Hike Coordinator: Edwin Case
Narration by Lane Harris
When arriving at a designated wilderness area to hike, the last thing you expect to find, besides a nice sandwich shop that serves ice-cream.. mmm, wouldn’t that be nice… are a large herd of cattle. Yet, that’s what was there to greet seven hikers as we approached the Buck Canyon trailhead to hike into the Rogue-Umpqua Divide Wilderness. The slow-moving livestock blocked the road as we were just yards from the parking area. We’d see more of them on the hike, but only at the lower elevations. Thankfully, no cows were harmed on the way to the trailhead.
The trail leading up into Buck Canyon, which is actually the headwaters for West Muir Creek, a tributary to the upper Rogue River, is a beautiful stroll through meadows and forests. It starts near a small meadow, requires a short hop across Muir Creek, then makes a gentle climb on the north facing slope of the canyon. Heading west, we were immediately in Hummingbird Meadows, which gave us northerly views of the far side of the canyon. For a late summer hike, the meadows were still green, but they couldn’t totally hide the early autumn tone that was starting to set in.
The trail maintained it’s gradual climb, and we began encountering more and more trees that had fallen earlier in the year, no doubt due to the heavy snowfall the area had in February. None were impassable, just slight nuisances. Hopefully, trail crews will clear these out in the near future, as this hike is truly one of the best in the area that showcases beautiful meadows.
This section of the trail had been trodden upon quite heavily by all the free-ranging cattle. This was a blessing and a curse at the same time, as we were grateful for a clear path, but our eyes were constantly aimed downward as we dodged all the cow pies along the path. Thankfully, no hiking boots got cow crap covered.
Just over the 2 mile mark, the highlight of this hike is revealed when you step out of the forest and into a spectacular open field! At first glance, Devils Slide on the opposite side of the meadow appears to be just a hillside with a rocky composition. But when you consider it was the result of a massive slide that occurred many eons ago, only then can you imagine the devastation it caused as it slid down from the mountain above 1000 feet to the creek below. The huge boulders blocked the creek and instantly created a small lake. This lake eventually filled up with silt, becoming the magnificent meadow you see today.
This picturesque meadow is an excellent spot to hang out in and explore, and then turn around and go back to the vehicles. But on this day, we were feeling exceptionally ‘hikey’ and none of us had ever explored much further beyond this point, so we just kept walking…
Immediately past the meadow, the trail slipped back into the timber and started uphill again. It was here that downed trees were even more prevalent than they had been before. These were all ‘step-overs’ and required no limbo maneuvers. At one point, the trail took a merciless steep climb directly skyward, and muscles strained as each foot of altitude was gained. This climb was short-lived, but most of us would’ve preferred trees to climb over! Thankfully, no muscles were hindered by cramps.
Our well-earned reward was yep, you guessed it, another meadow! We decided that this would make a fine place to dine on sandwiches and enjoy refreshments. Once completed, we just couldn’t help ourselves and decided to go just a bit further. The map showed that there could be a viewpoint of sorts just about a mile up the trail, so off we went, recharged by our nice long break.
We reached a rocky plateau, and based on our coordinates, determined this was the viewpoint. The view was limited to the north, but a view nonetheless. After a quick group photo, we turned around and headed back down the trail.
We made good time heading downhill, and when we got to the first meadow where Devils Slide is, it was suggested that we do a little exploring of the meadow. So we began our childlike romp through fields of green. The meadow consisted mostly of tall, wavy grass, which did a fine job of concealing narrow, foot-deep channels from which water flowed through during the rainy parts of the year. Some hiking boots managed to discover these channels quite by accident. Thankfully, no ankles were injured during the channel discovery process.
As we neared the trailhead, we could hear our bovine friends calling us in, the same ones that greeted us near the trailhead. As we approached our vehicles, they scattered like teenage boys who had just been spotted doing things they shouldn’t have been doing. Upon closer observation, it was evident that they had taken a liking to our large metal modes of transportation, as there were snot smears aplenty all over the windshields, windows and doors. Thankfully, no vehicles were permanently harmed by the pranking of the cows.
More pictures on Lane Harris’ Flickr page
Pictures below by Lane Harris
