia have sold their kingdom to some nice folks who are coming to Oakridge with some big ideas, and the new occupants are being wished the very best.

The royal family is moving to their new kingdom just over the hill north of town, where they’ll have some sun and be able to grow a proper garden. You’ll probably hear more about them as they try to work through zoning to put their 16 -oot stone wall around the place and dig their moat.

Oakridge musician Ben Olson, entertainment editor and columnist for The Herald, can be reached by email at [email protected]