Month: June 2022

Applegate Lake – 05/29/2022

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date June 9, 2022
3 Comments on Applegate Lake – 05/29/2022

Having escaped the rainy weather thus far Sunday of Memorial Day weekend was yet another foretasted “chance of rain/showers” but also contained the words partly sunny. Today’s hike was another piece of one of Sullivan’s featured hikes that we had done a different portion of on a previous trip. For Applegate Lake Sullivan gives two options – a 6.4 mile peninsula loop starting at French Gulch and the 17.8 mile loop around the entire shore of the man made lake. Going around the lake requires a good amount of road walking mixed in with trails and given the distance never sounded too appealing so in 2017 when we hiked Collings Mountain (post) we made a loop incorporating Da-Ku-Be-Te Trail on the west side of the lake. That trail was not part of Sullivan’s 6.4 mile option which is located on the east side of the lake so today that hike was our goal. We had tentatively planned on lengthening his hike by following the Payette Trail beyond the Osprey Trail as an out-and-back extension. That idea was scrapped after our first hike of the trip at Mule Mountain (post) turned out to be a lot more challenging that expected leaving us a little depleted.

We began our hike at the French Gulch Trailehad a little before 7am.

Here the Payette Trail headed downhill into the forest.

We followed this trail as it wound around the lake for a mile to a 5-way junction.

Walk in campsite at French Gulch.

French Gulch

Hooker’s Indian Pink

White lupine

Violet

Iris

Pretty face

Starflower

Columbine

Osprey

Ground cone

Madrones near the the 5-way junction.

We stayed straight at the junction ignoring two trails to the right the led onto a smaller peninsula and the Calsh Trail on the left which would be our return route on the loop.

After another half mile we took a short trail downhill to the lake.
The side trail to the right.

Collings Mountain

After checking out the view from the lake we returned to the Payette Trail and in a quarter of a mile passed a junction with the Sins Bar Trail.

Just beyond the junction the Payette Trail became an old road bed.

Penstemon

Stricklin Butte in the distance.

Two tenths of a mile along the road we came to a fork where a pointer indicated the trail left the road to the right. We could see from the maps we had that the trail would rejoin the road in a little over half a mile so we had the option of following either.

We decided to split up here with me taking the trail while Heather stuck to the road where there was much less chance of encountering poison oak.

We didn’t see many mushrooms on the trip but this one was good sized.

Collings Mountain on the left.

Deer brush and manzanita along the trail.

Marble

Rejoining the roadbed.

In another mile the trail split off from the road again, this time to the left while the road headed down into the lake.
Oregon sunshine

Kellog’s monkeyflower

heart-leaf milkweed

Blue gilia

Ookow

Silverleaf phacelia

Blow wives?

Lupine

Payette Trail to the left.

We decided to stick to the road to see how much of it was above water. We made it a quarter mile before the road vanished but we were able to follow a use path uphill along the hillside to rejoin the Payette Trail.
The road vanishing into the lake.

Back on the Payette Trail.

At a signed junction with the Osprey Trail we turned uphill leaving the Payette Trail.

Mallards

Heading up the Osprey Trail.

Approximately 0.2 miles up this trail we came to a fork. A small pointer on a tree seemed to indicate that the Osprey Trail was to the right which was another old roadbed.

The paper map we had did not show both a trail and a road so we weren’t certain which was correct, but based on the arrow pointing right and not straight up we turned onto the road and followed it uphill. As it turns out this was the wrong choice and if we’d have stopped to look out our GPS we would have known that.

Clarkia

Looking back down the road.

Mariposa lily

The roadbed grew fainter the more we climbed and we eventually began to suspect we’d gone the wrong way which was confirmed when we finally did consult our GPS maps. The good news was that this road, appearing as a trail on the GPS, hooked up with Forest Road 1075 which the Osprey Trail also did. The bad news was that the two trails veered in opposite directions leaving us with a quarter mile road walk to reach the Dagelma Trailhead where the Osprey Trail terminated.

This obvious trail split off from the road to the left. We’re not sure if it would have led us to the Osprey Trail possibly by old cabin ruins that are in the area or if it would have gotten us nowhere so we stuck to the road.

The roadbed petered out a short distance from FR 1075 leaving a short cross-country scramble up to a pullout along the road where a section of barbed wire fence had been broken by what appeared to be an off-road vehicle of some sort based on tire tracks down the slope.

Signboard at the pullout.

Unintended road walk.

The Dagelma Trailhead

These chutes prevent equestrian and motorized users from passing through but also tend to attract poison oak.

The Osprey, Sinns Bar, and Calsh Trails all begin/end here with the Osprey being the left most, Sinns Bar center and the Calsh on the right. We took the Calsh Trail and headed downhill through the forest 0.7 miles to the 5-way junction at the Payette Trail.

Northern phlox

The 5-way junction.

We turned right onto the Payette Trail and followed it back to the French Gulch Trailhead.
Junco

Canada geese in French Gulch.

It was another day without any significant precipitation despite the forecast and while there were a number of folks fishing near French Gulch and we’d heard others along the lake shore we didn’t encounter anyone else on the trails. We ended the day with a 6.4 mile hike, the same distance as Sullivan’s described hike despite a couple of deviations from it. My guess is we saved some distance following sticking to the road instead of turning inland on the Payette Trail then added about the same back by splitting off of the Osprey Trail.

This was a nice hike with a surprising variation in habitat and some nice views. We were however glad that we’d decided to shorten it though since we were both dealing with blisters we’d picked up 4 days (and hikes) earlier. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Applegate Lake

Tags applegate lake, Calsh Trail, collings mountain, Dagelma Trailhead, French Gulch, French Gulch Trailhead, hiking, Oregon, Osprey Trail, Payette Trail, Sinns Bar Trail

Hiking Medford/Ashland Area Oregon Trip report

Kenneth Denman Wildlife Area – 05/28/2022

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date June 8, 2022
2 Comments on Kenneth Denman Wildlife Area – 05/28/2022

Rain was forecast for the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend so we decided to visit the Kenneth Denman Wildlife Area. While Sullivan mentions the 0.7 Denman Nature Loop in the “more hikes” section of his “100 Hikes/Travel Guide Southern Oregon & Norther California” we were basing our hike on various postings by Boots on the Trail. Permits are required to park at the trailheads accessing the area and take two forms. To park at the wildlife area trailheads a $10 ODFW Wildlife Area parking permit is required. A cheaper (and easier to purchase) option is available by parking at TouVille Recreation Area managed by Oregon State Parks. The one drawback to this option is that TouVille opens at 7am while the wildlife area opens at 4am. Typically we try and get started as early as possible but we had been taking it easy (for us anyway) following our Wednesday hike at Mule Mountain (post) so a 7am start sounded just fine.

We purchased a permit from the self-service kiosk and parked at the end of park near the start of the quarter mile interpretive nature trail.

A large tree trunk between the parking lot and outhouse is filled with holes made by acron woodpeckers who then jam acorns inside to save for later.

Acorns in some of the holes.

On the nature trail.

The trail crossed a small stream on a footbridge which would be the way to go if you want to do the loop clockwise but we chose to go counterclockwise so it would hopefully be easier to follow the route described by VanMarmot from April this year (post).
The bridge

We turned right at the bridge and after passing through a grassy area we picked up a clearer trail.

We followed this path to a “Y” at a fence marking the boundary of the Denman Wildlife Area.
Camas

Ash-throated flycatcher

Srub jay

Passed through the fence and onto the Denman Interpretive Trail.

Acorn woodpecker

Death camas and vetch

One a several ponds along the trail fed by Military Slough.

A second pond with Upper Table Rock (post) behind.

One thing we quickly picked up on was that the grass and under story had gone through quite a bit of growth between the April 6th trip report and now. This included plenty of poison oak which now often crowded the trail in brushier sections.

The trail left the trees and climbed a hill where views opened up.

Mt. McLoughlin

We got a little confused on the hillside where several paths went NE and one SW to a bench which we wandered over to before choosing one of the NE paths.
Common madia with Lower Table Rock (post) in the background.

Wildflowers near the bench.

Upper Table Rock

The viewpoint bench.

I think we chose a different one than VanMarmot had but the end result was the same as we wound up on duck boards passing another pond along Military Slough which we recognized from a photo.

Wood duck

Not far from this pond the trail climbed to TouVille Road.

Denman Trail at TouVille Road.

Following VanMarmot’s April hike we turned right along the road looking for a “very faded road” that headed north across the Agate Desert.
Mt. McLoughlin

Upper Table Rock from TouVille Road.

A swallow on a fence post with Mt. McLoughlin behind.

Swallow

Yet another pond along Military Slough.

A kingbird, most likely western.

A pair of hawks near the pond.

We found a faint road which we assumed was the one we were looking for and turned left onto it.

In the pictures we’d seen from early April the old road was faint but visible passing through the short grass but that grass had grown since then making the road even harder to pick out.

I I believe this is a paintbrush, possibly Castilleja tenuis – hairy Indian paintbrush.

Mourning doves

We wound up losing track of the roadbed as we neared a small depression where a seasonal creek supported more brush and trees. We could see from VanMarmot’s track that they had turned SE following along this seasonal creek before crossing it and turning back to the NW. While it hadn’t rained on us yet walking through the tall wet grass here provided enough water to soak our lower halves and we both had run ins with turkeys that startled us when they burst out of the grass near us.
Looking back at Upper Table Rock with the stream bed in the trees/brush to the right.

We eventually reached the end of the thick brush and made our loop near a couple of old fence posts.

Now that we were on the other side of the stream bed we picked up a much clearer trail.

Mt. Ashland (post) peaking through a hole in the clouds.

Mt. Ashland

Ookow

We veered left sticking as close to the stream bed as possible passing through a fence with an orange “Safety Zone” sign.

We wound up on an old gravel road that passed by a dozen old bunkers left over from when the area had been a WWII training camp. VanMarmot had followed a horse trail out to TouVille Road and then doubled back along this gravel road but it wasn’t entirely clear if they had been on this road briefly before picking up the horse trail or if we had missed it. We did see a trail leading uphill near where we had arrived at the road but that trail had quite a bit of poison oak hanging over it and not being used to hiking with it so prevalent and also not knowing for sure if it was the right trail we decided to stick to the gravel road and follow it to TouVille Road.

Bunker 6

Jack rabbit

Unsure what type of bird this is.

Trailhead just off TouVille Road.

We couldn’t tell where exactly the horse trail was here either so we simply back-tracked along the road only this time taking a fork to the left to visit a few more bunkers.
The fork where we went left.

Passing another bunker.

Lupine

We passed a small trail leaving the road but didn’t realize that it was the trail we were looking for and wound up completing a small loop before realizing our mistake. We back-tracked again and left the road on the trial we’d seen.

White tritellia

This trail quickly forked and it took us a few minutes of map consulting to decide we should take the left hand forked vs climbing up the small slope on the right.

This was the path we wanted as it passed through a row of old oak trees.

We popped onto another gravel roadbed and followed it to the right looking for a trail heading north (left) that would take us toward Little Butte Creek. We completely missed that turn and wound up at a parking area off Agate Road.

We considered our options and decided to walk north along Agate Road to another pullout next to the creek.

Things got interesting here. Trails led west along the creek here, presumably used mostly by fishermen but not too often from the looks of it. They were very overgrown causing us to make some contorted movements in an attempt to avoid contacting any of the poison oak in the area.
Occasional open areas were followed by thick brush with poison oak hidden among the other vegetation.

This section at least had hoof prints.

We popped out onto the gravel road that we had followed to Agate Road and were given a brief respite from dodging poison oak.

We turned right and in 100 yards, when the road veered left stayed straight to follow a path to Little Butte Creek.
More ookow

Headed down to the creek.

Little Butte Creek

Bachelor button near the creek.

Another bachelor button

We returned to the road and continued west which soon ended. There were two trails to choose from the furthest from the creek having a sign naming it the Butte Creek Trail.

Given this trail was at least named we chose it and followed it for a mile to TouVille Road. There was plenty of poison oak to avoid along this stretch as well but we also spotted a great horned owl that kept an eye on us while we took some pictures.

Nookta rose surrounded by poison oak.

Don’t touch!

Maiden fly

Sign for a Paddle Wheel Trail which we couldn’t really see in the grass.

TouVille Road

We crossed the road back onto the Denman Nature Trail and followed it a quarter mile to the TouVille Recreation Area Interpretive Nature Trail.

Bench near the confluence of Little Butte Creek and the Rogue River.

Rogue River on the left and Little Butte Creek on the right.

Pale flax

Exiting the Denman Wildlife Area.

The Rogue River along the TouVille Interpretive Nature Trial.

Back to the bridge near the parking area.

The route that we had tried to follow would have been a 6 mile irregularly shaped loop. With several mistakes requiring extra hiking we managed to turn it into a 7.2 mile hike that only resembled our original plan.

Despite the missteps (and dodging poison oak) this was a fun hike with a lot of wildlife sightings including one deer. The rain that had been forecast didn’t materialize until later in the day and we only dealt with a couple of brief periods of sprinkles. Surprisingly we saw no ticks despite all the hiking through tall grass so that was a big plus. We wound up trying the Thai Bistro that evening for dinner which we enjoyed and provided another night of leftovers for the next day after our planned hike at Applegate Lake. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Denman Wildlife Area

Tags Agate Desert, Agate Road, Ash-throated flycatcher, Denman Nature Trail, Denman WIldlife Area, hiking, Kenneth Denman Wildlife Area, Little Butte Creek, Military Slough, Mt. Mcloughlin, Oregon, Rogue River, Slough, TouVille Nature Trail, TouVille State Recreation Area, upper table rock, Wood Duck

Hiking Klamath/Siskiyou Mountains Medford/Ashland Area Oregon Trip report

Jack-Ash Trail: Griffin Gap to Anderson Ridge – 05/27/2022

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date June 7, 2022
2 Comments on Jack-Ash Trail: Griffin Gap to Anderson Ridge – 05/27/2022

With the snow level forecast to drop as low as 4500′ over the weekend we shifted the order of our planned Memorial Day weekend hikes so that we could do the highest elevation hike on Friday before the big snow level drop. It was already going to be a much cooler day than the previous two had been and there was a slight chance of showers which didn’t sound all that bad at this point. Sullivan added the Jack-Ash Trail as a featured hike in his 4.2 edition of “100 Hikes/Travel Guide Southern Oregon & Norther California” guidebook after the 2020 wildfire season wreaked havoc on some of the previous featured hikes. We have switched our goal to completing the 100 featured hikes in this most recent version for the same reason and this would be the first hike on this trip that would check another of the 100 off. (While our hike at Upper Table Rock (post) the day before had been one of Sullivan’s featured hikes we had previously done Lower Table Rock which is the other option Sullivan gives for the featured hike and so we had been counting it as done.) Sullivan’s described hike is a short 3 mile loop visiting the site of a former lookout tower on Anderson Butte. We had originally planned on hiking a longer portion of the trail which the BLM is in the process of developing. When completed the trail will connect the cities of Jacksonville and Ashland, OR thus the name. There are several different trailheads that can be used for access and we chose to start at the Griffin Gap Trailhead and planned on hiking to the Anderson Ridge Trailhead which is where Sullivan’s described loop begins. (Directions to the trailheads can be found on the BLM page for the trail here.)

We’ve seen all kinds of trailheads over the last dozen years and this one was up there on the list of odd ones. Located on a saddle where pavement ends on Anderson Butte Road there was no visible signage at first glance and the area was clearly popular with the target shooting crowd (a subset of which tends to leave quite a mess). An ATV/Motorcycle trail was visible diving steeply down a ridge to the north and then up the ridge on the other side of the saddle where the now gravel Anderson Butte Road forked to the left of the ridge and BLM Road 39-2-8 forked to the right side. The Jack-Ash Trail follows this road 0.9 miles to the Greenstone Trailhead. We didn’t attempt driving to that trailhead because why drive a potholed gravel road if you don’t have to. After deciding on a parking spot that we felt would be the most out of the line of fire we got out of the car and spotted the trailhead sign several feet downhill where the Jack-Ash Trail came up to the saddle from the Grub Gulch Trailhead.
The target shooting area and the OHV track coming down the ridge.

The track going up the ridge between the two roads. We briefly wondered if this had been the BLM’s work to bypass the road walk in between this trailhead and the Greenstone Trailhead but decided it likely wasn’t (good call).

The “hidden” trailhead sign.

We set off on the road which indeed had a few potholes.

We gained about 200′ getting to the Greenstone Trailhead passing another graffiti filled shooting area at an old quarry and finding yet more evidence of target practice at the Greenstone Trailhead.
Despite the empty shell casings and garbage left by the shooters there were some nice flowers along the road.

Valerian

Bleeding heart

The Greenstone Trailhead

People suck

The Jack-Ash Trail turned uphill over a dirt berm and continued on a old road bed for another half mile or so.
Nicer signs on the other side of the berm.

There were quite a few Henderson’s fawn lilies blooming along this stretch which was a flower we had not encountered in bloom until this trip so we took a lot of pictures.

Can you spot the insect?

Trillium

The old road bed became fainter the further we went and eventually at a post the Jack-Ash Trail veered uphill to the right.

The trail climbed up through an open forest that showed signs of a previous fire. We made three switchbacks gaining approximately 400′ in the process. The under story here was full of milk-vetch and wild iris and was also hosting a number of ticks.

Milkvetch

Iris

Pacific houndstongue

We managed to spot a few of the bloodsuckers before they grabbed my pants but we also had to flick 6-8 of the little buggers off.

Charred tree trunks along the trail.

After climbing near to the top of the ridge the trail leveled off and straightened out as it headed south following the ridge.

Snow queen

No signs of fire here.

Approximately two miles from the Greenstone Trailhead we left the forest at a small saddle below Anderson Butte.

Had we been doing Sullivan’s described hike we would have been coming from the other direction and at the edge of the forest where he says to “..turn uphill on a smaller, unmarked trail that leads to an old roadbed..”. We got a bit turned around here because we only saw two trails, the continuation of the Jack-Ash Trail and a faint trail passing an unmarked post heading west.
The Jack-Ash Trail continuing south.

The trail heading west.

The problem was Anderson Butte was to the SE not to the west but we wandered out on that trail just to make sure we were reading the map right. The path led a short distance to a knoll confirming this wasn’t the trail to Anderson Butte.
Balsamroot

Phlox

We walked back to the saddle and then walked back into the forest a few steps to a faint trail heading slightly uphill toward the butte and turned onto it.

This trail soon joined an old roadbed.

Four tenths of a mile after leaving the Jack-Ash Trail we arrived at another road where we made a sharp right turn and climbed a quarter mile to the former lookout site.

Scarlet fritillary – Fritillaria recurva

There were an number of wildflowers around the summit and despite the cloudy day the views were good.

Parsley, larkspur, prairie stars and blue-eyed Mary.

Lupine and buckwheat

Mt. McLoughlin (post)

Zoomed shot of Dutchman Peak

Zoomed shot of Red Buttes

After a nice break at the summit we followed a trail down the southern ridge of the butte.

Paintbrush, blue-eyed Mary, and redstem storksbill

A stonecrop

After 0.2 miles this trail joined a roadbed which we followed for roughly 450 feet. We were looking for a short connector trail described by Sullivan that would take us down to the Jack-Ash Trail. If we couldn’t find the connector Sullivan mentioned a steep OHV Trail that could be used.

We weren’t really seeing anything that looked like a connector but we thought we saw what might be a very faint path leading downhill through a more open section of forest at a point where the GPS showed the Jack-Ash Trail less than 100 yards away. Whether or not this was the right spot it seemed preferable to a steep OHV trail so we set off downhill and soon found ourselves back on the Jack-Ash.
Where we left the roadbed.

Back on the Jack-Ash.

Before heading back toward the car we continued south on the trail a little over three quarters of a mile to the Anderson Ridge Trailhead. This stretch of trail was relatively level with more views and wildflowers. As we neared the Anderson Ridge Trailhead we did hear some shooting along the road on the other side of the ridge but we never saw anyone and they weren’t at the actual trailhead.
Giant white wakerobbin

Paintbrush and waterleaf

Grayback Mountain to the left with snow.

The OHV trail crossing the Jack-Ash Trail.

The OHV trail coming down from the road.

Lupine

Larkspur

Always appreciate a good mountain locator.

Mariposa lily

Paintbrush

Silverleaf phacelia

Some sort of big thistle on the hillside.

Some pink lupine.

Rough eyelash-weed

Western wallflower with a crab spider.

Clustered broomrape

Buckwheat, paintbrush, and lupine

Plectritis

Nearing the Anderson Ridge Trailhead.

This trailhead had a sign-in log so we filled that out and then headed back sticking to the Jack-Ash Trail and passing below Anderson Butte.

Miniture lupine

A ringlet on fiddleneck.

Post at the OHV trail crossing.

Salsify

Yarrow

The Jack-Ash Trail nearing the saddle where we had turned off to go up Anderson Butte.

Wild onion (possibly Siskiyou)

Meadowfoam

Royal Jacobs-ladder

The berm at the Greenstone Trailhead.

We were happy to find that there was no one using the Griffin Gap Trailhead when we got back and aside from the gunfire near Anderson Butte we hadn’t seen or heard any other people all day. The hike came in just a bit over 9 miles with approximately 1650′ of elevation gain. The incoming wet weather held off aside from a couple of sprinkles but the cloud cover kept the temperature very comfortable which was welcome after the previous two days.

This hike was a needed break from both the heat and poison oak. We only spotted the latter a couple of times on open hillsides but never had to worry about it. Long pants were still useful though due to the occasional ticks that we had to stop and flick off my pants (we never saw any on Heather this time). We were starting to feel like we were back on track now that we were halfway through our trip. Saturday looked to be a rainy one so we were going to stick close to the motel and check out the Denman Wildlife Refuge. For now though we headed back to Medford looking forward to our leftover pizza from Kaleidoscope. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Jack-Ash Trail

Tags Anderson Butte, Anderson Ridge Trailhead, ashland, Greenstone Trailhead, Griffin Gap Trailhead, Henderson's fawn lily, hiking, Jack-Ash Trail, Jacksonville, Medford, Oregon, scarlet fritillary, ticks, wildflowers

Hiking Medford/Ashland Area Oregon Trip report

Upper Table Rock – 05/26/2022

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date June 6, 2022
6 Comments on Upper Table Rock – 05/26/2022

After the debacle at Mule Mountain (post) we made some adjustments to our planned set of hikes by removing a hike up Stein Butte and a stop at Lower Table Rock which we had visited on a previous trip (post) and shortening our other planned outings. Removing Stein Butte left open the option to not hike on Thursday if we needed a full day of rest which as we went to bed Wednesday night seemed likely. We got up Thursday and hobbled down to the motel’s continental breakfast to finalize our plans for the day which included a trip to the store for food and medical supplies and doing a load of laundry to hopefully wash off any lingering poison oak that we’d picked up on the Mule Creek Trail. It was going to be another warm day but then the forecast showed a dramatic shift with precipitation possible Friday through Sunday including snow as low as 4500′. While we ate we decided that it was going to be too nice to not get out at all and waiting for the afternoon/evening would result in a warmer hike than we’d like so we decided to head to Upper Table Rock as soon as we were done with breakfast.

The Table Rocks are a pair of horseshoe shaped mesas north of Medford and host a variety of Spring wildflowers. Pre Mule Mountain our plan had been to hike both Upper and Lower Table Rocks along with a visit to the Denman Wildlife Area. The plan now was to skip Lower Table Rock this time and split the two other hikes up with the shorter, Upper Table Rock today, and a little longer loop at Denman on Saturday which was forecast to be the rainiest day of the weekend. When we arrived at the Upper Table Rock Trailhead a little before 8am it was already fairly warm out.

We stopped at the signboards and reviewed the map determining to do the yellow “recommended loop” once we had climbed the 1.25 miles to the top of the mesa.

There were a good number of flowers still blooming and although poison oak is profuse in the area the wide trail made it easy to avoid. We were definitely feeling the effects of the prior days hike though as we gained the 700’+ of elevation to the start of the loop.
Acorn woodpecker

Death camas and vetch

Carrotleaf horkelia

Lazuli bunting

Finch

Lupine

Oregon sunshine

Andestite boulder

Mt. McLoughlin (post)

Ground squirrel having breakfast

Blow wives

A clarkia

Blue dicks

Paintbrush (and poison oak)

Could be a cutleaf silverpuff or a hawksbeard

Viewpoint bench at the half mile point.

Clustered broomrape

Siskiyou Mountains including Mt. Ashland (post), Wagner Butte (post), and Dutchman Peak.

Another type of clarkia

Possibly bastard toadflax

Mariposa lilies

Balsamroot along the trail.

Bell catchfly

Plumed solomonseal

Approaching the start of the loop.

We did the 0.9 mile loop counter-clockwise trying to stick to the most worn trails where the official trail wasn’t obvious.
Looking toward the Siskiyous.

The Red Buttes (post)

Pilot Rock (post)

Mt. Ashland (w/snow) and Wagner Butte

A couple of different wildflowers.

Narrowleaf onion?

Pincushion plant

Meadowfoam

Not sure what these yellow flowers are. Yellow flowers are by far the hardest to figure out.

Rock wren

Turkey vulture in flight with Mt. McLoughlin in the background.

Lower Table Rock beyond the other bench of Upper Table Rock.

An American kestral atop a tree.

Lizard

A butterfly and a beetle on arrowleaf buckwheat

Yarrow

Chaparral false bindweed

White tritelia

After completing the loop, along with taking a couple of breaks to enjoy the scenery, we headed back down to the trailhead. Along the way we spotted a few more species of wildlife and passed a couple of elementary school classes heading up the trail.

Rufous sided hummingbird

Lizard

Brown headed cowbird

Mt. McLoughlin on the way down.

This hike was just what we needed after the previous days outing. The 3.5 miles and 720′ of elevation gain kept our muscles moving and helped us not stiffen up too much but it was easy enough that we didn’t feel we overexerted ourselves.

After the hike we stopped at Fred Meyer for supplies and lunch from their deli then returned to the motel to do a load of laundry. Later we headed out to Kaleidoscope Pizza having seen it mentioned in a post by Boots on the Trail. It was a good choice and we wound up with leftovers for the next nights dinner as well. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Upper Table Rock

Tags hiking, kaleidoscope pizza, Lazuli Bunting, Lizard, Lower Table Rock, Medford, Mt. Mcloughlin, Oregon, upper table rock, wildflowers

Hiking Klamath/Siskiyou Mountains Medford/Ashland Area Oregon Trip report

Mule Mountain – 05/25/2022

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date June 5, 2022
6 Comments on Mule Mountain – 05/25/2022

We took a few days of vacation prior to Memorial Day weekend and headed to Medford, OR for six days of hiking. Our original plan had been to make 8 different stops over those 6 days hiking around 70 miles. Seven of the stops would be new to us with two of the hikes being featured hikes in Sullivan’s “100 Hikes/Travel Guide Southern Oregon & Northern California” (4.2 edition) that we were hoping to cross of our list. Two others involved featured hikes that we had done part of previously and were now looking to complete another portion. The other three hikes that we hadn’t done were listed in the “More Hikes” section in the back of his book. I said our original plan because after the first hike our plans were blown up. For the first hike we picked Mule Mountain which had been a featured hike in Sullivan’s 3rd edition but lost that status after the Mule Mountain Trailhead was closed in 2016. From that previous trailhead the first 0.3 miles of the Mule Mountain Trail pass across private land and the Forest Service has so far been unable to obtain an easement. The Forest Service shows two alternate trailheads that can be used to access the loop that Sullivan describes – the Charlie Buck/Baldy Peak Trailhead and the Mule Creek/Baldy Peak Trailhead. Sullivan and Oregon Hikers suggest starting at the Charlie Buck/Baldy Peak Trailhead which is what we chose to do.

Our planned hike here looked to be about 12 miles with approximately 4000′ of cumulative elevation gain. Those numbers were quite similar to our hike at Elk & Kings Mountain (post) the previous Saturday. That had been a hard hike but not anything that we couldn’t manage and we had forgotten to bring our Endurolytes on that hike. These have seemed to really help on warmer/more difficult hikes when we work up a good sweat. It was supposed to be a little warmer for this hike with highs forecast to be in the mid to upper 70s but we had hydrated ahead of time, were carrying full water bladders and a filter to get additional water from Mule Creek if the opportunity arose. Despite the similarities in overall statistics there were a couple of key differences between the two hikes that we failed to take fully into account. The biggest difference was that it had been a brisk 37 degrees at 6:50am when we set off on the steep climb at Elk Mountain while here due to the long drive time from Salem it was 9:20am when we started and already in the mid 60s. Another key difference was that the majority of the elevation gain on the previous hike had been during the first half of the hike meaning we were done earlier in the day with the most strenuous portions. Here the climbs were broken up with a steep initial 1200′ climb in the first mile and a longer 3.5 mile 2000′ climb later near the end prior to the final downhill mile. The other differences were the amount of direct Sun exposure involved in this hike and that the one long downhill section on the Mule Creek Trail would involve a lightly maintained trail requiring extra effort.

The hike started off nice enough despite the steep initial climb. We spotted a number of wildflowers and a couple of alligator lizards as we huffed our way upwards.

Mariposa lilies

Alligator lizard

Henderson’s stars

Hooker’s Indian pink

Fern leaf biscuitroot

Blue dicks

Larkspur

Paintbrush

Mariposa lily

Another alligator lizard. They eat ticks but in this case it appears a couple ticks got the jump on him (or her).

Lupine

View from the trail.

Grayback Mountain to the right in the distance.

Fiddleneck

Miniture lupine

A lupine, clarkia and madia?

Madia

A molting lizard.

A lomatium

Believe this is a female black-headed grosbeak

The Red Buttes (post) in the distance.

Red bells, these were on a short wish list of wildflowers that we’d yet to see on trail.

After the mile climb the trail gained a ridge on the west shoulder of Baldy Peak and began a 0.4 mile traverse below the peak through an open grassy hillside. Sullivan showed a 0.3 mile use trail leading up this ridge to the summit of Baldy Peak but while Heather noticed the trail neither of us at the time remembered it was on Sullivan’s map (I thought it was at the other end of the 0.4 mile traverse.) which was probably a good thing.

Poppy

Scraggy Mountain behind Little Grayback Mountain

Red Buttes behind Little Grayback Mountain

Butterfly on scat.

When we arrived at the ridge at the end of the 0.4 mile segment we spotted a faint trail heading up Baldy Peak.

After giving it some thought and consulting Sullivan’s map we realized that this wasn’t the trail he showed and so we decided to skip Baldy Peak for now and then see if it was something we wanted to attempt on our way back by later. In addition to the use trail heading up Baldy Peak the Mule Mountain Trail joined the Baldy Peak Trail on the ridge. For now though we headed out along the ridge on what was now a much more level trail.

Mule Mountain is the lower peak along the ridge with the brown left side.

Lupine

Prairie stars

Balsamroot

Blue-eyed Mary

A collection of various small wildflowers.

Rough eyelashweed

Bee on silverleaf phacelia

Poppies

Butterfly on grass

Blue gilia

Grayback Mountain behind Mule Mountain

Yet another lizard

A colorful moth.

Little Grayback Mountain

The trail descended to a forested saddle before joining an old road bed that led to the Mule Creek/Baldy Creek Trailhead approximately 1.5 miles from the Mule Mountain Trail junction.

Iris

Approaching the trailhead.

A very short road walk brought us to the Mule Creek Trail on our right.
Looking back at the trailhead from the road.

It was just a bit after noon now and it was getting pretty warm out so we were looking forward to the long downhill section in the forest. Unfortunately, as mentioned earlier, the Mule Creek Trail was in need of maintenance so there was some blowdown to navigate. Possibly worse, at least for those of us that aren’t used to a lot of poison oak, the trail was rather overgrown in places so we found ourselves twisting and turning in vain to try and avoid making any contact. Eventually we realized that wasn’t possible so we did our best to minimize contact and keep it to our clothing (we were wearing long pants/sleeves and sun gloves so we were pretty well covered).

Henderson’s fawn lily, another one we could check off our wish list.

A typical obstacle.

Overgrown trail.

Giant white wakerobbin

Some flagging on the left and bleeding heart on the right.

Star flower

Striped coralroot

The trail crossed Mule Creek several times, sometimes there was water and other times it was dry. We were so busy trying to dodge poison oak though that we didn’t think to check our water supply and refill if necessary.
There was a good pool at this crossing where we could have gotten water.

California ground cones.

A folded up mushroom.

A butterfly

After almost three and a half miles following the creek the trail turned north and gradually climbed 250′ over the next three quarters of a mile to a junction with the Mule Mountain Trail.

Apparently lady bugs and butterflies don’t care about poison oak.

The trail got pretty faint at times.

We eventually popped out of the forest into an oak grassland on a hillside overlooking Upper Applegate Road.

The heat blasted us with the Sun beating down and Heather realized that despite the water and electrolyte tablets she wasn’t going to be able to make the climb back up to the shoulder of Baldy Peak. She decided that when we reached the Mule Mountain Trail she would head to the decommissioned trailhead and plead mercy if anyone questioned why she was trespassing.
Arriving at the Mule Mountain Trail.

While I too was warm I felt pretty good when we reached the junction so we decided to split up and I would retrieve the car and drive down to pick her up. It was about 0.8 miles downhill to Upper Applegate Road and I was a little concerned that Heather might pass out on her way down but said she would take it real slow. I was facing the 3.5 mile 2000′ climb back up and after we split the electrolyte tablets between us we went our separate ways. I set off at a slow but steady pace gradually climbing what was a forested hillside.

White lupine

Grand collomia

As I neared Mule Mountain I lost what little cover the trees were providing though.

Penstemon

A brief section of shade.

Dwarf purple monkeyflower

Approximately 2.5 miles into the climb I hit a wall. I still had water that I was sipping on and the electrolytes but between the climb and all the sweat I had already lost I really began to struggle. I managed to make it another quarter of a mile or so to a small tree that was providing a bit of shade on a section of trail that was free from poison oak. I sat down in the shade in the middle of trail thinking that this might be where I waited for SAR. I had been praying for Heather to make it out safely and now I added my own safety to the list. I knew I was close to running out of water but I had plenty of food, extra clothing and a small pad that I could sit/sleep on if needed. I didn’t have cell service or an SOS beacon though so I sat, waited and prayed. While I waited for my hands and feet to stop tingling I flicked a lone tick off my pant leg, fought of a cramp behind my left knee, and worried about passing out and rolling down the hillside. I didn’t want that to happen and I knew I couldn’t sleep there if it came to that due to the same risk so after what felt like at least an hour (it was actually just over 20 minutes) I stood up and decided to make an attempt at the ridge where I knew I could spend the night. I was a little under three quarters of a mile from the ridge and a little over 400′ below it. My body had noticeably cooled down so I proceeded out of my shady spot and slowly climbed toward the ridge.
I needed to get just below the lone tree on the ridge in the distance.

I pretty much had given up on pictures at that point and could only laugh at the thought of trying to climb Baldy Peak. Once I had gained the ridge I considered my next plan of action. It as a fairly level 0.4 traverse below Blady Peak to the other ridge where there were better spots to spend the night and I was feeling okay so I kept going. Miraculously my water held out until I had made the ridge even though I was sure every sip was going to be the last of it. It wasn’t until I was traversing below Baldy Peak that it was gone. Once I was on the western ridge I was only a mile from the car where I knew there was a cold powerade and some gatorades waiting. I wasn’t sure if my legs were strong enough though to handle the steep descent but I wanted to know if Heather had made it so after eating a little something I started downhill relying heavily on my poles. I made it back to the car half expecting to either find Heather there (if she had managed to find a ride) or SAR or both. It was just our car though so I grabbed a cold drink and started the drive down FR 940 to Beaver Creek Road (FR 20). When I got to Beaver Creek Road I promptly turned the wrong way, chalk that up to a deteriorated mental state, but almost immediately questioned myself so I pulled over and reread Sullivan’s driving direction and discovered my mistake. I drove back past FR 940 hoping I didn’t miss Heather or anyone heading up to the trailhead. Not long after passing FR 940 though I spotted Heather hiking up the road. She appeared to be doing a lot better than I was. As it turns out she had made it to the closed trailhead without incident and then made here way toward FR 940 stopping a few times to rest against fences. A little way up Beaver Creek Road she came to the Twin Pear Farm which had a small stand/store where she was able to buy some rations including a Popsicle which she ate while sitting in a chair there.
A random Minion in a field.

Deer along the road.

The Twin Pear Farm on the way back by.

Heather wisely took over the driving duties and got us to our motel in Medford then ran out for some food from the DQ across the street. It was after 8pm and we were exhausted. We decided that we would plan on taking it easy the next day and probably skip the hike in lieu of recovery. It was an unnerving experience and a good reminder of how easily things can go wrong no matter how prepared you try to be. We did some things right including listening to our bodies and stopping/bailing when needed and had almost everything we needed aside from a rescue beacon. On the other hand we should have taken the opportunity to replenish our water at Mule Creek when we had a chance. That wouldn’t have helped Heather but it might have helped me a bit and definitely would have if I’d have had to spend the night out there. We also should be carrying a rescue beacon/satellite communicator but every year we talk about getting something then fail to be able to choose and wind up with nothing so any recommendations you have please leave in the comments. The good news was neither of us did get hit by poison oak so that was a big positive. Happy and safe Trails!

Flickr: Mule Mountain

Tags alligator lizard, Baldy Peak, Blady Peak Treail, Charlie Buck/Baldy Peak Trailhead, hiking, Mule Creek Trail, Mule Creek/Baldy Peak Trailhead, Mule Mountain, Mule Mountain Trail, Oregon, Twin Pear Farm, wildflowers