Category: Oregon

Observation Peak – 06/15/2022

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date June 23, 2022
2 Comments on Observation Peak – 06/15/2022

The forecast for our stay in Ashland was for a sunny Wednesday and Thursday followed by a partially sunny Friday before rain showers moved in Friday evening and into Saturday. That worked well for our planned set of hikes which were to spend the first three days at higher elevations in the Siskiyou Mountains and then on Saturday hiking in the foothills before heading home. Up first was a hike to Observation Peak just off the Pacific Crest Trail not far from where that trail crosses the Oregon/California border. In fact the start of Sullivan’s featured hike (Hike #63 in “100 Hikes/Travel Guide Southern Oregon & Northern California” edition 4.2) is at the Stateline Trailhead for the PCT. Sullivan lists this hike as open beginning late June so we were a couple of weeks early but we had been watching the snow level using the NOHRSC Snow Analysis Data layer on the Pacific Crest Trail Associations interactive map to check the snow depth and all seemed clear. Some late season snows hadn’t been enough to make up for the drought conditions that have plagued the area.

From the trailhead the hike to Observation Peak and back is just under 5.5 miles so we were open to other options to lengthen the hike a bit. While Observation Peak was north along the PCT Donomore Meadows, just across the California border, to the south offered a chance to see a cabin and the meadows. After parking in a pullout near the PCT crossing of Forest Road 2025 we set off south on the trail to visit the meadows before heading north to Observation Peak.
The PCT heading south from the Stateline Trialhead

From the trailhead the PCT descends a little over 550′ in approximately 1.5 miles to a footbridge across a creek in the lower portion of Donomore Meadows which we thought would be a good turnaround point for this part of our hike.

Iris

A register is located 0.4 miles from the trailhead at the Oregon/California border.

We were long overdue for a visit to California, our last hike in the state was way back in 2018 at the Lava Beds National Monument (post).

A good reminder of how much of the PCT is located in CA.

Pussytoes

First look at Donomore Meadows.

This road crossing is just over a mile from the trailhead. The Donomore Cabin is just up the road to the right.

The cabin was built in 1935.

The meadow below the cabin.

Death camas in the meadow.

We’d seen one doe in the meadow and as we began to descend to the creek crossing we spotted another one below us.

We watched each other for a bit before she started to head off. When she moved we both noticed what appeared to be another set of ears in the grass. It turned out to be the smallest fawn either of us had seen in the wild. We watched from afar as mom led the youngster to the safety of the trees then we continued down to the footbridge.

Mariposa lily

Chocolate lily

Cinquefoil?

Violets

Bistort

Heather passing through the meadow.

There wasn’t much to the brushy creek but it made for a definitive turnaround point.

After pausing at the footbridge we climbed back up to Oregon and the Stateline Trailhead and set off in the other direction for Observation Peak.
California ground cone

PCT heading north from the Stateline Trailhead.

This section the PCT passed through a manzanita covered hillside with views of Ductchman Peak.

Pasque flower

Grayback Mountain in the distance with a small patch of snow.

One of three springs the trail passes on the way to Observation Peak.

Marsh marigolds

Alpine pennycress

Another spring with marsh marigolds and glacier lilies.

Scraggy Mountain

The views along the PCT were very good as it passed through several open hillsides.

Looking SE to the Red Buttes (post), Preston Peak, and Grayback Mountain.

Kangaroo Mountain and Red Butte with Preston Peak, Twin Peak and El Capitan behind in the Siskiyou Wilderness.

View south.

Part of the Marble Mountains (post)

One and a half miles from the trailhead we rounded a ridge end above Kettle Lake. The lake basin still had a fair amount of snow and there were a few small lingering patches on the PCT.
Kettle Lake through the trees.

From the ridge end above Kettle Lake it was just over half a mile to another ridge on the NW flank of Observation Peak. We left the PCT here and first checked out the rocky ridge to the north where wildflowers were just getting going. Then we headed cross country a half mile to the summit. The open hillside made for an easy off trail climb and was easier than if we had been trying to continue on the PCT because that trail disappeared under a large snow drift on the other side of the ridge.
Heading up to the ridge.

Dutchman Peak from the ridge.

Not sure if these are mule’s ears or a balsamroot.

Splithair Indian Paintbrush (Castilleja schizotricha)

Swallowtail on phlox.

Wildflowers on the ridge.

Cutleaf daisy?

Snow drifts covering the PCT.

Lance-leaf Spring Beauty
Claytonia lanceolata

Heading for the summit.

Mt. McLoughlin (post) came into view to the NE as we climbed.

Pilot Rock (post) to the east was slightly smokey.

A rockcress

Once we reached the summit Mt. Shasta came into view to the SW.

Mt. Shasta above a layer of smoke that mostly hid Black Butte (post). Mt. Eddy (post) is the snowy peak to the right.

I think these peaks are a mix of the Russian Wilderness in the forefront and Trinity Alps behind. Bruce correct me if I am wrong on that :).

A red can houses a summit register tucked in a rock pile at the summit. As I was flipping through looking for a page to sign on I came across what we considered a huge find, a bootsonthetrail.blog business card.
Rock pile at the summit.

Our big find. I took a couple of pictures and put the card back for someone else to find (and added one of ours).

It was a great temperature at the summit so we took an extended rest (and way too many photos) before heading back.
There were dozens of ladybugs in the rock pile.

One of many photos of Mt. Shasta. We don’t get too many chances to see this Cascade Mountain.

We could see Mt. Thielsen (post), the rim of Crater Lake (post) and Mt. McLoughlin beyond Wagner Butte (post) and Mt. Ashland (post).

The peaks around the rim of Crater Lake.

Mt. Thielsen to the left of Crater Lake.

Mt. Bailey (post)

The Red Buttes in front of Preston Peak.

Grayback Mountain

On the way back down we were concentrating on any flowers that we’d missed on the way up.
Buckwheat

Alpine pennycress

Quill-leaf Lewisia
Lewisia leeana

Larkspur

Chipmunk having a snack.

One of two hairstreaks we encountered on the PCT.

The 2nd hairstreak.

I decided to detour at Kettle Lake and headed cross country downhill a tenth of a mile to check it out while Heather continued toward the car.
Where I left the PCT.

Lots of this orange fungus in the forest.

While I was scoping out the lake Heather was getting wildflower photos.
Bee on a marsh marigold.

Glacier lily

Trillium

Anemone

Buttercup?

Passing through the manzanita section.

The hike came in at a reasonable 8.8 miles with a little over 1800′ of elevation gain. A reasonable day with lots of great scenery.

After showering and changing at the motel we walked to Caldera Brewing which was only about 0.2 miles from our room. Neither the food or beer disappointed and the view from the restaurant was good too. It was the perfect end to our first day in Ashland. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Observation Peak

Tags Boots on the Trail, Caldera Brewing, California, Donomore Cabin, Donomore Meadows, hiking, Kettle Lake, Marble Mountains, Mt. Ashland, Mt. Shasta, observation peak, Oregon, Pacific Crest Trail, PCT, Red Buttes, wagner butte, wildflowers

Hiking Old Cascades Oregon Rogue-Umpqua Divide Roseburg Area Trip report

Illahee Rock & Twin Lakes – 06/14/2022

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date June 22, 2022
9 Comments on Illahee Rock & Twin Lakes – 06/14/2022

Our original plan for this vacation was to do a pair of hikes on the way down to Roseburg on Monday, Illahee Rock and Twin Lakes but the weather hadn’t cooperated with that plan. Monday was cloudy so doing two viewpoint hikes didn’t make sense. Instead, we had spent Monday visiting various waterfalls along Highway 138 (post). The plan for Tuesday had been a hike along Cow Creek on the way south to Ashland but during one of the many drives between trailheads on Monday we had decided instead to do the Illahee Rock and Twin Lakes hikes on Tuesday, weather permitting, and to save Cow Creek for another year. There were two reasons for this change. First Twin Lakes is one of Sullivan’s featured hikes while Cow Creek is not. The second reason was that we were both still dealing with blisters from our 17.5-mile outing at the Columbian White-Tailed Deer Refuge three days earlier (post) and with at least four creek crossings on the Cow Creek Trail the probability of us having to ford the creek and soaking our feet didn’t sound like the best idea. Before going to sleep Monday, we checked the forecast which was “Becoming Sunny”. I don’t think we’d ever come across that particular forecast, but it sounded hopeful so Tuesday morning we packed up the car and headed east once again on Highway 138.

Our first stop was at Illahee Rock, a former featured hike that was hit with fires in both 2017 and 2021. Two lookout towers sit atop Illahee Rock and the Umpqua National Forest website listed the Illahee Lookout Trail as open but gave no update on conditions. We wound up cutting the drive short by three quarters of a mile due to a decent amount of debris in the road due to damage caused by the fires.
We parked in a pullout just before this section.

The “becoming sunny” forecast was obviously not for the morning as we found ourselves in heavy fog as we hiked along FR 100.
The Boulder Creek Wilderness (post) under the slowly rising clouds.

After 0.75 miles on FR 100 we came to FR 104 on the left which led to the Illahee Rock Trailhead. Before heading up to the lookouts though we wanted to make an attempt to reach nearby Wild Rose Point which Sullivan described in his book.
FR 104

We passed FR 104 and continued on FR 100 for another 0.2 miles to a fork.
Rabbit on FR 100

Lots of fawn lilies along the road and trails.

Red flowering currant

Is this an apple tree? Whatever it is it seemed very out of place.

FR 105 on the left and FR 100 on the right.

We could see a post for the trail on the hillside in brush but had a bit of trouble figuring out where the trail began at the fork. We first looked for it right at the fork then a bit down FR 100 but it was actually just up FR 105 next to the post for the road.

This little path brought us to the post in the brush where it was already obvious this was going to be an adventure.

The 2021 fire had burned over this area as well and it didn’t appear that any maintenance had been done aside from some occasional flagging and cairns. We decided to give it a go though since it was under 1.5 miles to Wild Rose Point. We picked our way uphill and found some decent tread in some trees that had been spared by the fire.

Another uphill through a burned area brought us to another short section of better trail before fallen trees began to be a problem. A little over half a mile in near Illahee Spring we decided to turn back. Several larger trees blocked the trail head and looked like more trouble than it was worth to try and navigate around and even if we did manage there wasn’t going to be a view due to the fog.
A cairn on the left.

Damp trillium

Downed trees across the trail near Illahee Spring.

We returned to FR 100 and walked back to FR 104 which we now turned up.

Gooseberry

Two tenths of a mile up FR 104 we came to the Illahee Rock Trailhead.

This trail was in much better shape and we had no problem following it the three quarters of a mile up to the lookouts.

The tread was a little faint but otherwise in good shape.

Lots of cool rock outcrops along the trail.

Fawn lilies

Typical trail condition.

Ragwort and blue-eyed Mary covered hillside.

Blue-eyed Mary

Ragwort

Rocky hillside below the lookouts.

Larkspur

1925 Cupola style lookout.

1956 L-4 tower lookout

Paintbrush

We spent some time exploring the summit and checking out the lookouts while we waited for it to become sunny. We eventually gave up on that and headed back down.

Illahee Rock

A sliver of hope for blue sky at some point.

It wasn’t more than 10 minutes after we started down before the blue sky started appearing.

Back at the trailhead.

On FR 100

Wallflower

The Boulder Creek Wilderness

We’d missed out on a view from Illahee Rock but we had another opportunity coming up on our hike to Twin Lakes. We drove back down FR 100 to Highway 138 and turned left (east) for 2.25 miles to FR 4770 where we turned right at a sign for the Twin Lakes and North Umpqua Trail. We followed FR 4770 to the Twin Lakes Trailhead . (The east trailhead not the west.)

The same 2017 fire that burned Illahee Rock affected the Forest here as well although many large trees did survive. We followed the Twin Lakes Trail for 0.6 miles to a junction.

Meadow along the trail.

Trillum

Becoming sunny in action. From this viewpoint Diamond Peak, Mt. Thielsen, and Mt. Bailey are visible sans clouds.

A carpet of blue-eyed Mary at the viewpoint.

Illahee Rock was visible from the viewpoint despite the clouds.

The lookout tower on Illahee Rock.

Indian plum

Hellbore starting to sprout in a meadow.

Waterleaf

Nearing the junction.

At the first junction we stayed right then veered left at the next, avoiding the Deception Creek Trail, and descended through a meadow to the Twin Lakes Shelter.

Woodpecker

Gray jay

The second junction where we turned left.

Mushroom near the shelter.

After a short break at the shelter we started around the bigger of the two lakes going counter-clockwise. We passed a walk in campground and continued along the lake shore.

The lake was very colorful and it was easy to see into the water which allowed us to watch fish as they swam around.

No fish but it was easy to see them when they were present.

This big rock added to the scenery.

We couldn’t decide if that was an old bridge or dock in the water.

Passing behind the big rock.

The rock turned out to be split.

There was a lot of water in the section between the two lakes. Fortunately there didn’t seem to be any mosquitos which was really surprising but in a good way.

We weren’t entirely sure where the trail between the two lakes was and we started thinking that we’d missed it so when we saw an opportunity we headed cross country toward the smaller lake.
This looked like it could be a trail.

How were there not any mosquitos in here.

A local wondering what we were up to.

We spotted more large rocks with a bit of a shelter underneath and were headed for it when we spotted an actual trail running by the rocks.

We followed this trail to the second lake and made our way around it counter-clockwise as well.

The outlet creek.

Yellow-rumped warbler

Red-breasted sapsucker

Stellar’s jay

There was still snow in the basin on the south side of the lake making this side very wet.

A 1995 log shelter used to be located on this side of the lake but was lost to the 2017 fire. A small outhouse and a whole lot of garbage (people are awful sometimes) is all that was left.

After completing the loop we followed the trail back toward the larger lake passing the boulder shelter and a balancing rock.

This cracked us up, someone just nailed the planks into the tree that broke the bridge.

This trail led back to the trail around the larger lake.
A small sign at the junction.

We finished the loop around the larger lake and stopped again at the shelter.

A 1.1 mile climb from the first junction that we’d come to earlier would take us to a viewpoint above the lakes.

We had been waiting to see if it really did become sunny before deciding on this optional side trip but now that there was quite a bit of blue sky overhead we decided to head up.
Another meadow along the 1.1 mile section.

The 2017 fire hit this section pretty hard.

There was a bit more snow over 5400′ but not enough to cause any problems.

A well established use trail led out to the viewpoint where we met another pair of hikers enjoying the view.

The larger lake.

The smaller lake.

Illahee Rock from the viewpoint.

The lower flanks of Howlock Mountain, Mt. Thielsen (post), and Mt. Bailey (post).

We chatted with the other hikers long enough that we could almost see all of Mt. Thielsen and Mt. Bailey by the time we were headed back.

Bee on an anemone.

Glacier lily

Moth and a violet.

When we passed by the lower viewpoint the views had improved even more.

Mt. Thielsen and Mt. Bailey

Black Rock on the right.

Highrock Mountain

Howlock Mountain

Cowhorn Mountain (post)

It truly had become sunny and was supposed to stay that way at least for the next couple of days. After driving back to Highway 138 we followed it east to Diamond Lake then took Highway 230 south to Highway 62 and followed it into Medford to I-5 and took the freeway south to Ashland where we would be staying for the next four nights. We’d hoped to stop by Becky’s Cafe in Union Creek but when we drove by it was closed so instead we wound up with Wendy’s after another long day (sigh) of driving.

The hikes were 5.2 miles and 6.2 miles with 650′ and 850′ of elevation gain respectively giving us an 11.4 mile 1500′ day.

Tags Boulder Creek Wilderness, hiking, Illahee Rock, Illahee Rock Lookout, Oregon, Twin Lake Shelter, Twin Lakes, Twin Lakes Trailhead, Umpqua National Forest, Wild Rose Point

Hiking Mt. Theilsen/Mt. Bailey Area Oregon Roseburg Area Trip report

Highway 138 Waterfalls – 06/13/2022

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date June 21, 2022
5 Comments on Highway 138 Waterfalls – 06/13/2022

The last two years have created a bit of urgency to our goal of completing the 100 featured hikes in all five areas covered by William L. Sullivan in his 100 hikes guidebook series (post). Between the pandemic and 2020 wildfire season it became clear that taking our time could create issues down the road so starting last year we refocused our efforts on finishing the 500 hikes as soon possible. As we started 2022 we were down to just the Eastern and Southern Oregon (and Northern CA) areas to complete (post). The majority of the remaining hikes were from the southern book where a number of planned trips had been canceled in recent years due to weather and/or the effects of wildfires. We spent a week in Medford earlier in June checking off Roxy Ann Peak (post) and the Jack-Ash Trail (post) and we headed back south a couple of weeks later to hopefully check off more.

A cool and wet Spring has left parts of Oregon, in particular the northern and central Cascade Mountains with a lot of lingering snow. Many trails and trailheads in those areas that in recent years would be open are still snowed in but Southern Oregon had been dealing with an extreme drought, so the recent weather has not had as much of an impact leaving trails accessible. While accessibility wasn’t an issue the weather forecast was a bit of one. More wet weather was forecast for the start and end of our six-day trip with the possibility of snow at higher elevations. After some substituting and rearranging of hikes we settled on a tentative plan that gave us some flexibility in case the forecast tried to pull a fast one on us. Since Monday was supposed to be mostly cloudy with a chance of showers off and on all day we decided to combine a number of stops east of Roseburg along Highway 138 to check out seven different waterfalls.

We started our morning off at Susan Creek Falls. This waterfall is one of three stops listed in featured hike #2, Fall Creek Falls (4th edition). This area was burned in the 2020 Archie Creek Fire and to date the other two stops at Fall Creek Falls and the Tioga Segment of the North Umpqua Trail remain closed. The BLM has managed to get the 0.7 mile Susan Creek Trail open although the trailhead on the north side of the highway was full of logs forcing us to park across the street at the Susan Creek Picnic Area.

After dashing across the highway we set off on the trail through the burned forest.

Checkermallow

A slug and a bug on a flower.

Pea

Approaching the falls.

Columbine

Susan Creek Falls

This short trail only gained about 150′ and was a nice leg stretcher after the drive down from Salem. After admiring the falls we returned to the car and continued east on 138 to milepost 59 and turned left onto Forest Road 34 to the Toketee Falls Trailhead. One of two stops that make up featured hike #9 (edition 4.2) a 0.4 mile trail leads to a platform above the falls which spill out of gap in basalt cliffs.

Evidence of overnight rains on the trail.

A very faint rainbow over the North Umpqua River.

Stairs down to the viewpoint platform.

Toketee Falls

We spent some time admiring this waterfall which is one of Oregon’s more recognizable falls before returning to the car and continuing on FR 34 to FR 3401 and following it to the Umpqua Hot Springs Trailhead.

The hike starting here is not the second part of featured hike #9 but rather its own entry (featured hike #8, edition 4.2). Sullivan gives two 0.6 mile round trip options starting from this trailhead. The first is a 120′ climb to Umpqua Hot Springs overlooking the North Umpqua River. To reach the hot springs we crossed the river on a footbridge and turned right to make the climb up to the springs.

Candy sticks along the trail.

Just before the hot springs I veered downhill on a side trail to visit the river.

During lower flow there is another hot spring along the river bank in the area.

I climbed back up to find Heather sitting near the springs. There were a number of people enjoying a soak and with clothing being optional pictures were very limited.

We climbed down from the hot springs and returned to the trailhead where we took a short trail up to FR 3401 and turned left following a short distance to the resumption of the North Umpqua Trail.
Heading up to the road.

The North Umpqua Trail on the left leaving the FR 3401.

Approximately a quarter mile along this segment we arrived at Surprise Falls, a cascade created by cold springs bursting from the hillside below the trail.

The mossy cascade was beautiful and we spent quite a while enjoying the lush green surroundings. A very short distance further we arrived at our turn around point at another spring fed waterfall, Columnar Falls.

This fall gets its name due to the columnar basalt that the water both cascades down and spouts right out of.

The hot springs across the river from Columnar Falls.

We returned the way we’d come and hoped back into our car and drove back to Highway 138 where we again turned east. Our next stop was the second waterfall in featured hike #9, Watson Falls. Another short (0.4 mile) trail leads from the Watson Falls Trailhead to Southern Oregon’s tallest waterfall.
The top of Watson Falls from the trailhead signboard.

This trail gains 300′ as it climbs to a viewpoint part way up the 272′ waterfall.

Watson Falls from below.

Footbridge over Watson Creek.

Heather at the viewpoint.

The splash pool.

On the way back down we took the loop back trail which splits off just before the creek crossing.

This trail follows Watson Creek down to FR 37 where a right turn and short road walk completes the loop.

Watson Creek at FR 37.

A little bit of blue sky and sunlight along FR 37.

Once again we returned to Highway 138 and continued east. Our next three stops were in the Lemolo Lake Recreation Area so we turned off of the Highway onto FR 2610 at a pointer for the Recreation Area. Our first stop was at the Warm Springs Trail.

Yet another short trail (0.3 miles) that led to a scenic waterfall.

Viewing platform above the falls.

We both really liked the angled basalt cliff on the far side of these falls.

This waterfall surprised us a bit with how much we both liked it. We headed back to the car and drove back the way we’d come until reaching a canal bridge along FR 2610 where we turned across it to the North Umpqua Trail.
The canal bridge is 5.6 miles from Highway 138 on FR 2610.

Sign near the canal bridge.

The North Umpqua Trail.

The section between Lemolo Lake and the Umpqua Hot Springs Trailhead is called the “Dread and Terror Segment” but both sections we hiked were beautiful.

This would be our longest hike of the day at 3.5 miles round trip. The trail followed the North Umpqua River providing numerous views while losing 400′ to a viewpoint above Lemolo Falls.

Numerous seasonal streams and seeps flowed across the trail.

Unnamed fall along the river.

Trillium

Ouzel

Lemolo Falls

We took a short break at the viewpoint then headed back. We had one final stop to make on the other side of the river to visit a better viewpoint below Lemolo Falls.
Red flowering currant along the trail.

Bleeding heart.

From the canal bridge we drove back toward Lemolo Lake crossing the dam then in half a mile turned right on FR 3401 for another half mile to FR 800 where we again turned right. We followed FR 800 for 1.6 miles to a spur road (FR 3401-840). The trailhead is located approximately a quarter-mile down this road but we parked as soon as we had a chance due to this road being in the worst condition we’d experienced this day.
Approaching the trailhead.

This old trail/trailhead was recently reopened and aside from the poor access road the trail was in good shape. The first 0.6 miles follows an old roadbed to a former picnic area where the Lemolo Falls Trail used to begin. Three quarters of a mile later the trail arrives at the North Umpqua River below Lemolo Falls.

The former picnic area (Note the picnic table in the trees to the right.)

Valerian along the trail.

One of many brief appearances of blue sky during the day.

This was by far the superior view and a great way to end the day. We climbed back up the 500′ that we’d descended to the falls and called it a day. Our seven stops was a new personal record (previously six on a trip down the Oregon Coast). With most of the hikes being rather short our mileage for the day was just a smidge over 11 miles with a little over 1800′ of cumulative elevation gain. It was a long day made longer by a couple of delays due to road construction so it was later than we’d planned when we pulled into our motel in Roseburg but we had managed to finish three more featured hikes (and one third of a fourth) and although it had sprinkled off and on all day we’d also had a few sun breaks which made it a perfect day for chasing waterfalls. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Highway 138 Waterfalls

Tags Archie Creek Fire, Columnar Falls, Dread and Terror Segment, Highway 138, hiking, Lemolo Falls, North Umpqua River, North Umpqua Trail, Oregon, roseburg, Surprise Falls, Susan Creek Falls, Toketee Falls, Umpqua Hot Springs, Warm Spring Falls, Waterfalls, Watson Falls

Hiking Medford/Ashland Area Oregon Trip report

Roxy Ann Peak – 05/30/2022

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date June 10, 2022
2 Comments on Roxy Ann Peak – 05/30/2022

Memorial Day marked the end of our trip to the Medford area but before we headed home we had one final hike planned at Roxy Ann Peak. Located within Prescott Park the 3670′ Roxy Ann Peak offers multiple trails and great views (on clear days) of the surrounding area. The park has two gates that according to the park brochure are “typically” open from 8 to 8 in Spring and Summer (closed at 5pm in Fall/Winter). We wanted to get an early start to our drive back to Salem so we opted to park at the 1st gate and road walk to the start of the trail that Sullivan features in his guidebook.
Setting off at 5:20am from the 1st gate.

This was another hike that became a featured hike in his 4.2 edition “100 Hikes/Travel Guide Southern Oregon & Northern California” due to fire damage to several of the previously featured hikes. He suggests a 3.4 mile loop started by parking at the second gate. Like most of our other hikes this trip we’d originally planned on a longer hike utilizing more of the Park’s trails but had pulled back after the first day of our trip (post) but parking at the first, lower trailhead did add a little over 2 miles round trip. While the forecast was for a mostly sunny day the clouds from the weekend hadn’t moved on as we hiked up the road.
Roxy Ann Peak from the road.

We spotted three deer and a jack rabbit during the road walk but the low light conditions made for poor picture taking opportunities. Fortunately deer were the theme for the first half of the hike and we had several more photo ops with them.
Jack rabbit

Coming up on the 2nd gate.

Sunlight hitting the hillsides on the far side of Medford.

Our planned lollipop loop was to take the Madrone Trail to the Oak Trail then onto the Ponderosa Trail which would take us up to the Park Tower Road where we could visit the summit. Then we would descend via the Manzanita Trail back to the Madrone Trail to return to Roxy Ann Road and eventually our car.

It was 0.2 miles along the road from the 2nd gate to the start of the Madrone Trail where we turned right and began climbing in earnest.
Roxy Ann’s shadow being cast over Medford.

For the most part the trails in the park were nice and wide giving us the feeling of plenty of space from the abundant poison oak in the area. (We’re not sure how long it takes to get used to hiking in its presence but we haven’t gotten there yet.) There was a nice variety of wildflowers along the way and, as I already mentioned, a good deal of wildlife. We also appreciated the fact that most junctions were well marked with posts identifying the various trails.
Lots of purple vetch along the trails.

One of the posts used to identify trails.

Madrones along the Madrone Trail.

We turned left following the pointer for the Oak Trail.

Juvenile great horned owl along the Oak Trail. We didn’t get a good look at the second owl to the left but it looked to be an adult.

This segment of the Madrone Trail (MD3) ended at Roxy Ann Road with the Oak Trail picking up on the far side.

The Oak Trail

Lupine amid the vetch

Camas in front of poison oak.

Carrotleaf horkelia

ookow

Death camas

Blue-eyed grass

Oak along the Oak Trail.

Roxy Ann Peak

Blow wives

The Oak Trail appeared to be the least used of all the trails we would hike on this day.

Lower Table Rock (post)

The only post we saw that wasn’t helpful.

Challenge Course just off the Oak Trail.

Parts of the Challenge Course

Trail junction near the Challenge Course with the Oak and Ponderosa Trails.

Dove

Hopping onto the Ponderosa Trail.

Mariposa lily

Lazuli bunting. We saw quite a few of these during our trip but they proved to be very difficult to photograph.

Medford from the Ponderosa Trail.

Paintbrush

Madia

Lower Table Rock again.

A bench and Ponderosa pines along the Ponderosa Trail.

Plectritis

Two more deer above the trail.

Deer and balsamroot.

Young deer

Momma deer

Larkspur

Nearing Park Tower Road.

When we hit the road we headed uphill then took a short rocky trail to a picnic table on the summit. Unfortunately the low clouds hadn’t burned off nearly enough yet for us to get the big views of either the Cascade Mountains or the Sisikyous but it was a nice view none the less.

Serenading lazuli bunting.

A lot darker clouds toward the Cascades.

With no real views today we took a brief break then headed over to the tower on the other side of the peak just for the heck of it before heading down the road to pick up the Manzanita Trail.

Sign for the Manzanita Trail

We followed this trail back down to Roxy Ann Road and the Madrone Trail.

The lower flank of Grizzly Peak (post) to the left. Mt. Ashland (post) is hiding behind the clouds almost straight ahead.

Looking NE from the trail, still a lot of clouds.

Another bunting, we were on a roll.

The clouds were really starting to break up as we descended.

Arrow-leaf buckwheat on the hillside.

Roxy Ann Road

Back on the Madrone Trail.

Back on the road walk. The trail post here is for the Greenhorn Trail.

Spotted towhee.

The lower gate was still closed when we got back to our car around 8:20am but we’d passed a steady stream of hikers and trail runners heading up the road regardless. In the end our hike came to 5.4 miles with approximately 1475′ of elevation gain.

It had been a nice short hike to end the trip on. It was only about 15 minutes from our room so we had left our things there instead of having to leave it in the car and now had time to go back to the room, shower and then drive home. We stopped in Eugene to have lunch with our son Dominique and his friend Russell and then continued home to unpack and start getting ready for our next adventure. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Roxy Ann Peak

Tags deer, Great horned owl, hiking, jack rabbit, Lazuli Bunting, Lower Table Rock, Madrone Trail, Manzanita Trail, Medford, Oak Trail, Oregon, Park Tower Road, Ponderosa Trail. Greenhorn Trail, Prescott Park, Roxy Ann Peak

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

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

Coastal Range Hiking Oregon Trip report

Killin Wetlands & Elk & Kings Mountain Loop

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date May 23, 2022
7 Comments on Killin Wetlands & Elk & Kings Mountain Loop

The weather finally cooperated enough for us to get back to our originally planned 2022 hikes. For this outing we were heading back to one of our earliest hikes, Elk & Kings Mountains (post) to see how much we remembered from that first visit. When we made the conscious choice to take up hiking in 2010 the loop over Elk and Kings Mountains was our eighth hike. One of only a handful of hikes rated “Very Difficult” in all five of Sullivan’s “100 Hikes” guidebooks, and the only one in the Oregon Coast book, this had been quite the challenge for us. We were curious how nearly 12 years of additional hikes, and age, might change our experience this time around. We were also hiking the trail at a better time of the year having tackled it in the heat of mid-August the first time around. Our hope was that the earlier visit would provide a different experience with wildflowers and with the streams and creeks along the route.

Before we started the difficult loop though we stopped at Killin Wetlands Nature Park just outside of Banks, OR for a short warmup hike on the 0.7 mile loop. An unintended result of having altered the plan for our two previous outings was that this stop would mark our third straight outing visiting an Oregon Metro managed park. (Orenco Woods)(Chehalem Ridge)

We set off on a clockwise loop on the Peat Swamp Trail then stayed left at its junction with the Waterfowl Way Trail.

Peat Swamp Trail.

Our 6am start time paid off as we were not only the only ones at the park but we spotted a deer (too quick for a photo), two otters, several families of Canada geese, and a gadwall and a mallard.

One of the two otters that were swimming in the wetlands.

Mallard

The gadwall amid a family of Canada geese. When we got home and looked closer at the picture we realized that one of the round shapes we took for a clump of mud was actually an animal. We can’t make out the tail to know for sure whether it was a beaver or a nutria but we’d like to think it was another beaver.

The beaver? turned a bit in this photo but we still couldn’t make out the tail. It does appear relatively large when compared to the adult goose though.

Waterfowl Way made a 180 turn and headed uphill through some small trees to return to the Peat Swamp Trail.

We stayed left again and completed the short but eventful loop.

From Killin Wetlands we headed west on Highway 6 to Elk Creek Campground and the Elk Mountain Trailhead.

We set off on the Wilson River Trail which began a 0.2 mile climb to a junction with the Elk Mountain Trail.

Fairy bells and bleeding heart.

Elk Creek below the trail.

Junction with the Elk Mountain Trail

While it had been sunny at the wetlands we had dropped under some clouds as we descended to the Wilson River Valley and found ourselves hiking steeply up into fog.

Paintbrush

Parsley

Blue-eyed Mary

Viewpoint along the Elk Mountain Trail.

The blue sky is up there.

Snow queen

The trail was as steep and rough as we’d remembered.

We did climb out of the cloud to find that blue sky again.

White service berry blossoms and a huckleberry plant.

The trail made a series of ups and downs along a ridge crossing four saddles before climbing to the 2788′ summit of Elk Mountain.

Violet

Red-flowering currant

Trillium

Anemone

Monkeyflower

One of the saddles.

Chocolate lily

Elk Mountain summit.

We spent a little time resting at the summit where we found a lone blooming beargrass with more to come.
Kings Mountain from Elk Mountain.

Wilson River

Pacific Ocean

The blooming beargrass below some red-flowering currant.

Beargrass

While the 1.5 mile climb to this summit had been hard the next mile of trail beyond the summit took it up a notch. The trail dropped nearly straight down the rocky west face of Elk Mountain requiring us to use our hands as we climbed down the damp rocks.
Looking down the trail.

Heather on her way down.

After navigating the rocky descent the trail passed along some cliffs then climbed atop a narrow rocky ridge which it followed to an old roadbed where the hiking became temporarily much easier.

On the ridge.

Dropping down to a saddle along the ridge.

Near the start of the road bed we spotted a hermit warbler eating something off of some huckleberry bushes.

This was the first time we’d seen one of these pretty little birds, at least that we are aware of. Who knows how many we’ve seen fly by and not been able to identify them.

Mercifully on the old roadbed.

We followed the old roadbed for about a mile as it climbed to a junction at a saddle.

A clump of trillium.

Little moth.

Getting closer to Kings Mountain.

Paintbrush

Coming up to the junction.

We turned left onto the Kings Mountain Trail which according to the pointer was 1.3 miles away.

The trail continued to follow an old road bed for a little over half a mile before dropping steeply to a ridge and switchbacking around an outcrop and finally crossing over a saddle.

Phlox, paintbrush, and chickweed.

Still on the old road.

At the ridge end above the saddle, the trail dropped down to the left then through the saddle.

Below the outcrop headed to the saddle.

Probably the most memorable part of our first hike here was needing to use a rope that had been affixed to a stump to descend a steep chute. While we both remembered that we had forgotten at what point we’d encountered the rope and after the steep drop off of Elk Mountain we convinced ourselves that the rope had been there. As we passed over the saddle we realized our mistake as the stump and rope were here and the 12 years had not been kind to the trail here.

Heather getting ready to start down.

The chute in 2010.

The rope was quite a bit longer this time, out of necessity, but we made it down and continued on. From here the trail passed below some sheer cliffs which had been a very nerve wracking experience in 2010. Apparently somewhere during the 549 outings that we’d done between visits I’d gotten much more comfortable with narrow trails with steep drop offs because this time there were no nerves but there were a couple of spots that required the use of hands to get up.

The trail is down there somewhere.

Trillium

Bleeding heart

Fringed kitten-tails

Glacier lily

The trail then climbed to a high point along the ridge which Heather initially mistook for the summit of Kings Mountain. She was less than thrilled when I pointed out the actual summit a short distance, and one saddle, away.
Coming up to the high point.

Kings Mountain

View SE from the high point.

We dropped down to the saddle then made the final climb to Kings Mountain. We had seen a small number of other hikers up to this point but found several others here having come up from the Kings Mountain Trailhead.
Dropping to the last saddle.

Summit register at Kings Mountain.

Pacific Ocean in the distance.

View north.

Other hikers at the summit.

Valerian

Saxifrage, possibly Saddle Mountain saxifrage.

Phlox, paintbrush, parsley, blue-eyed Mary, and chickweed.

From Kings Mountain the Kings Mountain Trail dropped steeply downhill for 2.5 miles to a 4-way junction with the Wilson River Trail. While the trail is steep and rough in a couple of spots it’s nowhere near as gnarly as the Elk Mountain Trail. We had remembered the descent as having given us trouble but in those days we hadn’t used hiking poles. Armed with proper poles this time the descent went much smoother.

One of the rougher sections.

Wood sorrel

Woodland buttercup and candy flower.

The 4-way junction.

We turned left on the Wilson River Trail to make the 3.5 mile hike back to the Elk Mountain Trailhead. While the hike had been challenging we’d been doing pretty well but we’d forgotten to bring any electrolytes with us and while we had plenty of water we both started feeling a bit off. We paused at Dog Creek which is right near the junction for a bit of a break before continuing on the final stretch.

Dog Creek

The Wilson River Trail passed a wetland fed by several small streams before making a long gradual climb up to the junction with the Elk Mountain Trail.

The wetlands

One of the smaller streams.

Monkey flower

Lily that will bloom in a few weeks.

Fringecup

Coming up on a footbridge across Big Creek.

Big Creek

Pacific waterleaf

Steadily climbing.

A pea or vetch.

Unnamed stream crossing.

Miterwort

Rosy Birdsfoot Trefoil

The third type of monkey flower we saw on the day.

The junction is on the saddle ahead.

From the junction we dropped down to the trailhead where we thankfully had some meat sticks waiting that provided some much need salt and protein.
Cars to the left through the trees, we made it.

So what did we learn revisiting this challenging hike after 12 years? One is that we are more comfortable with sketchy trails and exposure after having experienced both many times since then. Secondly our bodies are 12 years older and they reminded us of that toward the end of the hike. Finally we were reminded that as much as we have learned about hiking such as the advantage that trekking poles can provide we are still prone to making mistakes and underestimating what we might need such as the electrolytes. It will likely be quite a while before you find us on a hike without some handy.

Aside from both stops being loops our two hikes for the day couldn’t have been much different from one another. The 0.7 mile loop at Killin Wetlands was short with a well graded trail that gained a total of 60′ of elevation while the Elk and Kings Mountain Loop and been over 11 miles (It’s just under 11 if you don’t wander around with over 4000′ of elevation gain. The gains were often steep, as were the losses, requiring the use of hands at times and included steep exposed drop offs. It was obvious from the number of other trail users that we encountered that most people stick to the out and back up to Kings Mountain but if you’re an experience hiker looking for a challenge or an early season training hike this is a great option. Happy Trails!

Our track for the Elk & Kings Mountain Loop

Flickr: Killin Wetlands and Elk & Kings Mountain

Tags Big Creek, Dog Creek, Elk Mountain, Elk Mountain Trail, Elk Mountain Trailhead, Hermit Warbler, hiking, Killin Wetlands, Kings Mountain, Kings Mountain Trail, Kings Mountain Trailhead, Oregon, Oregon Coast Range, River Otter, Wilson River Trail