Author: umpquahikes

Hike Coordinator – Richard O’Neill

The rain was coming down faster than a wingless duck, so my camera stayed dry inside the car. Sorry, but no pictures! It didn’t really let up either and the sound of the rain hissing in the forest and tapping on hat brims was a constant. However, the 5 of us that dared to hike in the wet conditions didn’t mind and we headed uphill underneath all the elegant oaks that make this park such a prime hiking destination.

I had sort of envisioned a 10 mile’ish route but after closing the Fern Forest loop and the Mildred’s Trail loop, we were delivered into the bottom lands that were under a couple of inches of water. Bachelor Creek was flowing rather robustly, effectively cutting us off from the remainder of the intended route. So, we splashed and splooshed our way back to the car, settling for a 6 miler which wasn’t bad at all, considering the conditions. The next day the Snowpocalypse of 2019 started and THAT would have been an interesting hike!

Hike Coordinator: Lane Harris

Narration by Lane Harris

NOTE: This hike was not originally posted here after it occurred, it is being posted late.

This was 9 mile hike from Wright Creek to Susan Creek. 15 people joined us for this hike, which went through a recent burn area from a few years ago. There was still plenty of greenery though, as well as rushing water from creeks and streams.

Read about 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

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Hike Coordinator Brad Bishop.

Charles and John had met me at the government building and Bill and his son were actually hiking from their house (now that’s dedication), to meet up at the Comstock parking area on the East Entrance. As we approached the clouds gave way to some glorious winter sunshine. Well at least it wouldn’t be freezing.     

Driving through the thick, cold fog to the North Bank Habitat I was wondering just how miserable this hike could get. I remembered from last year it seemed like a big ‘mud march’. I mean after all, this is Oregon in late December.

We passed Bill and his son as they were almost to the parking area. We got our packs on and started up the Soggy Bottom Road Trail headed to the Boundary Road. It was amazing, hardly any mud and a temperature in the high 50’s to low 60’s I estimate. It was perfect hiking weather. I may be wrong but it seems they may have repaired some of the trail from last year, (that and a lack of rain). 

Along the way we were entertained with a couple of deer sightings and a cacophony of shot gun blasts from the turkey hunters along with the beautiful sunshine. Surprisingly it seemed that the cattle were absent this year, but signs that they had been there fairly recently were fairly abundant as we stepped over them.

We had a quick lunch a short ways down the Boundary Road and noticed clouds advancing from the west. It was still very comfortable to hike in shirt sleeves as we headed back down and around to our vehicles. The loop lasted about 3 1/2 Hours and we figured about 8 miles. Overall it was a very enjoyable and refreshing way to end the year. Make sure you join us on our next foray into our natural wonderland.

Pictures by Brad Bishop

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Hike Coordinator Diana Pace.

 The trail guide says it’s 3.6 mi but the trail sign says 4. Being December, the trail was crunchy with ice and frozen plants. We were greeted by sugar pines that survived the devastating 2017 fire, however there were burnt trees of all sizes all along the way. The guide describes old growth Douglas-fir over 800 yrs old. I think some of them survived because way up high the crowns were green. I saw an Eagle at the spawning beds near the trail head. 

Pictures by Diana Pace

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Hike Coordinator Richard O’Neill

It was a damp and sodden day that greeted 8 hikers lacing up their boots at the Panther Creek Trailhead. Fortunately, all the dampness was on the ground and vegetation and rain never materialized on this hike.

From the trailhead, the trail ambled up and down across a steep and forested slope high above the North Umpqua River. It was the tail end of autumn and while there were little or no leaves on the trees but there were several inches of leaf detritus upon the trail. It was like following the “Yellow Brick Road” except the bricks were leaves instead.

After nearly 5 miles of hiking in or through dead leaves, ferns, trees, mushrooms, etc., the Panther Segment came to an end and all hikers completing the segment decided to continue on with the Mott Segment. The Mott, unlike the Panther, tends to stay close to the river and we enjoyed views thereof.  Numerous creeks ran across the trail and we still got to walk in or through dead leaves, ferns, trees, mushrooms, etc. We all enjoyed our 11 miles of hiking along the river and through the forest, thankful that it didn’t rain when it looked like it could.

Pictures by Richard O’Neill

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Hike Coordinator Richard O’Neill

With our Cascades being overly populated with firs, cedars, and pines, autumn can be not very autumny. So, if you want to see fall colors, you have to go where the vine maples grow, which generally will be next to a river, creek, or lake. One of the best places to observe the fall colors is on the Upper Rogue River, so we piled into our vehicles and made the trek to the Rogue River Gorge parking lot.

Seems we missed the peak of the vine maple display but no worries, dogwood stepped up to the plate, so to speak. The trees were bright red and pink, contrasting nicely with the cobalt blue sky above. And just in case the fall colors were not enough reason to enjoy this hike, the Rogue River was always nearby, alternately running calm and reflective, or running turbulent and noisy.

We walked south along the river and crossed over on a wooden footbridge spanning the river raging in a narrow defile carved into the surrounding lava bed. Past the bridge we were greeted with the only uphill portion of the hike as the trail went up and over a forested ridge bright with autumn plumage.

We turned around at Natural Bridge, where the Rogue River disappears into a lava tube, only to reappear about 75 yards downstream, where it exited its subterranean conduit. We ate lunch there and enjoyed the sunny side of the river and colorful trees for the remaining 4 miles of this hike.

Pictures by Richard O’Neill

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Hike Coordinator Edwin Case

Five hardy hikers braved the possibly wet weather for this hike. We almost didn’t reach our destination because on the drive to the trailhead, where the bridge crossing the South Umpqua River used to be was no bridge at all. There were no signs to direct drivers to an alternate route to Skimmerhorn Trailhead, either.

Working on a combination of guesswork, divination, and blind luck, Edwin found a brand new bridge crossing several miles further up the road and it was “hike on” at that point.

This area had been closed last year because of fire but except for one spot, there was no evidence of fire damage. Fortunately, landslides (which are a common occurrence after a fire) was not an issue either. Scenic Highrock Mountain, which looms over Fish Lake had clearly received the brunt of the fire’s fury.

The weather had been threatening and the threat was made good at the start of the hike as we began hiking under a light rain. However, it soon let up, only to return again when we reached Buckeye Lake. We were soon soaked, not from the rain, but from the water-soaked vegetation encroaching the trail.

This late into a long and dry summer, Buckeye and Cliff Lakes were much lower than normal. They were still scenic though, and after eating lunch at Buckeye Lakes, we turned around and enjoyed the lake scenery all over again.

Pictures by Brad Bishop

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Hike Coordinator John Malone

Four hikers turned out this day for an 8 mile hike through Dellenbach Dunes. We took the loop in a counter clockwise direction through tunnels of thickets and brush to the Ocean shore then through the sand dunes back to the Car. The weather was dry with high hazy clouds. Dellenbach is a club favorite and this day did not disappoint. 

Hike Coordinator Richard O’Neill

This is a relatively new trail, having been constructed and finished late summer of 2017. Naturally, this was the first time the club had ever hiked this 10’ish mile trail and 8 or so hikers set on the trail with an expectant air of discovery.

The first part of the hike left the Lemolo Lake Dam and went through the boat ramp, cabins, and campgrounds surrounding the lake’s resort. But once we grabbed the trail that went around the Poole Creek Campground we were soon enjoying that “real trail” vibe in the quiet forests surrounding the southern side of the lake.

The trail went around several large arms around peaceful bays of blue water and we surprised a fisherwoman by applauding from the forest when she landed a fish. The Lake Creek arm of Lemolo Lake provided several nice beaches for us to bushwhack to, offering up nice views of Bunker Hill across the lake. The sky was clear and we enjoyed a mostly smoke-free day and blue sky.

A three’ish mile section of the North Umpqua Trail closed off the loop and we agreed it had been a fine hike on a fine day.

Pictures by Richard O’Neill

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Hike Coordinator Lane Harris

Tidbits Mountain is a small peak with epic views. It’s also a small peak with a long drive to the trailhead. On that drive, as we headed up the McKenzie River valley, the air became hazy, then hazier, then haziest. Before long, thick choking smoke from the brand new Terwilliger Fire darkened the day and caused car headlights to come on. Whatever is a hiking club from Roseburg to do?

Why, continue forward of course, which says a lot about our stubbornness, determination, or foolishness. But, once we left the highway and headed uphill on the gravel road, we left all that eye-watering smoky misery behind us.

So, we enjoyed mostly clear air, although there was still a high overcast caused by smoke from the massive California wildfires. But smoke was not much of an issue as the Tidbits Mountain Trail spent most of its miles in beautiful and lush forest consisting mostly of vine maples and tall trees.

A steady uphill pull brought us to the summit of Tidbits Mountain and alas, the epic views were not all that epic due to the fire smoke. We could see the tips of the Three Sisters, rising ghostlike above the layer of smoke. The western view was clearer and we could see Mary’s Peak and the coastal ranges.

The Terwilliger Fire would balloon to nearly 12,000 acres in size so in retrospect, we were quite fortunate to get this hike in.

Pictures by Lane Harris

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