Category: Grants Pass Area

Southern Oregon & Northern California

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date November 6, 2023
9 Comments on Southern Oregon & Northern California

Several years ago we set a goal for ourselves to hike all 500 featured hikes in William L. Sullivan’s “100 Hikes…” series of guidebooks (post). In 2020 we completed the first of these books covering the Central Oregon Cascades (post). We followed that up by completing a pair of books in 2021 starting with Sullivan’s “100 Hikes/Travel Guide Oregon Coast and Coast Range” 3rd edition (post) followed up by “100 HIkes/Travel Guide Northwest Oregon & Southwest Washington” 4th edition (post).

Generally speaking in order to check a hike off our list we need to have hiked a substantial portion of Sullivan’s described hike or visited the main attraction(s) he identifies for the hike. For 66 of the hikes we followed the books described route. For the other 34 hikes various factors contributed to us not completing all of each featured hike. For some we started at a different trailhead, others had portions of trail(s) closed when we visited, and several had longer options that would have required multiple days to complete. In some other cases we did slightly different routes, sometimes by accident.

The area covered by Sullivan in this book, as the title suggests includes parts of Southern Oregon and Northern California. It contains his southernmost featured hike, Caribou Lakes. In general the area covered in Oregon begins just North of Roseburg extending East to Highway 97 (with the exception being Klamath Falls which is included in his Eastern Oregon book), South to California, and West to Marial on the Rogue River. In California the area extends south to the Trinity Alps Wilderness, West to the Siskiyou Wilderness, and East to the Mount Shasta Wilderness.

The hikes inside the red lines represent the location of the featured hikes.

In addition to the three wilderness areas in California mentioned above the featured hikes included visits to the Marble Mountain, Castle Crags, Russian, and Red Buttes Wilderness areas in California. Wilderness areas in Oregon included the Red Buttes (OR & CA share this wilderness), Kalmiopsis, Wild Rogue, Soda Mountain, Mountain Lakes, Sky Lakes, Rogue-Umpqua Divide, Boulder Creek, and Mt. Thielsen.

In addition to the 15 designated wilderness areas there were hikes in two National Monuments – Oregon Caves & Cascade-Siskiyou, and Crater Lake National Park.

#1 North Bank Ranch-Hiked 6/5/2015 6/25/2023

#2 Fall Creek Falls-Hiked 6/13/2022 8/7/2022 6/25/2023
Fall Creek Falls
#3 Little River Waterfalls-Hiked 8/7/2022
Yasko Falls
#4 Boulder Creek-Hiked 9/7/2020

#5 Twin Lakes-Hiked 6/14/2022

#6 Fish Lake-Hiked 9/3/2022

#7 Buckey and Cliff Lakes-Hiked 9/3/2022

#8 Umpqua Hot Springs-Hiked 6/13/2022

#9 Toketee and Watson Falls-Hiked 6/13/2022

#10 Lemolo Falls-Hiked 6/13/2022

#11 Cowhorn Mountain-Hiked 9/15/2016

#12 Miller and Maidu Lakes-Hiked 8/1/2012

#13 Tipsoo Peak-Hiked 10/2/2014

#14 Thielsen Creek-Hiked 8/8/2020

#15 Mount Thielsen-Hiked 9/23/2012

#16 Diamond Lake-Hiked 9/5/2020

#17 Mount Bailey-Hiked 8/12/2012

#18 Boundary Springs-Hiked 6/13/2014

#19 Park Headquarters-Hiked 7/31/2023

#20 Garfield Peak-Hiked 7/31/2023

#21 Discovery Point-Hiked 9/19/2022

#22 The Watchman-Hiked 8/12/2012 7/31/2023

#23 Wizard Island-Hiked 8/1/2023

#24 Mount Scott-Hiked 10/2/2014

#25 Plaikni Falls and The Pinnacles-Hiked 7/30/2023

#26 Crater Peak-Hiked 7/30/2023

#27 Annie Creek & Godfrey Glen-Hiked 7/30/2023 7/31/2023

#28 Union Peak-Hiked 9/17/2022

#29 Upper and Lower Table Rocks-Hiked 6/9/2017 (Lower) & 5/26/2022 (Upper)
Lower Table Rock

View from Upper Table Rock
#30 Lost Creek Lake-Hiked 6/9/2017

#31 Takelma Gorge-Hiked 10/15/2020

#32 Natural Bridge-Hiked 10/16/2020

#33 Union Creek-Hiked 10/17/2020 9/20/2022

#34 Abbott Butte-Hiked 10/17/2020

#35 Hershberger Mountain-Hiked 10/16/2020

#36 Muir Creek-Hiked 5/27/2018

#37 Rattlesnake Mountain-Hiked 9/6/2020

#38 Seven Lakes West-Hiked 9/9/2023

#39 Seven Lakes East-Hiked 9/9/2023

#40 Blue Lake Basin-Hiked 9/18/2022

#41 Mount McLoughlin-Hiked 8/27/2016

#42 Fourmile Lake-Hiked 8/26/2016

#43 Sky Lakes via Cold Springs-Hiked 9/24/2022

#44 Sky Lakes via Nannie Creek-Hiked 9/24/2022

#45 Fish Lake-Hiked 10/7/2018

#46 Brown Mountain Lava Flow-Hiked 8/28/2016

#47 Lake of the Woods-Hiked 10/7/2018

#48 Mountain Lakes-Hiked 8/25/2016

#49 Soda Mountain-Hiked 6/3/2015

#50 Pilot Rock-Hiked 7/29/2017

#51 Mount Ashland Meadows-Hiked 6/3/2015

#52 Lithia Park-Hiked 6/2/2015

#53 Bandersnatch Trail-Hiked 6/17/2022

#54 White Rabbit Trail-Hiked 6/17/2022

#55 Grizzly Peak-Hiked 6/5/2015

#56 Roxy Ann Peak-Hiked 5/30/2022

#57 Wagner Butte-Hiked 6/4/2015

#58 Siskiyou Gap-Hiked 6/16/2022

#59 Jack-Ash Trail-Hiked 5/27/2022

#60 Sterling Ditch Tunnel-Hiked 6/10/2017 5/2/2023

#61 Jacksonville-Hiked 6/8/2017

#62 Enchanted Forest-Hiked 6/11/2017

#63 Observation Peak-Hiked 6/15/2022

#64 Collings Mountain-Hiked 6/8/2017

#65 Applegate Lake-Hiked 6/8/2017 5/29/2022

#66 Red Buttes-Hiked 10/27/2015

#67 Frog Pond-Hiked 6/18/2022

#68 Azalea Lake-Hiked 10/26/2015

#69 Sturgis Fork-Hiked 10/7/2023

#70 Grayback Mountain-Hiked 10/9/2023

#71 Oregon Caves-Hiked 10/30/2015

#72 Mount Elijah-Hiked 10/7/2023

#73 Sucker Creek-Hiked 10/26/2015

#74 Tanner Lakes-Hiked 10/8/2023

#75 Bolan Lake-Hiked 10/8/2023

#76 Polar Bear Gap-Hiked 7/1/2022

#77 Raspberry Lake-Hiked 7/3/2022

#78 Devils Punchbowl-Hiked 7/2/2022

#79 Rough and Ready Creeks-Hiked 5/12/2017

#80 Babyfoot Lake-Hiked 10/9/2023

#81 Eight Dollar Mountain-Hiked 5/4/2023

#82 Illinois River Beaches-Hiked 5/4/2023

#83 Grants Pass Nature Trails 5/3/2023

#84 Rouge River Trail East-Hiked 5/1/2023

#85 Rogue River Trail West-Hiked 6/24/2023

#86 Paradise Lake-Hiked 6/28/2016

#87 Sky High Lakes-Hiked 6/29/2016

#88 Campbell Lake-Hiked 6/27/2016

#89 Paynes Lake-Hiked 7/24/2017

#90 Russian Lake-Hiked 8/24/2022

#91 Hidden & South Fork Lakes-Hiked 8/26/2022

#92 Trail Gulch Lake-Hiked 8/25/2022

#93 East Boulder Lake-Hiked 8/23/2022

#94 Kangaroo Lake-Hiked 7/23/2017

#95 Deadfall Lakes-Hiked 7/25/2017

#96 Caribou Lake-Hiked 7/27/2017

#97 Castle Lake-Hiked 7/26/2017

#98 Castle Crags-Hiked 7/26/2017

#99 Black Butte-Hiked 7/28/2017

#100 Mount Shasta Meadows-Hiked 8/22/2022

In our minds this was by far the most challenging area to finish even though we did so before completing Eastern Oregon. The difficulty with Eastern Oregon mostly revolves around distance from Salem and the size of the area covered. The Southern Oregon-Northern California area is smaller and the hikes not as far away, but it involved a lot of trails that frankly don’t see the level of maintenance that most of the other areas receive. While we’ve encountered rough trails, all over poison oak is much more prevalent down south which doesn’t invite pushing through overgrown tread or bushwacking around obstacles. This area has also been hit harder by fires over the last couple of decades leaving extra work to reopen them as well as remove additional blowdown as the dead trees fall over. When the conditions were good though the scenery and diverse plant and wildlife made for some spectacular hikes. There are many that we’d love to do again and several non-featured hikes that we have in our future plans, so we aren’t done with area yet. Happy Trails!

Grants Pass Area Hiking Klamath/Siskiyou Mountains Oregon Trip report

Grayback Meadows and Babyfoot Lake – 10/09/2023

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date October 14, 2023
3 Comments on Grayback Meadows and Babyfoot Lake – 10/09/2023

After double checking the weather forecast for our final two days in Grants Pass we’d decided that making an attempt at doing both of our remaining featured hikes on Monday provided us the best chance at semi-decent weather. Both trailheads were less than 40-miles from our room, but Grayback Mountain was to the SE while Babyfoot Lake was to the SW. A minor inconvenience but the extra driving in between might allow for some better weather in the afternoon at Babyfoot Lake. We’d already decided to stick to the shorter options for both hikes, partly due to the forecasted cloudy conditions and partly because Heather hadn’t been feeling well all weekend and I was feeling pretty spent after the previous two days of hiking. We began our morning under surprisingly dry skies as we left Grants Pass but soon found the rain as we neared the O’Brien Creek Lower Trailhead.

For his featured hikes Sullivan uses the O’Brien Creek Upper Trailhead but mentions a section of sharp rocks that can cause flat tires on the way to that trailhead. Starting at the lower trailhead would add 2-miles round trip but we felt it was worth not risking a flat. What we didn’t count on was how steeply sections of the 1-mile stretch would be as it climbed nearly 650′ to the upper trailhead.
O’Brien Creek near the trailhead.

It seemed like all of the climbs this weekend had been steep.

After two warm sunny days this hike finally felt like Fall.

As I approached this footbridge I noticed a yellow jacket fly into the big hole along the right side of the trail. A quick peak in revealed a busy nest so we wound up bushwacking uphill and around it hopping onto the bridge at the edge of the marsh ahead.

A nice newer looking sign at the upper trailhead.

At the upper trailhead we gave up on our rain gear. A light mist is all that was falling and our sweat from the climbing was making us wetter than the mist would. From the upper trailhead the trail followed an old roadbed for 0.2-miles.

At the end of the old roadbed this trail too decided to steepen greatly gaining approximately 900′ in nearly a mile to a junction with a spur trail to the Grayback Snow Shelter.

There were a few really big trees in the forest along the trail.

Grayback Mountain from the trail.

The trail crossing O’Brien Creek.

The junction with the spur trail to the snow shelter. It took me far too long to realize that the sign was upside down. I couldn’t figure out why it thought the Boundary Trail was to the left, after looking at it a few more times it dawned on me that the words were upside down.

Ah ha! It wouldn’t stay this way but it sure made more sense.

For the longer option to the summit of Grayback Mountain we would have taken the right-hand fork and gained another 1600′ to 1700′ over the 1.8-miles to the summit. Instead we forked left losing a little elevation over the 0.2-miles to the shelter.

There had been another car at the lower trailhead and we thought that the owner might be staying in the shelter but when we hiked past the shelter into Grayback Meadows we could hear voices in the trees.

There used to be a cabin out in the meadows and now there is a snow gauge and a campsite which may be where the voices were coming from.

We took a quick peak inside the shelter where some of the backpacker’s stuff was.

After checking out the shelter and meadows we returned the way we’d come.
It was steep going down too.

Trail pointer near the upper trailhead marking the continuation of the O’Brien Creek Trail to the lower trailhead.

We always enjoy seeing madrones on our hikes in Southern Oregon.

Slug on a shroom.

Bug on a shroom.

One more steep drop to the lower trailhead.

Our hike here came to 4.8-miles and upwards of 1750′ of elevation gain.

From the trailhead we drove North to Murphy then cut over to Highway 199 and headed back South to the Babyfoot Lake Trailhead. While the amount of precipitation during our hike to Grayback Meadows had been far less than we’d expected (we even spotted a small window of blue sky) it was raining steadily as we started up the gravel roads to the Babyfoot Lake Trailhead. Not only that but we quickly found ourselves in the cloud limiting visibility so it was a tedious 12-miles of bumpy roads.

Wind and rain met us at the trailhead and our rain jackets made a second appearance. The trail began at a signboard and traversed a hillside below Hungry Hill for 0.3-miles to a fork.

The forest is recovering from the 2002 Biscuit Fire.

To the left was the Babyfoot Lake Rim Trail. Sullivan’s longer option here include following this trail 0.9-miles to a viewpoint above the lake. Given the fog that seemed pointless, and it also looked like that trail was in need of some maintenance.

We forked right and continued to descend through the fog for nearly a mile to the lake.

A small stream with crystal clear water along the trail.

My nemesis, the varied thrush.

Near the lake the trail passes this rock outcrop which is a viewpoint without the fog.

Some of the trees around the lake survived the 2002 fire.

Babyfoot Lake lies just within the Kalmiopsis Wilderness boundary, marking just the second time (post) we’d visited this nearly 180,000-acre wilderness.

After visiting the lake we headed back up toward the car. Before we’d even made it past the rocky viewpoint the clouds began to break up revealing some patches of sunlight and blue sky.

I of course had to head out onto the viewpoint given the rapidly changing conditions.

Conditions continued to improve as we climbed back to the trailhead revealing more of the wilderness and surrounding terrain.

The patterns on this snag caught my eye.

The trailhead on the ridge ahead.

This short hike came to just 2.6-miles and 360′ of elevation gain and marked the completion of our quest to hike at least part of all 100 featured hikes in William L. Sullivan’s “100 Hikes/Travel Guide Southern Oregon & Northern California” edition 4.2 (post).

With Southern Oregon complete, joining the Central Oregon Cascades, Coast & Coast Range, and NW Oregon & SW Washington, we are down to just 16 Eastern Oregon hikes to reach 500. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Grayback Meadows and Babyfoot Lake

Tags Babyfoot Lake, Babyfoot Lake Trail, Babyfoot Lake Trailhead, Boundary Trail, Grants Pass, Grayback Meadows, Grayback Mountain, Grayback Snow Shelter, hiking, kalmiopsis wilderness, O'Brien Creek Lower Trailhead, O'Brien Creek Trail, O'Brien Creek Upper Trailhead, Oregon, William L Sullivan

Grants Pass Area Hiking Klamath/Siskiyou Mountains Oregon Trip report

Tanner and Bolan Lakes – 10/08/2023

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date October 13, 2023
2 Comments on Tanner and Bolan Lakes – 10/08/2023

After checking off two of Sullivan’s featured hikes on Saturday (post) we had another pair lined up for Sunday. Another day of clear skies and low 60-degree temperatures lay ahead as we drove from Grants Pass to our first stop at the Tanner Lakes Trailhead (note the Forest Service refers to this and the lakes as “Tannen” but Tanner is the official name used by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names (the Board corrected the error in 2002 which had erroneously changed the names from Tanner to Tannen). The area here burned, like so many others in Oregon, in September 2020. For a look at the area before the Slater Fire here is a report by Just Peachy from July 2020.
There is a large turnaround/parking area at the end of Forest Road 041 which serves as the trailhead. The final 500 meters of the road are rough so high clearance vehicles are recommended.

A pink flag marked the start of the trail just up the road from the turnaround.

Heather still wasn’t feeling well so she decided that she would just do the 2.6-mile out-and-back to the Tanner Lakes which was the shorter of two options Sullivan listed for this featured hike. The longer option was either a 9.2-mile out-and-back to the summit of Tanner Mountain, or a slightly shorter loop ending with a 2.8-mile road walk. I was going to give the loop a go, but I was unsure of the trail conditions beyond the lake, so I was prepared to turn back at any point. It was just 0.4-miles from the trailhead to Tanner Lake where the Fall colors were reflecting nicely in the water.
The trailhead from the Tanner Lakes Trail.

A few trees survived the fire around the lakes.

Tanner Lake in the morning.

The trail crossed Tanner Creek and climbed gradually over a ridge to East Tanner Lake just under a mile from the larger lake.

Penstemon

Wallflower

Recent trail maintenance.

East Tanner Lake

Fireweed

One of the world’s largest incense cedars, Titan, is located to the West of East Tanner Lake but I failed to look for it to see if it survived the fire. Instead I continued on the Tanner Lake Trail climbing gradually for 0.6-miles to a former junction with a tie trail that has not been maintained since the fire.

The eastern side of the ridge fared better in the fire than the forest closer to the lakes.

Signs at the junction with the tie trail.

The tie trail used to be here.

I continued on the Tanner Lake Trail which gently contoured around the hillside for 1.5-miles to a junction with the Fehley Gulch Trail.

Second breakfast

The trail briefly left the fire scar altogether near the Fehley Gulch junction.

Looking back down at the Fehley Gulch Trail as it joins the Tanner Lake Trail.

Tanner Mountain from the trail near the junction.

A very short distance later I arrived at the Boundary Trail where I turned right.
Sign at the Boundary Trail junction.

I was now back in the fire scar and about to begin a steep 1100′ climb over the next mile to a ridge below Tanner Mountain.

Dark-eyed junco

Tanner Mountain again.

Scarlet gilia

One of two checker-mallow blossoms I spotted. The other was much nicer looking but it was downhill and I was too lazy to go down to get a good photo.

This trail was really steep at times.

Almost to the ridge.

The trail became pretty faint on the ridge.

Once I’d gained the ridge I set off cross-country toward Tanner Mountain eventually picking up a use trail which led to the 6305′ summit.

More steep climbing.

Looking back down over the use trail.

From right to left – Grayback Mountain, Lake Mountain, and Mount Elijah (with lots of other peaks).

The double humps of Red Buttes behind and left of Pyramid Peak with the outline of Mt. Shasta to the right of Pyramid Peak.

Preston Peak and El Capitan in the Siskiyou Wilderness (post).

Preston Peak and El Capitan

Bolan Mountain, our other stop for the day.

Bolan Mountain

East Tanner Lake in the shadow of Tanner Mountain.

A faint Mt. McLoughlin (post) in the distance on the right.

After a brief rest to enjoy the view I headed down to Thompson Ridge and located the Boundary Trail in the vegetation, after initially crossing right over it without noticing, and followed it downhill a half mile to Road 570.
The Boundary Trail dropping off Thompson Ridge.

Ferns along the Boundary Trail.

More signs of recent maintenance.

Old campsite near Road 570 and the boundary of the Red Buttes Wilderness.

This is/was the Boundary Trailhead but there isn’t much left post fire.

I turned right onto Road 570 and followed it 1.4-miles to Kings Saddle where I took another right onto Road 041. I spent a fair amount of time tossing rocks off of this road for the next 1.4-miles before arriving at the car.

Bolan Mountain from Road 570.

Pussy paws

Road 041 at Kings Saddle.

Pearly everlasting along Road 041.

Where things started getting ugly on Road 041.

It’s in the shadow but the runoff channel cut across the road here creating a decent sized divot.

Another rocky section of the road.

California sister at the trailhead.

My loop here came to 8.6-miles with 1700′ of elevation gain but the vast majority of it was all in the 1.3-miles from the Boundary Trail junction to the summit of Tanner Mountain.

It was a good thing Heather hadn’t tried to tough it out as she had gotten a bit worse while I was gone, and this was a tough one. We carefully drove back up to Kings Saddle then continued another 3.2-miles to Road 40 where we turned sharply downhill continuing 1.8-miles to the Bolan Lake Campground. This area was also part of the 2020 Slater Fire but unlike the Tanner Lake Trail I quickly discovered that the Bolan Lake Trail had not received any recent maintenance.

Heather again decided (smartly) to play it safe and stick to Sullivan’s shorter option here and do the 0.7-mile loop around Bolan Lake. I was going to attempt the 3.6-mile out-and-back to the former lookout site atop Bolan Mountain. The lookout was lost in the fire and “might” be rebuilt in the future. Our adventure began before we even got out of the car here though as the “trailhead” that was supposedly located near the end of the second campground loop was nowhere to be seen. The second loop was an eroded mess and we weren’t sure we were going to make it around. Fortunately we did and decided to drive back to the entrance of the campground and park along the shoulder.

The pointer is a trap!

We walked down the road to the second loop and I began looking for the Bolan Lake Trail which Sullivan said began on the North (uphill) side at the highest point of the loop. I walked up and down the road a couple of times looking for anything that looked like a trail but only saw a single rock atop a large downed tree that might have been intended to be a cairn. The map on the GPS unit showed the trail starting near the start of the loop by an outhouse but there was also no sign of a trail there. I finally decided to set off uphill cross-country hoping to pick up the tread along the hillside.
This looked like as clear a spot as any.

After only 100′ or so I came to trail tread.
Looking up the Bolan Lake Trail.

My guess is the rock on the log was where the trail used to begin but the log had been a bit too large to climb over.

It was just over a mile to a junction on a ridge crest where the trail turned right for half a mile to the service road up Bolan Mountain. This trail was everything I feared the loop around Tanner Mountain might be. The tread was faint, blowdown covered the trail, and at one point the tread was eroded to the point that side hilling for several feet above the former tread was necessary.
Faint tread was all that was left in most places.

The Bolan Lake Trail to the left.

Sometimes the tread just disappeared.

Lake Mountain, Grayback Mountain, Craggy Mountain, and Swan Mountain.

Momentary tread.

Just about 500′ below the ridge there was a large downed tree which required some side-hilling to drop below and then climb steeply back up to the trail.

I got back to the trail to find more debris covering it.

Final pitch to the ridge.

Bolan Mountain from the ridge.

The trail descended slightly on the far side of the ridge to the junction.

I assume the downed post and small pile of rocks marked the junction with the mile long Kings Saddle Trail.

The Bolan Lake Trail (I think) at the junction.

For the next half mile the tread would come and go so I relied on the GPS to stick as close to the trail as I could. The only issue was that the GPS labeled a rocky high point as Bolan Mountain so I briefly, and needlessly turned even more steeply uphill toward it before realizing there was no road here so it couldn’t be right.
I might be on trail.

I was sure I was on the trail here.

Mountain bluebird wondering what I was thinking.

Now I was just going uphill.

No idea where I was supposed to be at this point.

The rocky point that the GPS labeled as Bolan Mountain.

I got this far before realizing I was heading to the wrong spot.

At least from here I could see the road heading up to the former lookout site through the burned trees.

I headed cross-country to the road and followed it 0.2-miles to the foundation of the former lookout.
Not sure if the outhouse (above to the left) survived the fire or is new.

Stone steps to the former lookout site.

Preston Peak and El Capitan from the lookout site.

Bolan Lake from Bolan Mountain.

Tanner Mountain in the foreground.

Grayback Mountain from Bolan Mountain.

Red Buttes to the far left and Mt. Shasta through the haze.

As I was resting at the lookout site I considered my next course of action. I wasn’t overly excited about returning on the Bolan Lake Trail so I checked Sullivan’s map to see what other options I might have. He showed the access road traveling 1.3-miles down to Road 040 and from there it was 0.6-miles to Bolan Creek where he showed a short connector trail to the loop around Bolan Lake. That was only a tenth of a mile longer than returning the way I’d come so I decided on another road walk.

Bolan Lake from the service road.

Looking back toward Bolan Mountain.

Hoary comma

Gate along the service road.

Road 40 from the service road.

Road 40.

Mushrooms along Road 40.

The connector trail along Bolan Creek.

The trail around Bolan Lake.

The connector joined the trail at a footbridge over Bolan Creek which I crossed and continued around the lake counterclockwise.

>Thick vegetation along the lake shore.

Trail sign at the end of the second campground loop for the trail around the lake.

Pretty deep channel at the end of the loop.

I followed the road back to the first campground loop where I spotted Heather’s backpack and poles on a picnic table.

Bolan Mountain from Bolan Lake

My hike here came to 4.8 miles with a little over 850′ of elevation gain.

We returned to Grants Pass where we had a nice dinner at the Taprock Northwest Grill. Later, after checking in on the weather forecast for the next two days we decided to try doing both of our remaining featured hikes on Monday. With clouds and rain being called for it didn’t seem like a good time to summit Grayback Mountain so we would be doing Sullivan’s shorter option to the O’Brien Creek Shelter and that should give us plenty of time to make the drive to Babyfoot Lake and do the 2.4-mile option to the lake and back. If that didn’t work out we still had Tuesday morning to fit Babyfoot Lake in and finish our 100 featured hike goal (post). Happy Trails!

Flickr: Tanner and Bolan Lakes

Tags Bolan Lake, Bolan Lake Campground, Bolan Lake Trail, Bolan Mountain, Boundary Trail, East Tanner Lake, Grants Pass, hiking, Kings Saddle, Kings Saddle Trail, Oregon, Red Buttes Wilderness, Tannen Lakes, Tanner Lake, Tanner Lake Trail, Tanner Lakes, Tanner Mountain

Grants Pass Area Hiking Klamath/Siskiyou Mountains Oregon Trip report

Sturgis Fork and Mount Elijah – 10/07/2023

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date October 12, 2023
2 Comments on Sturgis Fork and Mount Elijah – 10/07/2023

For our final trip of 2023 we headed to Grants Pass to hopefully finish our quest to hike at least part of all 100 featured hikes in William L. Sullivan’s “100 Hikes/Travel Guide Southern Oregon & Northern California” edition 4.2 (post). We were down to six hikes which we were planning on doing over four days. The order of the hikes was a bit up in the air due to a forecasted shift in the weather in the middle of the four days from sunny and warm to rain.

Two of our planned hikes were located south of Applegate, OR off of Thompson Creek Road including the hike we had decided to begin the trip with to Grayback Mountain. The other hike, a combination of Sullivan’s Sturgis Fork and Mount Elijah hikes, we were planning on doing Monday in the rain. As we neared the turn to the O’Brien Lower Trailhead for Grayback Mountain we changed our minds and decided to swap the hikes. While both hikes involved viewpoints the hike from Sturgis Fork was longer, visited two peaks, and included a lake. So when we reached the end of pavement along Thompson Creek Road instead of taking sharp right onto Road 1005 we veered slightly right onto Road 1020 and followed it 7.5 miles to a fork with Road 600.

The Sturgis Trailhead is located 0.6-miles up Road 600 which was said to be a rough, rocky road suited more for 4wd vehicles. We opted to park at the fork and walk-up Road 600 instead of testing our luck.
Road 600 heading uphill.

We followed Road 600 uphill to the Sturgis Trailhead on the left just before crossing Sturgis Fork.

Crab spider on a fleabane.

The Sturgis Trailhead on the left.

The Sturgis Fork Trail begins at the trailhead and leads uphill 0.7-miles to the Boundary Trail #1207.

Trail map of the area.

For the hike Sullivan describes for Sturgis Fork we would turn right on the Boundary Trail and follow it approximately 1.7-miles to a viewpoint for a 4.8-mile (from the trailhead) out-and-back. He also mentions the possibility of combining the hike with several of his other featured hikes including Mount Elijah which was another featured hike we had yet to do. This combination would be somewhere between 12 and 13 miles with approximately 2500′ of cumulative elevation gain. We followed the Sturgis Fork Trail uphill through the forest to the Boundary Trail.

Nettle-leaf giant hyssop

The viewpoint we were headed to.

All that was left for signage at the Boundary Trail junction.

The Boundary Trail to the South toward Sucker Creek Gap (post).

We turned right onto the Boundary Trail which climbed gradually for 0.3-miles to another junction in a small meadow.

Coming from this direction all we noticed were a couple of signs on a tree and some pink flagging.

Trail signs for the Boundary Trail and Lake Mountain Trail #1206 to the Oregon Caves (post).

As long as the hike went as planned, we would be rejoining the Boundary Trail at this junction after having visited Mount Elijah. For now though we stuck to the Boundary Trail which soon entered a much larger meadow.

The trail became faint in the meadow, but the tread was clear enough that we were able to stick to it.
The trail can be seen in the lower right-hand corner.

Again the trail is in the lower right corner.

There was still a small amount of paintbrush in the meadow.

A clump of fireweed ahead that had gone to seed.

A small section of trees was located along this gully.

A little brushy here.

Ferns at the northern end of the meadows.

The double humps of the Red Buttes in the distance to the SE.

Preston Peak in the Siskiyou Wilderness (post) to the SW.

A little under a mile from the junction with Lake Mountain Trail we came to another junction at a pass.
Arriving at the pass.

This was the only signage that was visible at the junction.

The Boundary Trail continued NE along the ridge while somewhere (it wasn’t easily visible) the Elk Creek Trail dropped down from the ridge to a forest road on the northern side of the saddle and the Sparlin Tie Trail headed East on a traverse below Lake Mountain.
We could see tread heading East into the trees which was the Sparlin Tie Trail. The Elk Creek Trail wasn’t as obvious, but it dropped down to the right just a little way up the tread seen here.

Our plan was to take the Sparlin Tie Trail after visiting the viewpoint along the Boundary Trail so we continued climbing up the ridge.

Lake Mountain from the Boundary Trail.

Approximately 0.6-miles from the junction a short spur trail led to the rocky viewpoint.

There was a small geocache located at the viewpoint. Smoke from the still smoldering wildfires impacted the views a bit, Mt. Shasta is out there toward the right-hand side.

The outline of Mt. Shasta to the left of Red Buttes.

Preston Peak and other peaks in the Siskiyou Wilderness in the distance.

Closer look at the Siskiyou Wilderness peaks.

Grayback Mountain to the North. Mt. McLoughlin (post) is out there too but the haze made it really hard to see.

Mt. McLoughlin

After taking in the view we headed back to the saddle and continued straight onto the Sparlin Tie Trail.
The remains of a trail sign near the saddle.

The Sparlin Tie Trail straight ahead and the Elk Creek Trail heading off to the right.

Homemade? trail sign a short distance up the tie trail. (note Bigelow Lakes is spelled “Biglow”)

The advantage to taking the tie trail was two-fold. It both shortened the hike by 0.8-miles and it passed through the meadows above the Boundary Trail eliminating the need to make the 500′ climb that the Lake Mountain Trail would require. In Sullivan’s guidebook (edition 4.2) this trail is labeled as “unmaintained” but we found that it had indeed been maintained at some point in the not too distant past.

The tread was faint through the meadows but not any more difficult to follow than the Boundary Trail had been.

Cinquefoil

Coneflower and fireweed

Random sign along the trail.

Crossing through the final meadow.

Orange Sulphur butterfly

Just under a mile from the saddle we arrived at the Lake Mountain/Bigelow Lakes Trail #1214.
Arriving at the 1214 Trail.

We were now in the Oregon Caves National Monument and Preserve. We turned right onto this trail which provided views down to Bigelow Lakes as it descended to the meadows around the lakes.
There was actually more blowdown along this trail than there had been along the tie trail, but it was easily navigated.

Bigelow Lakes from the trail.

The trail eventually skirted the edge of the meadows where a use trail led 0.2-miles to the larger of the Bigelow Lakes.

The use trail to the lake.

Heather wasn’t feeling the best, so she skipped the use trail while I visited the lake shore.

While I was at the lake Heather was making friends with this tree frog.

After visiting the lake I returned to the 1214 Trail and continued downhill just over half a mile to a junction with an old roadbed where Heather was waiting for me. (We encountered the only other hikers we’d see all trip on the trails near the junction with the use trail.)
The old roadbed.

Trail sign at the roadbed.

We turned left on the roadbed and followed it nearly a mile to the Lake Mountain Trail.

This bunch of blowdown was just before the junction.

There were several of these stands along the Lake Mountain Trail, all of which were blank.

We turned left on the Lake Mountain Trail and began a 1.3-mile climb along a ridge to Mount Elijah.

The lower portion of the trail passed through a nice forest.

The trail passed below the 6294′ Mount Elijah (for some reason both peaks along the ridge are named Mount Elijah on some maps) before gaining the ridge crest and climbing to the higher Mount Elijah summit at 6381′.

The taller Mount Elijah.

Lake Mountain from Mount Elijah.

Preston Peak and a cloud from Mount Elijah. Wildfire smoke was a little more of an issue now.

Red Buttes in the distance.

The other Mount Elijah from Mount Elijah.

Phlox

We shared the summit with this little frog.

The trail passed directly over the summit then descended 0.3-miles to a junction with the Lake Mountain/Bigelow Lakes Trail #1214 where we turned right sticking to the Lake Mountain Trail #1206 and descending nearly a mile via switchbacks to the Boundary Trail.

The junction with the 1214 Trail. Another with missing signage.

This tree required a detour downhill to get around.

Looking down at the Lake Mountain Trail as it switchbacked downhill.

The trail was a bit brushy in spots.

Bigelow’s sneezeweed

Pink flagging in the little meadow where the trail met the Boundary Trail.

The Lake Mountain Trail junction with the Boundary Trail.

We turned right onto the Boundary Trail following it back 0.3-miles to the Sturgis Fork Trail then followed it back to the trailhead and made the road walk down to our car.
We packed out yet another mylar balloon (GRRRR).

Junction with the Sturgis Fork Trail on the left.

Hoary comma

We were parked just to the right along the road below the hill.

My GPS showed 12.5-miles with approximately 2500′ of cumulative elevation gain.

It was a beautiful day but also a tough day physically, especially with Heather not feeling well. We were glad however that we’d decided to do this hike on the clearer day. We drove back to Grants Pass and checked into our room for the next three nights. Two of the six remaining hikes were done with two more slated for the following day. We were getting real close to finishing but Heather’s health was a bit of a concern. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Sturgis Fork and Mount Elijah

Tags Bigelow Lakes, Boundary Trail, Elk Creek Trail, Grayback Mountain, hiking, Lake Mountain, Lake Mountain Trail, Lake Mountain/Bigelow Lakes Trail, Mount Elijah, Oregon, Oregon Caves National Monument, Oregon Caves National Monument and Preserve, Sparlin Tie Trail, Sturgis Fork, Sturgis Fork Trail, Sturgis Trailhead

Grants Pass Area Hiking Oregon Trip report

Rogue River Trail Marial to Paradise Lodge – 06/24/23

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date June 27, 2023
4 Comments on Rogue River Trail Marial to Paradise Lodge – 06/24/23

At the beginning of May we spent a week in Grants Pass completing several of Sullivan’s featured hikes. Our attempt to hike a section of the Rogue River Trail out of Marial during that trip ended with us being turned back by lingering snow on the BLM roads to the trailhead (post). We rescheduled that hike for the end of June which was now upon us. At just over four hours this was too long a drive for a day hike so we’d made reservations in Roseburg for that night. We followed the BLM’s driving directions from Glendale to the Rogue River Ranch National Historic Site and then continued on BLM Road 32-9-14.2 (Mule Creek-Marial Road on Google Maps) for another mile. Just past a large parking area on the left for the Marial Lodge is where Sullivan suggest parking, but a sign at the entrance stated it was for overnight guests of the lodge only. The actual trailhead for the Rogue River Trail is at the end of the road, another half mile away so we continued on what quickly became a much rougher road. Less than a tenth of a mile was enough for us and we parked across from the Mule Creek Fireman Station in a small two car parking area.

From the fireman station we walked the road to the official trailhead.
There were trail pointers at spur roads to ensure we stayed on the right one.

The trailhead near Marial. I couldn’t find any directions online for this trailhead which is why we used a combination of the BLM’s directions to the ranch and Sullivan’s to the trailhead.

We followed trail signs downhill and into the Wild Rogue Wilderness.

Shortly after entering the wilderness the trail arrived at Rogue River.

The trail passed along the rocky cliffs above Mule Creek Canyon. We had hoped to see some rafters navigating this narrow canyon, including the Coffee Pot rapids, but there weren’t any around.

Dragonfly

A peak into Mule Creek Canyon.

There weren’t many flowers left blooming but we did see a lot of elegant brodiaea.

Elegant brodiaea

After following the trail for 0.7 miles we arrived at Inspiration Point across from Stair Creek Falls.

Mule Creek Canyon from Inspiration Point.

We spent a good deal of time admiring the falls. This was our fifth hike along the Rogue River and of those hikes this was one of our favorite views.

We continued on passing above a much calmer river, at least for a moment.

Skipper

Common wood-nymph

Paintbrush

Calmer waters.

Madrone

Salal

The trail alternated between rocky cliffs and brushy vegetation. Poison oak was common among the plants along the trail but there was enough room to pass through without coming into contact.
Some poison oak on the right.

Another madrone at the start of more brush. This area was full of small birds that turned out to be bushtits.

It took a bit to get one of the bushtits out in the open and in the camera frame.

Near the 2-mile mark we got our first view of the boulders at Blossom Bar, the trickiest rapid along the Rogue River.

Blossom Bar Rapid

Near Blossom Bar the trail crosses Burns and Blossom Creeks in quick succession.
Footbridge over Burns Creek.

Footbridge over Blossom Creek.

Blossom Creek

After crossing the creeks the trail climbed above the river where a spur trail to the left led downhill to Gleason Bar.
Trail crossing Blossom Bar.

Rogue River leaving Blossom Bar.

Trail to Gleason Bar on the left.

We detoured down to Gleason Bar where we were greeted by a lizard.

Variable-leaf collomia

We returned to the trail and continued West making our way to another footbridge, this one crossing Paradise Creek.
Bear box near Gleason Bar. We didn’t see any bears on our hike but we did have a bear cub run in front of our car on the drive to the trailhead.

On the far side of the footbridge we detoured down to the creek to get a view of the small waterfall named Devils Stairs.

We followed a path along Paradise Bar paralleling the Rogue River Trail.
Paradise Bar

After a tenth of a mile the Paradise Bar airstrip came into view. Sullivan had mentioned detouring left at the airstrip 200 yards to visit the Paradise Lodge, but a sign here stated that the lodge and property were only open to overnight guests with reservations.

Not sure if this is a recent change, a result of COVID or if we misinterpreted the sign, but we veered right to get back onto the Rogue River Trail.
The trail skirted the grassy airstrip before entering the forest.

Paradise Lodge was the turn around point for Sullivan’s featured hike, but we decided to continue on until we got one more view of the river.
Jackson Creek. Most if not all of the creeks had signs letting us know their names.

Some of the buildings related to Paradise Lodge.

Across the river was another lodge, the Half Moon Bar Lodge.

Rafters and kayakers passing through Half Moon Riffle.

One of Jerry’s Rogue Jets out of Gold Beach. These boats turn around at Blossom Bar Rapids.

We turned around above Half Moon Bar, approximately 4 miles from the official trailhead.

We stuck to the Rogue River Trail on the way back, keeping our eyes out for snakes (again no rattlesnakes despite this being a prime area for them) and lizards.
Alligator lizard

Wine-cup clarkia

A few fluffy clouds moving in.

Stair Creek Falls on the way back.

Mule Creek Canyon

Our hike came in at 9.8 miles with only 250′ of elevation gain, but we felt the heat (mid to upper 80’s) which made the hike feel quite a bit harder than it looked on paper.

We had left open the possibility of stopping at the Rogue River Ranch on our way to Roseburg but by the time we had gotten changed at the car all we wanted to do was get to our motel and then find a Dairy Queen for some ice cream so that’s what we did. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Rogue River West

Grants Pass Area Hiking Oregon Trip report

Eight Dollar Mountain and Illinois River Beaches – 05/04/2023

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date May 11, 2023
1 Comment on Eight Dollar Mountain and Illinois River Beaches – 05/04/2023

For our fourth day of hikes in the Grants Pass area we had chosen a series of short hikes along the Illinois River which would allow us to check off two more featured hikes (post). Going in we knew that our hikes wouldn’t exactly match Sullivan’s description in the featured hikes because of a closure of the Swinging Bridge which is part of the Fall Creek Trail. Repairs need to be made to fix a hole in the bridge so it is currently under a closure order until 10/31/23 (may be lifted sooner). Several of the hikes we had planned were also in the path of the 2018 Klondike Fire so we weren’t sure what condition the trails might be in.

Our first stop at the Eight Dollar Mountain Botanical Area was not in the fire scar.

From the parking area we crossed 8 Dollar Road and hiked 0.1-miles to a small, two parking spot, ADA Trailhead where a 0.2-mile boardwalk led to a Fen with California darlingtonia.

Wedgeleaf violets

Showy phlox

Oregon rockcress

Many of the flowers were just getting started but there were a few darlingtonia blooming in the fen. This was our second stop this year that involved the Cobra lilies, having visited the Darlingtonia Wayside near Florence in April (post).
Camas and buttercups

Shooting star

Western azalea

The fen at the end of the boardwalk.

A darlingtonia blossom.

The trailhead where we parked also acts as the trailhead for the Jeffrey Pine Loop Trail, so after returning from the boardwalk we started down this trail.

Our plan for this trail was to follow it NW for 1.2-miles to the Little Falls Trail Loop. The Jeffery Pine Trail drops to the Illinois River then follows the route of a former flume to the Little Falls Loop Trail. We were a little apprehensive knowing that we’d be hiking along the Illinois River once again. Our only previous hike along the river was a bit of a nightmare (post). We had stumbled into some sort of tick convention and spent nearly the entire hike brushing the little blood suckers off our clothing. Add in a good amount of poison oak crowding the trail and let’s just say this wasn’t one of our best experiences. That being said the Illinois River itself is beautiful, so we were willing to give it another chance. The scenery was nice and there were a number of wildflowers along the trail as we headed down toward the river.
We stayed right at this junction just below the trailhead. There is a 0.5-mile loop option which we planned on skipping.

Death camas

Mariposa lily

Yellow leaf iris

Coast flat stem onion

Heather picked up a tick passing through the grass on the hillside.

We turned right at a sign for the Little Falls Trail Loop.

Silky balsamroot

The trail crossed an old roadbed at the half mile mark which gave us a chance to get down to the river without having to dodge poison oak.

The trail jogged away from the river at the road, presumably to reach the old flume. We started up the hill but the trail condition got a little rougher here and poison oak began crowding the trail to the point where we became uncomfortable. We had already had it brushing against our pant legs, but it was now tall enough that our hands were at risk and in order to avoid it we would need to move off trail into the brush on the opposite side. Having already seen a tick we didn’t really want to go through any vegetation.
The trail as we started up the hillside.

We quickly devised a Plan B which was to follow the old roadbed up to 8 Dollar Road (Forest Road 4201) and walk that road to the Little Falls Trailhead where we could attempt the 0.9-mile Little Falls Loop.
Checker lily

Silky balsamroot and buttercups

Paintbrush and silky balsamroot with the Illinois River below.

Eight Dollar Mountain from the roadbed.

We saw a lot of these getting ready to bloom but none actually blooming. Really curious as to what they are.

The roadbed bent back toward the trailhead where we’d parked and we wound up just a tenth of a mile away from our car but instead of just walking back to it and driving to the Little Falls Trailhead we turned left and road walked the mile.

As road walks go this one was fine, and we passed another bunch of darlingtonia along the way.
Western azalea

A closer look at a darlingtonia blossom.

At the trailhead we walked through the small campground to the signed Little Falls Trail Loop.

At a 4-way junction we turned right briefly following the flume before turning downhill toward the river.

Serpentine arnica

California gromwell

Wedgeleaf violet

Spotted towhee

Paintbrush and violets

Narrowleaf blue-eyed Mary

Deltoid balsamroot

Illinois River

Field chickweed

Spreading phlox

We took use paths down to the rocks near Little Falls to explore along the river a bit.

Mallard drakes

After exploring the rocks we continued on the loop trail.
Pool above the falls.

Wildflowers above the trail.

Interesting colors on this iris.

Pine violets

The trail eventually veered uphill away from the river to complete the loop.

After completing the loop we returned to FR 4201 and walked back to our car at the Eight Dollar Mountain Trailhead and headed for our next stop, the Kerby Flat Trailhead.

The view from the trailhead was great and wound up being the best part of our attempted hike here.
Pearsoll Peak and Gold Basin Butte in the Kalmiopsis Wilderness.

The trail begins at the railed viewpoint and heads downhill.

The Illinois River below.

Lupine

Plectritis

At first the trail followed what may have been a fire road and was nice and wide but as it began to follow a ridge downhill it quickly became crowded by poison oak.

We managed to find a way around the first bad section but then we were stymied. With no desire to come in contact with poison oak we turned back after just a third of a mile and headed back to the car.
This section was great.

Swallowtail

This stop was supposed to have been a 4.3-mile lollipop loop visiting both Kerby and Star Flats, but it wound up being a 0.6-mile out-and-back. The good news was we had three other stops that were part of Sullivan’s featured Illinois River Beaches hike. The second stop was for Snailback Beach, just a 1.1-mile drive from the Kerby Flat Trailhead. We parked in a small pullout on the left side of the road at a small signboard.

Here a half mile trail follows an old roadbed down to Snailback Beach. This hike started encouragingly as the wide roadbed helped keep the poison oak to the sides.

Female black-headed grosbeak

Balsamroot

Paintbrush next to some yet-to-bloom lupine.

The Illinois River below.

Our optimism about reaching the beach here took a hit when we arrived at Snailback Creek. The creek was flowing pretty good and would have required fording in calf deep water to continue. Normally that wouldn’t stop us, but it also looked like the trail on the far side was in need of maintenance which made us question if we would be able to reach the beach even if we did ford the creek. At the time the chance of reaching the beach wasn’t worth the assuredly wet feet that would result from the ford, so we once again turned back after just a third of a mile.

Snailback Creek

We hiked back up to the car and drove another 1.6-miles west on Illinois River Road to the signed Horn Bend Trailhead.
The “trail” is immediately to the left of the sign here. You can make out some of it further back through the bushes.

This trail supposedly follows the road for 0.4-miles before turning downhill on a cat road that leads to the beach. The 2018 fire (this area also burned in 2002) damage was most evident on what was left of this trail. Heather decided not to even bother opting to wait at the car while I attempted to make the 0.7-mile hike down to the river.
After crashing through the initial brush the trail cleared for a moment.

The clear trail didn’t last long.

Fawn lilies

The road sign in the distance was easier to see than the trail here.

Poison oak and downed trees forced me off the tread and after just 0.2-miles I’d lost any sign of it.

I’d also picked up one tick as I wandered through the brush so enough was enough and I found a break in the poison oak where I could hop onto the road and followed the shoulder back to Heather and the car.

We had one stop left from the featured hike description, the Swinging Bridge which we knew was closed. While the bridge was closed Forest Road 087 was not and it led down to the river past the bridge so we had decided to road walk down and at least see the bridge. From the Horn Bend Trailhead we drove another 4.2-miles and parked at a pullout at Road 087.

We hiked down the gravel road a half mile, passing the Fall Creek Trailhead along the way, to the bridge.

Dogwood blossoms

The Fall Creek Trailhead to the left.

The car bridge across the Illinois River to McCaleb Ranch. Technically we could have continued down to that bridge and crossed on it then turned left onto the Fall Creek Trail for a half mile to Illinois River Falls, but the closure order posted at the Fall Creek Trailhead was unclear. It stated that it was illegal to be “on a trail” not just on the suspension bridge itself. The Forest Service webpage seems to indicate that it is only the bridge that is closed until repaired. Either way we were just happy to see the bridge as that was the turnaround in Sullivan’s description.

Assuming these are some of the needed repairs.

We climbed back up to our car and started back toward Highway 199. At some point earlier between trailheads I had come up with an idea to try an alternate way to reach Star and Kerby Flats. Sullivan’s map showed a roadbed off of Illinois River Road 0.7-miles east of the Kerby Flat Trailhead that led past Star Flat to a ford of Deer Creek. I remembered seeing the road on the way to the Kerby Flat Trailhead so we decided to try parking on the shoulder and seeing if the road was a better option. When we arrived there was another vehicle parked there which gave us some hope.
The start of the road which the map lists as Forest Road 011.

As we started down this dirt road we passed the group from the other vehicle on their way back. They were locals who apparently hike this road regularly. They had been to the ford and said that the flowers were good and they also mentioned that there was a car in Deer Creek at the ford. They said it hadn’t been there the week before but that there had been a different car there in the past that had finally washed away. Now a new one had taken its place. We thanked them for the information and continued downhill.

Monkeyflower

Oregon rockcress and buttercups

Balsamroot and Oregon rockcress

Alpine? pennycress. There was a lot of this along the road, the first we’d seen of it this trip.

Star Flat. It was obvious from the tire marks which extended into the vegetation in places that yahoos like to come here and tear things up (sigh).

Duskywing

There was a fence around the bog at Star Flat which hosts more California darlingtonia.

Plectritis

Iris

Darlingtonia

Deer Creek

Showy phlox and paintbrush

Just over a mile on the road we passed the rocky trail that we would have taken back up to the Kerby Flat Trailhead had we made it down from there.

Checker lily

Just before the ford we passed an old car with kids toys on it. Not pictured is the tower of Coors Light cans that was just off to the left.

Just as advertised there was indeed a car abandoned in the ford.

We assume it was a stolen vehicle (or someone was really drunk/high). From the amount of garbage and fire pits in the area it was clear that people drive down here to party and do stupid stuff. Truly unfortunate because the beach at the confluence of Deer Creek and the Illinois River could have been really nice but the general feeling all the trash gave off made it uncomfortable.

We continued past the beach following the trail toward Kerby Flat.

Hairy pink

Plectritis along the trail.

Illinois River

After 0.2-miles the trail ahead appeared to begin to get overgrown and we’d had enough of that for the day so we declared victory and turned around.

We returned the way we’d come half expecting to encounter some ne’er-do-wells heading down to party. Thankfully that didn’t happen although we did come across a suspicious group of butterflies.

Star flower

Shooting stars along the creek leading to the bog in Star Flat.

Fawn lily

It started to sprinkle as we neared the car which was the opposite of how the weather had been all week. Monday through Wednesday it had been cloudy in the morning and cleared up in the afternoon but today the clouds moved in later.

We were back to the car a little before 2pm but it had felt like a much longer day. We’d managed to get 10.2-miles of hiking and road walking in over the course of our six stops. The cumulative elevation gain was just over 1300′ so it was a pretty solid day of hiking even though none of the stops went as originally planned. Sometimes you just have to get creative, and we seem to be getting more and more practice at that.

Back in Grants Pass we picked up dinner from the Tacos Don Goyo food truck on K Street (excellent food) and started packing up for our drive home the next day. We decided not to try and replace the Rogue River hike that we didn’t do on Wednesday (post) opting instead to get home to Merry and Pippin. This was the first time we’d been away from them since adopting the kittens in October and we missed the little guys. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Eight Dollar Mountain and Illinois River Beaches

Tags California darlingtonia, Deer Creek, Eight Dollar Mountain, Eight Dollar Mountain Botanical Area, Fall Creek Trailhead, Grants Pass. Tacos Don Goyo, hiking, Horn Bend Trailhead, illinois river, Jeffery Pine Loop Trail, Kerby Flat Trailhead, Little Falls Trail Loop, Little Illinois River Falls, Oregon, Snailback Creek, Star Flat, Swinging Bridge

Grants Pass Area Hiking Oregon Trip report

Dollar Mountain, Limpy Creek, and Waters Creek – 05/03/2023

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date May 10, 2023
3 Comments on Dollar Mountain, Limpy Creek, and Waters Creek – 05/03/2023

When I’d first planned our vacation to Grants Pass the plan had included seven of Sullivan’s featured hikes, six of which we needed to check off our to-do list, and one to tie up loose ends (post). One of those planned hikes had been Babyfoot Lake but with a trailhead elevation of 4340′ that hike had been postponed due to this years above average snowpack. Before leaving I had checked all our hikes including using a couple of snow-depth maps. At the time they showed 10-20 inches of snow at Babyfoot Lake but nothing for any of our other planned hikes including along the driving route to Marial which was our planned destination for day three. I had been concerned because the BLM roads to the Lower Rogue River-Mule Creek Trailhead spends a fair amount of time between 3400 and 3800′ in elevation before dropping to the trailhead at an elevation under 500′. There was no snow showing up online and neither the BLM nor Forest Service websites mentioned impassable roads. Sullivan lists this hike as open April to December but that is “normal” and this year’s snowpack is not that.

We started Wednesday morning by attempting the roughly 70-mile, nearly 2:30 hour drive. We managed to get within 17 miles of the trailhead before encountering large snow drifts still covering the roads, primarily on the North facing slopes. With no way to reach the trailhead (we couldn’t have even hiked the trail from Grave Creek due to a washout at trail mile 21) we pivoted to plan B. Plan B was to do some or all of the hikes that we’d planned for Friday before driving home. So after a little over 4 hours of driving we wound up at the Dollar Mountain Trailhead less than 2 miles from where we’d started at our cabin.

This was an odd little hike as the trail had no signage apart from the trailhead sign and it basically went straight uphill. There were some narrower trails off what appeared to be the main trail which may have been gentler switchbacks, but they just as easily could have been use trails leading to the surrounding neighborhoods or to nowhere in particular. We opted to go straight up on the wider rutted path.
Larkspur along the trail.

A pollinator in a Tolmie’s mariposa lily.

Shooting star

Grants Pass below Dollar Mountain.

Hooker’s Indian pink

Silver crown

Naked broomrape

Too cloudy for a good view.

Lupine

Scarlet fritillary

Sullivan had it as 1.2 miles from the trailhead to the summit but going straight up got us to the cell towers on top in exactly 1 mile (regardless of the route the climb is over 750′ of elevation gain).

View from the summit.

The view from the summit isn’t as good as those just below. From the summit we had the choice of heading back the way we’d come or following a rough roadbed down and around to Crescent Street 0.2 miles NW of the trailhead. We opted for the loop option and headed down the road.
We stuck to the road ignoring any side paths like this one since we had no idea where they might lead.

There were dozens of California groundcones along the roadbed.

California groundcones

Approaching Crescent Street.

It was a mile and a half from the summit to Crescent Street which we followed back to the car. From there we made the 16-mile drive to the Limpy Botanical Interpretive Loop Trailhead

Here we planned to do a mile long loop. We started clockwise from the trailhead signboard following Sullivan’s directions to stay left at all junctions.

Monkeyflower

Dwarf ceanothus

Paintbrush

Camas and shooting stars

Siskiyou fritillary

We got into a little trouble when we came to what we thought was another trail junction with a path leading to the right to a bench.

Since the directions we were following said to stay left at all junctions we stayed left following an increasingly rocky path uphill. We wound up just below a roadbed when the “trail” completely petered out. We headed back down to the trail with the bench and tried that one which turned out to be the correct route. This path led us across a pair of boardwalks then to a scenic little waterfall.
Passing the bench.

Trillium

Fairy slippers

Boardwalk #1

Second boardwalk

Waterfall on Limpy Creek.

Beyond the falls the trail crossed Limpy Creek then began to descend to another nice little creek.

Limpy Creek

Arriving at the second creek.

Unnamed creek

Mushrooms

The path turned along the unnamed creek and recrossed Limpy Creek before arriving back at the trailhead.
Final crossing of Limpy Creek.

With our wrong turn we managed to turn the 1-mile loop into a 1.3-mile hike and nearly doubled the 120′ of elevation gain that it should have been. From Limpy Creek we headed for our final stop of the day at the nearby Waters Creek Interpretive Trailhead. (The trailheads are just over 2.5 miles apart as the crow flies but the drive between them is close to 15 miles.)

This was another interpretive trail offering two loops, a 1-mile barrier free option or a nearly 3-mile longer, hiker only, loop. Both loops begin by following Waters Creek for a tenth of a mile then crossing it and passing by a grassy meadow.

Candyflower

Waters Creek

A phacelia

At the end of the meadow when the trail enters the forest it splits. We stayed left at all junctions again on this loop.
The start/end of the loops with the bridge being our return route.

Staying left.

This was the barrier free loop splitting off and heading back across an unnamed creek.

Sign announcing the hiker only extended loop.

Snail

The first vanilla leaf we’ve seen blooming this year.

There were a bunch of fawn lilies blooming along this trail.

One of several little footbridges across side streams.

Trillium

Bench where the trail turned to head back on the opposite side of the unnamed creek.

The view from the bench.

The trail climbed above the creek on the way back before descending via switchback to rejoin the barrier free loop.
Houndstongue

The barrier free trail below in the trees.

Back on the barrier free trail.

Biscuitroot and larkspur

Giant white wakerobin

The Sun was starting to shine a bit as we passed back by the meadow which brought out some butterflies and lots of lizards.

Our three hikes of the day added up to 7 miles and 1480′ of elevation gain. (2.8mi & 830′, 1.3mi & 250′, and 2.96mi & 400′ respectively.)

Despite the rocky start it had turned out to be a pleasant enough day and we were still back to our cabin around 3pm which gave us time to clean up and head to the Bohemian Bar & Bistro for an excellent dinner. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Dollar Mountain, Limpy Botanical Loop, and Waters Creek

Tags Bohemian Bar & Bistro, Dollar Mountain, Grants Pass, hiking, Limpy Botanical Interpretive Loop. Waters Creek Interpretive Trail, Limpy Creek, Marial, Oregon, Waters Creek, wildflowers

Grants Pass Area Hiking Medford/Ashland Area Oregon Trip report

Cathedral Hills and Sterling Mine Ditch Tunnel – 05/02/2023

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date May 9, 2023
3 Comments on Cathedral Hills and Sterling Mine Ditch Tunnel – 05/02/2023

The second day of our Grants Pass vacation had the highest chance of rain showers with a forecast of 40% chance. We had a pair of hikes planned for the day. The first was a tour of the Cathedral Hills trails system just South of Grants Pass.

We made the roughly 10-minute drive from our cabin in Grants Pass to the Espey Trailhead arriving just before 7am.

We had seen one of the two wildflower species that were on our bucket list for this trip the day before. Red larkspur and been blooming in good numbers along the Rogue River Trail (post) and today we were hoping to check of the other, Indian Warrior.
The area is home to a good number of wildflowers that bloom throughout Spring and Summer.

Sullivan’s featured hike here is one of four short hikes that make up hike #83 – Grants Pass Nature Trails (“100 Hikes/Travel Guide Southern Oregon & Norther California” edition 4.2). He describes the 3.4-mile Outback Loop. We were hoping to add more of the trails to our hike and decided on modifying the featured hike by adding on the Skycrest Loop and Ponderosa Pine Trail.

As was the case on our hike the day before we spotted our bucket list flower at the trailhead.
There are a couple of the red Indian warrior behind and to the right of the trail marker.

Indian warrior lousewort

We started the Outback Loop in a counter-clockwise direction climbing 1.1-miles to a junction at a saddle. The Indian warrior was blooming in mass along with many other wildflowers.
Scarlet fritillary along with poison oak. There was a lot of poison oak in the area but the trails were wide enough to keep users away from it.

A blue-eyed Mary

Shooting star

Indian warrior

Larkspur

Cryptantha, shooting stars, and plectritis

Plectritis

Pacific houndstongue

A picnic table at the junction with the Hogback Trail.

Most of the junctions had markers.

Giant white wakerobin

Blue dicks behind more poison oak.

Paintbrush

Tolmie’s mariposa lily

At the saddle we turned right onto the Timber Riders Trail then veered right after approximately a tenth of a mile following pointers for the Skycrest Loop.

Henderson’s fawn lily

Pointer for the Skycrest Loop.

We hiked the Skycrest Loop counterclockwise. There were a few different flowers along the loop.
The start of the loop.

Skullcap (possibly Danny’s)

Hooker’s Indian pink

A cloudy view from the Skycrest Loop.

Ragwort

Indian warrior beneath white-leaf manzanita.

Last of the gold stars.

A few yellow Indian warriors.

California groundcone

When we got back to the saddle and junction with the Outback Loop we got confused and wound up sticking to the Timber Riders Trail which was the furthest to the right.
Even though it didn’t look familiar we both thought we’d come from the trail to the left earlier when in fact that was the continuation of the Outback Loop.

We followed the Timber Riders Trail for 0.9-miles thinking we were on the Outback Loop then we came to a junction with said loop and realized our mistake (after looking at the map). It had started raining at some point along this stretch and as a bonus a thunderstorm was heading our way.

Rain clouds in the sky.

Trail marker along the Outback Loop.

We turned right back onto the Outback Loop and picked up our pace a bit. We did decide to stick with the plan of detouring onto the Ponderosa Pine Trail in hopes of seeing a 117′ tall knobcone pine that is registered as the largest in the U.S. We turned right onto the Ponderosa Pine Trail but a combination of heavy rain, increasingly close lightning, and no signage for the tree caused us to miss it entirely.
Turning onto the Ponderosa Pine Trail

Iris

Ponderosa Pine Trail

Back onto the Outback Loop.

Once we’d turned right onto the Outback Loop it was just over three quarters of a mile back to the Espey Trailhead. We were pretty well drenched by this point (we hadn’t put our rain gear on, just our pack covers) and hustled our way back to the car.
Quite a bit more water on the trail as we finished up.

In the end our hike here came to 5.4 miles with about 450′ of cumulative elevation gain.

We decided to retreat back to our cabin and wait out the weather. We put our wet clothes in the dryer and relaxed for a bit until things began to clear up. A little after 11:30 that happened, and we headed back out with dry clothing and shoes. For our second hike of the day we were tying up a bit of a loose end on a featured hike that we’d already checked off as done, the Sterling Ditch Tunnel. In June 2017 we had done an 11.8-mile loop starting from the Deming Gulch Trailhead. (post) We had counted that toward the featured hike, but it was actually part of the “Other Options” for the entry. In most cases the other options include part of the main hike and so we count those but, in this case, none of that previous loop was part of the 4.8-mile loop that is featured.

The featured loop Sullivan describes begins at the Tunnel Ridge Trailhead, passes by the Sterling Mine Ditch Tunnel, and ends with a 0.6-mile road walk between the Bear Gulch and Tunnel Ridge Trailheads. When road walks are involved, Sullivan tends to end the hike with them, but we prefer to start with the less exciting road walk so we opted to start at the Bear Gulch Trailhead instead. (There is less parking available at Bear Gulch so on busier days parking here might not be an option.)

The road walk was pleasant as road walks go and we soon found ourselves at the Tunnel Ridge Trailhead.
View from the Bear Gulch Trailhead of Little Applegate Road.

The Little Applegate River

The trail climbed gradually for a mile gaining a little over 500′ to a junction on a saddle.

Scarlet fritillary

Houdnstongue and a pacific waterleaf (white flower under a big leaf to the left of the houndstongue).

A snowy Wagner Butte (post).

Based on the trees it looked like the thunderstorm provided some fresh snow at higher elevations.

Couldn’t really get a good picture but this might be a bushtit.

There were a couple of nice benches along the trails here.

Some of the view from the bench.

Manzanita

Lupine

There is a hummingbird in the center on a branch.

At the saddle a faint trail continued straight ahead toward the Little Applegate Trailhead. It didn’t appear to get much use.

Trail sign at the junction.

We followed the pointer for Bear Gulch and quickly found ourselves at the tunnel. Built in 1877 the tunnel is part of a 26-mile long ditch used to divert water from the Little Applegate River to the Sterling Gold Mine.

I had to get a closer look.

I didn’t go all the way through so as not to disturb this napping bat.

From the tunnel the trail follows the ditch and sometimes uses it as it traverses the hillside toward Bear Gulch.

Fiddleneck along the trail.

Another bench

Emerging from the ditch.

Scarlet fritillaries lining the trail.

Paintbrush

Balsamroot

Tolmie’s mariposa lily

An impressively large madrone.

Henderson’s fawn lilies

More fresh snow on a ridge.

An upside-down warbler (upper right of the tree).

Shooting stars

We turned left at a sign for the Bear Gulch Trailhead and followed this path a mile downhill back to our car. This trail seemed a bit steeper than the one leading up from the Tunnel Ridge Trailhead so whichever you start at it seems best to do the loop counterclockwise.

Woolly-pod milkvetch

A fritillary, just not sure which one.

It was nice to start seeing some butterflies out and about.

Another butterfly. It blends pretty well with the leaves.

White-breasted nuthatch

There was a decent amount of water running through parts of Bear Gulch as we neared the trailhead.

This loop came in just under five miles with 550′ of cumulative elevation gain giving us a total of 10.3 miles and 1000′ for the day.

After the morning drenching and surprise thunderstorm the day turned out really nice with partly sunny skies and some of the warmest temperatures that we’d have all week. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Cathedral Hills and Sterling Ditch Tunnel

Tags Bear Gulch Trailhead, Cathedral Hills, Espey Trailhead, Grants Pass, hiking, Indian warrior, Oregon, Outback Loop, Ponderosa Pine Trail, Skycrest Loop, Sterling Mine Ditch, Sterling Mine Ditch Trail, Sterling MIne Ditch Tunnel, Timber Riders Trail, Tunnel Ridge Trailhead

Grants Pass Area Hiking Oregon Trip report

Rogue River Trail from Grave Creek – 05/01/2023

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date May 8, 2023
2 Comments on Rogue River Trail from Grave Creek – 05/01/2023

For our first week of vacation this year we planned a trip to Grants Pass to continue working toward our goal of finishing all 100 featured hikes in William L. Sullivan’s “100 Hikes/Travel Guide Southern Oregon & Northern California” edition 4.2. (post)

On the way down to Grants Pass we kicked off our week of hikes with a portion of the Rogue River Trail starting at the Grave Creek Boat Ramp.

Sullivan includes three hike options for his Rogue River East featured hike: a 4.2-mile out-and-back to Rainie Falls on the southern side of the Rogue, a 7-mile out-and-back to the Whiskey Creek Cabin on the Rogue River Trail, and a 23.2-mile one way option on the Rogue River Trail to Marial. The Rainie Falls hike was out due to the trail being damaged in the 2022 Rum Creek fire and the longer option wasn’t viable either for various reasons including a slide that currently has the trail closed roughly a mile upstream from Marial. That left the Whiskey Creek Cabin as our goal with an option to extend the hike if we felt like it.

Going into the trip there were two types of wildflowers that we hadn’t yet seen in bloom that we were hoping to find. One was red larkspur which I’d learned grew along the Rogue River Trail. As it turned out this was an easy one. When we climbed from the boat ramp to a set of signboards along the trail we immediately spotted some of the red larkspur blooming below the signs.

Red larkspur with blue dicks in the background.

Wildflowers are running a few weeks behind this year but they were putting on a good display as we set off on the trail.

Lupine

Red larkspur, madia, blue dicks, and tomcat clover along the trail.

Blue dicks

Tolmie’s mariposa lily and some madia.

Larkspur and a red larkspur

Plectritis

Monkeyflower

Serpentine phacelia

Naked broomrape

Camas with monkeyflower and plectritis

Fiddleneck

Saxifrage

A darker red larkspur

Some of the damage to the trail to Rainie Falls on the opposite side of the river.

Buttercups

Common whipplea

Silver crown

The wet rock here was sneaky slick.

We spotted a couple of pink larkspur.

Common mergansers

Common cryptantha

Starflower

Paintbrush

Del Norte iris

Coastal manroot

Canada geese

All of that was over the first mile plus. At the 1.2-mile mark we came to a sign marking the high water mark from a 1964 flood and just beyond were the remnants of the former Sanderson Bridge which was destroyed in a 1927 flood.

Looking back upriver from the high water sign.

Sanderson Bridge site

We continued on continuing to watch for additional wildlife and types of flowers.
Golden-crowned sparrow

Scarlet fritillary

Just over half a mile from the bridge site we came to a fork and a pointer for Rainie Falls. While we were aware that there was little to no view of the falls down this path we followed it down a tenth of a mile to the river.

White campion

The only water we could make out on the far side of the river.

While there was no view of Rainie Falls we did spot a few colorful birds along the bank.
Bullock’s oriole

Yellow warbler

Sandy beach along the Rogue River.

After watching the birds for a bit we hiked back up to the Rogue River Trail and continued on reaching China Gulch in another half mile.
Shooting star

California groundcone

Small-flowered woodland-star

Approaching China Gulch

From China Gulch it was approximately 1.2-miles to Whiskey Creek and the side trail to the cabin.
Vetch

Wallflower

Silverpuffs

This manzanita was particularly striking in person.

Hairy pink

Robin

Rafts at Whiskey Camp.

Whiskey Creek

Footbridge over Whiskey Creek

Sign at the spur trail to the cabin.

We turned up the spur trail and followed it uphill for 500′ to the cabin.

The initial cabin was built sometime around 1880 and improved/expanded over time to include a solar heated shower and insulated pantry. The cabin was lived in until the Bureau of Land Management purchased the deed in 1973.

After exploring the cabin and surrounding structures we decided to continue on the Rogue River Trail a bit further. We were trying to avoid getting to our accommodations in Grants Pass before check-in at 3pm so we decided to continue for another 15 to 20 minutes before heading back. We wound up hiking an additional 0.4-miles to Big Slide Camp.

Del Norte irises

Big Slide Camp to the left.

Outhouse at Big Slide Camp.

Common mergansers

Snow on a ridge above the Rogue River Valley. (This was a sign of issues for us later in the week.)

We lingered a bit at the camp before heading back. As always, we kept our eyes open for anything we might have missed on our first pass.
Redwood sorrel along Whiskey Creek.

Buiscuitroot

Passing the high water mark.

Arriving back at the trailhead.

Our hike here ended up being 8.7-miles with 450′ of cumulative elevation gain.

Aside from the rafters at Whiskey Creek Camp the only other people we saw were a pair of backpackers on their way out and a group of 15 on their way in. While we didn’t see any rattlesnakes (it was nice and cool out) we did pick up a couple of ticks along the way which we brushed off when spotted. Poison oak was present but easily avoidable.

We arrived at the Riverside Cabins in Grants Pass a little after 3pm. The six rentals were recently constructed and ours wound up being an excellent base of operations for the rest of the week.