Month: May 2019

Hike Coordinators: Penny Groth and Diane Rannow

Eight hikers began this wonderful hike along the beach.  It was a picturesque Oregon morning with that blend of clouds, patches of blue, and mist that us ocean people love!  We encountered rocks, shells, jelly fish, goose neck barnacles, seaweed, and more.  You know, the stuff we come across quite often at the ocean.  And always, it reminds us why we love it, as we explore and take in the view with awe.

Then hippity hop up the hobbit trail; oh what a treat with its tunnels and wonderfully unique tree formations!  And to boot, those huge, absolutely gorgeous, rhodies in bloom.  It’s quite a climb but one does not notice while entranced with the distinctive surrounding scenery.

Emerging from the hobbit trail, we headed toward the lighthouse.  This portion of the trail was covered in a forest of spruce trees with their smooth bark, and at times, twisted trunks.  Lush foliage in this coastal climate are a beautiful feast for eyes: False Lily of the Valley, ferns gently unfolding to face spring, salal with its graceful blossoms, young nettles, and salmonberry .  Diane was able to identify some for us; whatever their names, we soaked in their beauty!  Views of the ocean below from on top were amazing!!  And then the lighthouse slowly came into view from the trail.  What a beaut!!  One of the prettiest and most photographed within Oregon.  And we added to those numbers…click, click, click!

After lunch, the drizzle began to increase.  We were thankful it had held off this long, but decided to pick it up a little.  We did skip the Valley Trail portion of our original planned route and re-hiked the hobbit trail and along the beach.  But who can complain, it’s the Oregon coast, and even in its somewhat typical drizzle was, as Diane would say, “lovely, lovely lovely”.  For sure! I believe we all were glad we’d come.  There was some discussion before we left Roseburg that morning as to possible change of hiking location due to the dim forecast and possible traffic in Florence of the Rhododendron Festival.  But we decided to stick with the plan, and so thankful we did.  It was a good one!!

Pictures by Penny Groth

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Hike Coordinator: Lane Harris

Narration by Lane Harris

On this grand spring day, no fewer than 10 happy hikers hit one of the few open sections of the North Umpqua Trail. But even the Mott segment, from Mott bridge near Steamboat down to Wright Creek bridge, didn’t go unscathed from Snowmageddon back in late February. Recently downed trees were evident on the trail from the unusual heavy snowfall, but the trail crews did a great job at clearing this part of the trail.

This one-way 6 mile stroll was ripe with floral flaunter, with the dogwood trees all abloom, stealing the show with their pure white petals gleaming in the sunlight.

Other highlights on the Mott section included charming babbling creeks, scenic river access points, and the site of Zane Grey’s fishing camp. Us more “mature” hikers like to ask younger hikers who Zane Grey was, with the question usually conjuring up blank stares. (If you are a younger person, and you DO know who Zane Grey is, give yourself a pat on the back!)

As far as hikes go on the N.U.T., this is the most level section of the entire trail. Without much elevation gain, this makes it a popular segment for joggers, which our group saw several of. While we were heading down river, other hikers were encountered heading up river in the opposite direction. Although “up” is just a relative term in this case, as the trail is basically level here, as stated earlier. But knowing we were heading “down” just made us feel better, a psychological maneuver that usually works on us hiker types.

The entire group made it to Wright Creek, vehicles were retrieved back at Mott bridge, and we all wore smiles on the way home.

More on this hike on Richard O’Neill’s Blog

More pictures on Lane Harris’ Flickr page and Richard O’Neill’s Flickr page

Pictures below by Lane Harris

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