Rogue Gorge Loop – October 2, 2021

Hike Coordinator: Richard O’Neill

This hike was supposed to go to Cliff and Buckeye Lakes, located in the Rogue-Umpqua Divide Wilderness. But due to wildfire closing the road to Skimmerhorn Trailhead we opted to visit the Upper Rogue which had the fall colors thing going on and as an additional bonus, there were no wildfires in the area.

10 hikers set out on the trail and the first item of interest was Rogue Gorge, where the Rogue funnels into a narrow slot canyon that used to be a lava tube before the roof collapsed during some bygone millennia. Also at the Gorge viewpoint area is the Living Stump which is a stump whose roots melded with the roots of nearby trees and so manages to live despite showing no outward signs of life. It kind of reminded me of when I take Lane hiking with me! I vote his trail name should become Living Stump!

Once we began hiking downstream along the Rogue River, the fall colors became the reason for doing this hike. Every tint and hue that can be found on the warm end of the color spectrum was readily seen in the ample vegetation growing along the river, often all on one single leaf! Across the river and in the bright sunlight, the colors were so bright we had to wear sunglasses so as to prevent further retinal damage.

About halfway to Natural Bridge we switched river sides by walking over a bridge at  particularly scenic stretch of wild river seething in yet another collapsed lava tube. This allowed us to walk in the more brightly colored and more sunlit side even though it meant we had to hike on the only uphill section of trail.

At Natural Bridge, the Rogue disappears from sight while it travels a short distance underground in an uncollapsed lava tube, and reemerges about 100 feet downstream. The sight of the river bounding between boulders was awesome and we all stopped to gawk at the splendor of it all.

After lunch at Natural Bridge, it was a perfunctory 3.5 mile walk along the river. Because the afternoon sun was high in the sky, each side of the river was the sunny side now. Accordingly, we hiked in veritable rainbow of autumn-colored foliage on the way back.

The Upper Rogue, in my opinion, is the best fall hike in southern Oregon and we certainly all enjoyed this hike, it was a great show.

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

Read about this hike on Richard O’Neill’s Blog

YouTube video

Pictures below by Richard O’Neill

Cooper Creek Reservoir – September 4, 2021

Hike Coordinator: Nancy Johnson

Narration by Nancy Johnson

Cooper Creek reservoir is always a great close hike and a great way to stay active. We had 8 brave souls, with 4 of them new faces on this very smoky day. Early morning wasn’t too bad regarding air quality, but it did catch up to us at the end.

John was adventurous leading 5 on the new trail after the upper boat ramp. This side of the trail still has not been completed , so they “bushwacked” up the hill to get on the road.  I kept to the road with 2 in tow.

It was a great day,  thank you to all that showed up. 

Pictures below by Nancy Johnson

Siltcoos Lake Trail – August 21, 2021

Hike Coordinator: Rheo Wheeler

Narration by Rheo Wheeler

We had five that traveled from Roseburg, meeting two who traveled north from camping at Eel Lake that took part in the Siltcoos Lake loop trail. The weather was perfect after rain showers passed through, although the trail was dry.

This trail is very shady with all the undulations of a typical Richard hike, uphill both ways. Wait this wasn’t a Richard hike though. Most of the boggy areas had dried out although there was still one creek running to the lake.

We had lunch with views of the lake before completing the loop. On the north end of the loop there were many stumps left from the 30’s where you could see the axe cuts from where they put the springboards in to use crosscut saws to take the trees down. These hallmarks from the old logging days are finally fading after 90 years.

A short 4.5 mile trail: Perfect for the old lady who picked it.

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

Read about this hike on Richard O’Neill’s Blog

Pictures below by Rheo Wheeler, Richard O’Neill and Lane Harris

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