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
