Hike – Page 5 – Friends of the Umpqua Hiking Group

Briggs Creek – October 15, 2022

Hike coordinator: Richard O’Neill

Narration by Richard O’Neill

We were few but we were mighty. Four of us, includng your intrepid hike leader, made the trip to Briggs Valley for a nice and easy hike along Briggs Creek.

The area had been off limits for most of the summer because of the nearby Rum Creek Fire but fortunately, that fire was contained by the time we did our hike. Fortunately for Briggs Creek fans, the Rum Creek Fire did not ever reach Briggs Valley. That’s not to say though, fire was not a part of this hike for the forest here bears the scars from at least two fires that scorched the woods along the creek.

We began with a quick history lesson at the meadow at Sam Brown Campground. The meadow is the sight where the mining town of Briggs, Oregon once stood. In the meadow is the actual grave of Sam Brown, a bartender at the hotel in Briggs.

History lesson over, we headed out into a green forest with hints of of the coming fall season. The trail went between Briggs Creek and the campground with plenty of side trails braiding off the trail. Once we left the campground behind us, the next point of interest was Dutchy Creek, which was barely trickling, the low water making for an easy creek crossong.

From there the route alternated between actual trail and jeep roads and Briggs Creek soon became our hiking companion, flowing below the trail. As mentioned the forest was singed but there was plenty of greenery on the ground beneath the trees. We enjoyed the up and down ramble through the woods, where eventually we reached Elkhorn Mining Camp. The camp serves as a rustic backwoods campsite nowadays but we explored a bit and found all kinds of rusting mine equipment and the old garbage pit replete with rusting tin cans.

A short walk past Elkhorn Camp brought us to a crossing of Briggs Creek itself. We sat down for lunch, choosing to soak in the sight of an idyllic creek flowing in the bottom of a deep canyon surrounded by green vegetation. This was also our turnaround point, so we avoided that whole wet boots thing. The one good thing about an out-and-back hike is that you get to enjoy the same woodland and creek scenery all over again, so we were all pretty satisfied with the day’s venture.

More pictures of this hike on Richard O’Neill’s Flickr page

For pictures of the pre-hike that Richard conducted, you can see those here on Richard O’Neill’s Flickr page

Pictures below by Richard O’Neill

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Fish Lake – September 17, 2022

Hike Coordinator: Missy Kroeker

Narration by Missy Kroeker

“When Hobbits threw a birthday party (and they usually did), all guests were presented with a small gift. ……… The tradition has been elaborated as a form of thanksgiving, so it was taken as a recognition of services, benefits and friendship shown, especially in the past year” Tolkien’s Letter 214.

What!? Isn’t this supposed to be a trip report for the Fish Lake hike on Saturday September 17, 2021? Your assumption would be correct.

A goodly amount of avid hikers assembled at the courthouse parking lot, ready to head south to the Fish Lake trailhead which is out of Tiller. The weather was overcast and cool with a hint of Fall in the air. The group promptly left the lot at the stroke of 8:00am. Anxious, we were to get on the trail. First, we stopped in Canyonville to pick up Terry and Edwin. The carpooling group continued on to the trailhead which is accessed by surprisingly good, mostly paved and gravel roads.

Once at trailhead we all assembled for our group photo, then we were off to our destination of Fish Lake, four miles away. The Fish Lake trail starts by following the creek, veers away then returns to following the creek to the outlet at the lake. The trail has been cleared of most of the blown down trees except in a couple spots where hikers had to decide how to navigate the huge trees and roots blocking the path. Which will it be? Over? Under? Use the tree as a bridge? It was fun to see how each hiker navigated the obstacle, it wasn’t a problem though. Everyone made it through. Stands of burn scarred conifers lined portions of the trail. It was heartening to see the 10 to 20 year old “baby” trees replenishing the forest to its former glory. The trail descends around the edge of a swampy pond which is beautifully decorated with moss, lily pads, algae and grassy edges. Once again, the trail ascends back within sight and sound of the creek drawing the hiker up to Fish Lake. Fish Lake is a lovely blue lake surrounded by verdant forest with prominent High Rock as a focal point looming above the lake.

The group settled themselves along the shore to bask in the beauty and refresh themselves with lunch.

“Ok, Ok, what’s the deal about Hobbits?”, you might ask…

Once everyone settled into enjoying their lunches, the hike leader announced it was her birthday. She had decided to celebrate Hobbit Style by presenting her hiking friends with a homemade Oregon Trail cookie wrapped up into a gift. Even party hats were distributed for all to wear as we celebrated. What could have been a better birthday celebration than the beauty of creation and the fellowship of friends?

After much laughing, photo taking, joking, cookie munching and general merriment, the hikers got back on the trail. Some in the group didn’t want the celebration to end and wore their party hats all the way back to the trailhead. Many in the group commented that it didn’t seem like 8 miles, so pleasant was the weather, the beauty of the area and the company of hikers.

More pictures on Richard O’Neill’s Flickr page

Pictures below by Richard O’Neill

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Lemolo Lake – September 3, 2022

Hike Coordinator: Penny Groth

Narration by Penny Groth

Seventeen hikers gathered on a cool, slightly misty morning. Destination: Lemolo Lake. First visit for several, frequently visited for others.

Our trek began on the west side of the lake near the dam. We traveled counterclockwise. The lake was dotted with quite a few boats, being the last holiday weekend of the summer. Probably a final summer outing as families return to school schedules. Boaters fished in lake boats, skied behind motorboats, and kayaked along shorelines.

The hike was quite the variety pack of environments including lakeshore, forest and several campgrounds. Forests included several species including Doug fir, Lodgepole pine, White pine, Hemlock, and White fir. Wildflowers were done for the season and grasses turning golden.

We lunched at a great little picturesque beach. Hikers visited with old and new comrades, and enjoyed the view.

After completing the shoreline trek of the lake’s south side, we rounded the east edge of the lake and hopped onto the North Umpqua Trail (runs on the north side of the lake) to return to the dam. The NUT portion has lush undergrowth with various ages of trees, a very pretty segment of this hike. Ten and a half miles total, fairly level.

Back at the courthouse where we had carpooled from, I chuckled as I watched us emerge from cars. Slowly, some sounds of pain… BUT we’ll be back for more. Soon!

More picture on Lane Harris’ Flickr page

Pictures below by Penny Groth

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2022 Campout Day 3: Salt Creek Falls to Vivian Lake – AUG 20, 2022

Narration by Lane Harris

Waking up to greet the last day of hiking, we were pleased to see that a change of winds caused the smoke from the Cedar Creek fire to dissipate* from our campsites at Odell Lake and the surrounding area. We had Salt Creek Falls planned for a hike but had been smoked out the day prior. Thankfully, the drive this day would be a short one, as we would need ample time to hike the 10-plus miles from Salt Creek Falls to Vivian Lake, Diamond Falls, and back.

*dissipate: /ˈdisəˌpāt/ verb 1. to break up and drive off: The overuse of the word “dissipate” caused Missy’s hiking buddies to dissipate.”

Salt Creek Falls sits directly off of Hwy 58, attracting many people who gather to awe at the second largest falls in Oregon. On this morning, it had its fair share of visitors, but was certainly not overcrowded. After oohing at the sites from above, we took the path to the bottom of the falls to do some aahing from below. It is quite a marvelous waterfall, and after multiple digital images were captured on our devices, we climbed back up the path to begin the hike proper.

After about a mile of pleasant forest hiking, we took the junction which led us to Diamond Falls. The view of the falls from above are mediocre at best, with all the trees obscuring any good views, so we decided to take the trail that leads to the bottom of the falls. We were soon greeted with an in-your-face view of this incredible waterfall! This type of waterfall is called a fan waterfall, as the water maintains contact with the rock and spreads out in a fan-like shape. We could actually reach out and touch it. It was decided later that this was truly the highlight of the day.

We continued up the trail with Vivian Lake as the goal. The trail to get there is not easy, in terms of elevation gain vs distance. In other words, the trail is steep! In one part, the trail climbs 600 ft in half a mile. Hikers huffed and puffed, taking frequent breaks on the way up. Fortunately, we were walking in a deeply wooded forest which provided ample shade, a small win for us. The sound of nearby Fall Creek was constant, adding another dimension to that deep woods feel.

Upon reaching Vivian Lake, we plopped ourselves down along the shoreline, giving our tired bodies a much-needed break. Here, the air was still and quiet, the sounds of the creek non-existent. The thought of hiking back down was also non-existent, as we languished in the shade along the water’s edge. We spent time eating our lunches, watching birds soar high in the sky, and witnessing dozens of tiny frogs hop about the shoreline. This was definitely a peaceful place to be.

About an hour later, we gathered our things and headed back down the trail, this time with a bit more pep in our step, as it was literally going to be all downhill from here. Needless to say, the going was much easier. We even had enough energy to play! What with some rhyming games to finish the day. For this game, everyone had a say. Our witty words were on full display. Heading downhill, we all knew the way. Alas, I have led you astray…. Anyway, now YOU know how to play!

More pictures on Richard O’Neill’s Flickr page

Pictures below by Richard O’Neill and Lane Harris

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South Slough – August 20, 2022

Hike Coordinator: Rheo Wheeler

Narration by Rheo Wheeler

We had 8 participants on the hike at south slough. Weather was amazing for the 4-mile loop through the estuary. The wildlife was clearly absent for this hike, but the side trip to the beach was our reward. Truly a short sleeve weather day at the beach near Whiskey Run.

Pictures below by Rheo Wheeler

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2022 Campout Day 2: Cultus Lake – AUG 19, 2022

Narration by Richard O’Neill

Sometime in the middle of the night while we all slept, happily dreaming of new trails, smoke from the Cedar Creek Fire cloaked Odell Lake. Who wants to hike in that crap? Not us, so we quickly confabbed and put together an end-to-end route that ran from Little Cultus Lake to Cultus Lake. And after the half-hour drive to the trailhead, I’m glad to report that the air was blessedly clear at Little Cultus Lake.

We had an enjoyable view of Little Cultus reposing in a forested bowl below a bright blue sky before the trail took us into the woods and we never saw Little Cultus again, in what was a trend for this hike. After a mile or two, we reached scenic Deer Lake and then the trail, in keeping with the trend, then ducked into the forest and we never saw Deer Lake again, either.

Cultus Lake is a large lake and is not so easy to hide, although the trail did a good job of keeping us from seeing the lake as we hiked roughly three miles along the Cultus Lake shoreline. We did stop at a boater’s camp for a lunch ‘n laze, watching thunderclouds form just east of the lake.

As we walked through the forest, we became adept at spotting the floral spires of pine drops, a parasitic plant that we normally don’t see a lot of where we normally hike. There were plenty of pine drops in this area, though.

Mike, Missy, and I get the Golden Boot Award for this hike because while everybody piled into the one car to effect the retrieval of the second car, we hiked nearly another two miles to the Cultus Lake Resort. By doing that, we got more lake time than we did during the entire hike up to that point.

Read more about this hike on Richard O’Neil’s blog, Richard Hikes

More pictures on Richard O’Neill’s Flickr page

Pictures below by Richard O’Neill

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2022 Campout Day 1: Rosary Lakes – AUG 18, 2022

Narration by Richard O’Neill

Our original plan was to camp at Waldo Lake for the annual club campout and explore some of the many trails in the Waldo Lake Wilderness. However, the campground was sold out and then the Cedar Creek Fire closed the Waldo Lake Wilderness. Sheesh, what’s the point of making plans, anyway?

We relocated to nearby Odell Lake and because of fire-related closures, we didn’t have a lot of choices about where to hike, so we settled on nearby Rosary Lakes as the destination du jour. The trail was only about 10 miles from the fire, which was 0% contained, yet the air was surprisingly smoke free.

The sky was overcast and light rain fell off and on for the entire day. However, it was also fairly warm and none of the six hikers on this outing felt the need to put on any extra clothing or rain gear during the entire day’s venture.

The Pacific Crest Trail climbed steadily for several miles through a forest comprised of trees covered in moss like my arms are covered with hair. The Rosary Lakes number three, each lake huddled at the base of imposing and craggy Pulpit Rock.

At the Lower Rosary Lake, the first lake we ran into, a deer came to visit with us, totally habituated to the presence of human beings in their forest haunts. Edwin spotted a small lake off trail and before you knew it we were all following him down to the unnamed lake. No complaining though, the lake was pretty cool and made a nice diversion from the more familiar Pacific Crest Trail.

Next stop was Middle Rosary Lake, which had the best view of Pulpit Rock standing against the gray sky. Raindrops pattered on the lake’s surface as the ripples spread out and ran into each other in unrestrained chaos.

Upper Rosary Lake was perhaps the smallest of the three lakes and just for fun, we walked on a use path that circumnavigated the lake and the walk was part hike, part bushwhack as the trail went sketchy on the far side of the lake. But it was hard to get lost as all we had to do was keep the lake on the right-hand side and at some point, we’d return back to the Pacific Crest Trail, which is exactly what happened.

Seems like Edwin was feeling adventurous and when he saw a small lake on Lane’s GPS screen, next thing you know, we were again following him off-trail to another small lake near Middle Rosary Lake. After exploring the large rock pile formed courtesy of Pulpit Rock, we followed a path along the nameless lake which soon petered out altogether. Next thing you know, we were following Edwin downhill through the forest and brush down to Lower Rosary Lake, and then to the Pacific Crest Trail again.

After consulting the map, Edwin and Terry decided to go cross-country down Rosary Creek and then cross Highway 58 to reach our campsite. The rest of us decided to partake in the safety and comfort of a well-established trail that we all knew where it went. I’m both happy and sad to report Edwin and Terry beat us back to the campground.

Read more about this hike on Richard O’Neil’s blog, Richard Hikes

More pictures on Richard O’Neill’s Flickr page

Pictures below by Richard O’Neill

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Bullards Beach – August 6, 2022

Hike Coordinator: Richard O’Neill

Narration by Richard O’Neill

Even though the club hiked this one hike on one certain Saturday, the club outing on the Bullards Beach horse trails was really about three hikes.

The first hike was a Cascades Mountains hike, a relatively easy amble to Nip and Tuck Lakes, which was the original destination for the club. However, the Windigo Fire burst into flaming existence, thanks to a round of lightning storms hovering over dry forests. Since the Nip and Tuck hike began at like-named Windigo Pass, it stood to reason that we might not be hiking there. It became official when the Forest Service closed off large swaths of land, trails, and roads in the Windigo Pass area. Time for Plan B.

When the mountains are aflame, then the coast seems like a logical choice. So off I went several days before the actual hike, to test out a route on the Bullards Beach State Park horse trail system. Comprised of the Cut Creek, North Loop, Three Mares, and Pearl’s Trail(s), plus one other nameless trail that runs along the Bullards Beach Road between campground and beach. There’ll be a pop quiz in the morning, boys and girls.

There were two drawbacks to that 7-mile route: virtually all of the loop was on soft sand, and the last half was in shadeless sand dunes and dang, the warm sun baked my noodle as I trudged along. I needed to make some changes, otherwise my fellow hikers would hate me more than normal.

The first change was to hike in the opposite direction so as to get the dunes out of the way first when the day would be cooler. The second change was to replace the Cut Creek Trail segment with a walk on Bullards Beach itself, trading in three miles of soft sand for some hardpack on the beach.

Approximately 10 hikers (including two friends from the South Coast Striders) hit the trail, totally unaware of my travails in cobbling together the route. Soft sand was still soft sand, though, and leg muscles were soon aflame like the forest at Windigo Pass. But, at least it wasn’t as hot as it could get in the afternoon.

The cool part (literally!) was that after the trail crested and dropped through a series of grassy pastures, the fog rolled in and there’d be no threat of hot sun for the remainder of the day. There’d be little to no visibility either, as the thick fog limited our vision to about 15 feet or so. As we straggled down the beach, we all appeared to each other like spectral hikers from the underworld, ghostly in the thick fog.

Our egress off the beach was Exit 147 and it was an open question as to whether we would see the sign or not. But the exit signs are painted bright yellow and it was just enough color for us to notice as we trod along in our colorless world of gray. So, while our original hike had been nipped and tucked by the Windigo Fire, we did make do in fine fashion.

Read more about this hike on Richard O’Neil’s blog, Richard Hikes

More pictures on Richard O’Neill’s Flickr page

Pictures below by Richard O’Neill

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Rattlesnake Mountain – July 23, 2022

Hike coordinator: Edwin Case

Narration by Lane Harris

If you look at a map you’ll see that Rattlesnake Mountain, Mosquito Lake and Windy Gap are all within a mile of each other. It sure doesn’t sound like a very friendly place to visit. Despite the threatening names given to these various land features, this area in the Rogue-Umpqua Divide Wilderness offers some of the most stunning scenery in our neck of the woods. Perhaps the names were a way to keep hoards of people away from enjoying the beauty of this area. What they should really worry about is the drive to get to the trailhead to Rattlesnake Mountain!

Edwin managed to attract a baker’s dozen for his steep trek to the top of rattlesnake Mountain. But first, he had to get them there…

The route to get to the trailhead in Fish Creek Valley south of the mountain consists, in part, of several miles along a dusty, pothole-filled road. With thick vegetation reaching out to scrape the sides of vehicles, its not the most vehicle-friendly road I’ve been on. However, there are worse roads out there, and at least this one didn’t require 4-wheel drive on this warm July day.

Arriving at the trailhead, hikers laced up their boots and began the march towards the mountain. The first mile was a steady climb along what is really Castle Creek Trail that unsurprisingly originates at Castle Creek. Taking a right at the junction, the trail climbs up to the intersection at Windy Gap. None of us detected any wind here, although we wish there was, as it was starting to get warm. We continued up the Rattlesnake Mountain Trail, and this is where the “difficult” part of the hike really begins to kick in. The trail sidewinds it’s way along the southern side of the mountain, with a fair number of steep parts that make you rethink this hobby called hiking. The saving grace were all the wildflowers that adorned the steep hillsides, along with the many meadows, giving hikers with cameras excuses to stop and take pictures while they catch their breath.

Eventually, and certainly not soon enough, the path took a westerly turn and took a much more gradual approach towards the top, taking us hikers through one of the largest meadows we would encounter this day.

This large meadow near the top afforded us southerly views as we languished in the casual stroll toward the western edge of Rattlesnake Mountain. Eventually, the trail more or less disappears, as adventurous hikers are likely to explore every which way up here. But our destination was the rocky overlook on the western side.

Upon arrival, most of us immediately divested our backpacks and just plopped ourselves on the ground, while others strategically claimed rocky surfaces near the edge of the cliff. Although the views here are limited to mostly to the west and south, they were nonetheless views.

After finishing our mountaintop lunch, the group gathered up and we did some exploring near the northern tree-covered side of the mountain. There, we discovered what was once, to the best of our knowledge, remains of an old lookout. Giant cement blocks indicated that the structure that once stood here was substantial. Some wisecrack comments were made about the poor souls who had to pack these huge cement blocks up the hillside. Obviously, that’s not true, as the likely mode of transportation for these behemoths would have been done by helicopter.

After the history show, we looked forward to making the trek down, this time appreciating the meadows without the heavy breathing like we did on the way up. It was getting warmer by the minute as we hiked down, but at least it was down! We took a left at the Windy Gap intersection, which took us onto new trail. At one point, the trail crosses a small creek, giving hikers two options to traverse it: A log that stretched across to the other side, or the mundane lower path where hikers could just hop across the creek. With the exception a few hikers, everyone else chose the somewhat challenging, but mostly safe log option. Fortunately, no one ended up in the creek below and we applauded each other for this acrobatic accomplishment.

The remainder of the hike took us through mostly wooded hillsides, eventually culminating in tranquil meadows until we reached the road which was just yards from the trailhead. At this last meadow, we were able to turn around and peer up at Rattlesnake Mountain in awe as we speculated about how we actually hiked up that high. With a 1,500 ft elevation gain, this hike earns a well-deserved rating of “difficult”, but the beauty of the meadows and the overall views made the effort we put into it all worth it.

Rattlesnake Moontain

More pictures on Lane Harris’ Flickr page

Pictures below by Lane Harris

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Cowhorn Mountain – July 9, 2022

Hike Coordinator: Coreena Gosselin

Narration by Lane Harris

The planning leading up to this hike was harder than it should’ve been, but with persistence, hike leader Coreena eventually determined that the club could actually hike the ‘ol Cowhorn.

A few weeks prior to the hike, Coreena was unable to even get to the trailhead due to road conditions, thanks to our late snowfall. Then one week before the hike she made it part way up the trail before a threatening thunderstorm and rain chased her off the mountainside. But at least the trail was attainable and she didn’t have to change the hike destination at the last minute.

On the day of the hike, a whopping eighteen hikers headed up the highway toward Windigo Pass and the trailhead. It was around eleven o’clock before boots hit the Pacific Crest Trail, which by the way, was quite crowded with thru-hikers gathering at the trailhead while they refilled containers with fresh water, thanks to generous trail angels.

The climb up to the base of Cowhorn Mountain is a nice steady grade, made backpacker friendly for the PCT folks who have more weight in their packs than us puny day hikers. Nonetheless, the 4 miles of “steady climb” made each of us huff and puff on this warm summer day.

As hikers rounded each corner that had a view looking up at the mountain, many voices could be heard saying, “We’re going up THERE?”. Seeing Cowhorn Mountain from below can be quite intimidating, to say the least. But we pressed on…

Although we began with eighteen eager hikers, that number dwindled some as the trail proved a bit too tough for some as they wisely chose to turn around and call it a day. The remaining hikers continued the trudge up the trail, some perhaps thinking that the ones who turned around were possibly the smarter ones of the bunch…

We hit a few patches of snow on the trail when we were about a mile from the junction that veers off the PCT to Cowhorn. These small icy obstacles did little in slowing us down, as they were easily managed by just walking up and over them.

At the junction, the trail angles off to the right and heads up to Cowhorn. Everything up to this point was just a warmup for the next section, which is a short but extremely steep climb that switches back and forth on a loose, rocky hillside. This is the mountain making it’s declaration to hikers: “If you can pass this torture test, then you are worthy of summiting my peak!” For those who did make this incredibly sheer ascent, they were rewarded with a moderate walk across an attractive saddle filled with red and orange volcanic rock. Tremendous views were enjoyed from this area, but the top of the mountain was calling to some of us, so we continued on…

I wasn’t really sure how many hikers were in front of me, but I did know that number was not eighteen! The last task of attaining the summit of Cowhorn Mountain requires hikers to replace their trekking poles with their hands, as the remaining 50 feet is a scramble up solid volcanic rock. As I reached the top, I was greeted by what I termed as fellow Cowhornians. In all, only eight of us had achieved Cowhornhood, and it was magnificent! Precariously perched atop the small, uneven surface, we ate a well-deserved lunch as we enjoyed the 360-degree views.

If you can name it, we saw it. Crescent Lake dominated the view immediately to the north, and we could make out Diamond Peak, the Three Sisters, and even Mount Washington and Jefferson further to the north. To the south we easily made out Mt Thielsen and Bailey, and even further away, Mt McLoughlin near Medford.

After much oohing and ahhing, we slowly and carefully made the climb off the top, taking in the views once more on the way down. Coming off of Cowhorn Mountain requires attention to detail, as boots tend to slip and slide coming down the scree slope. We met up with the rest of the group who had gathered near the bottom of the mountain near the PCT. From here, it was all downhill.

This 9-mile out and back hike is not an easy hike, by no means. In fact, some of us commented to the newer hikers that if they can do this, they can do any hike that pops up on our schedule. I’m not sure if that remark was received as a compliment meant to encourage them to hike with us again, or as a discouragement to never hike with us again!