Grizzly Peak

Time to start one of our favorite hikes!

With the temperatures rising and the snow melting, it was time to hike one of our favorite local trails, Grizzly Peak in Ashland.  We were joined by Glenn's sister Karen and Friends of the Umpqua hiker Richard.

We arrived at the trailhead around 10:00 am and found the parking area quite full already.  This is a very popular and pretty hike,  and at 5.4 miles a relatively easy hike.  Yet it is loaded with lots of beauty and great views of the surrounding areas and mountains.


The first 1.2 miles took us up and through nicely wooded areas where trilliums, yellow violets and snow queen flowers lined our trail. It is a steady climb and with the higher temps, got us warmed up quickly. We arrived at the 3-mile loop trail at the top and hiked it counter-clockwise today, although we have hiked it both ways in the past.

One of the last snow patches

The first stop on the loop was the official Grizzly Peak summit - which really has no view and does not look like a summit, but it is the highest point. The area was covered with avalanche lilies on both sides of the trail which made up for summit.  This forested section of the trail did have a few patches of snow left, but with the recent heat it won't last long.

2002 fire area

The next area of the loop consisted of meadows with wildflowers which are watched over by the burnt tree remains from the 2002 fire that swept through this area.  Some may say that this area is ugly, but we think it has a unique beauty of it's own and as a result of that fire, smaller plants and flowers have grown in over the years adding beautiful colors to the landscape.  I have added some pictures of these flowers at the end of this posting.  It was great to have Richard along today since he knows so many varieties of flowers and could tell us the names.

Richard trekking along the trail

After hiking along the ridge through the burnt area, we climbed up and around to the rockier areas of the loop with views of Mount Ashland and Mount Shasta. Even in this rocky soil there were flowers - desert parsley, paintbrush, balsamroot and larkspur to name a few.  We really got to see a lot of flower varieties throughout today's hike.

We completed the loop after hiking through a few more meadows and wooded areas and made our descent back to the trailhead parking area. Although we were tired and it was hot, we once again enjoyed hiking this great trail.  So much to see!!!

If you have not hiked the Grizzly Peak trail , we highly recommend  you give it a try. Richard did and we think he is hooked.  It is one of those hikes you could do every month (snowshoe in the winter?) and be treated each time to a wide variety of beauty and outstanding views.

Trekking Together
Glenn & Carol

Oregon Anemone

Ballhead Waterleaf

Dwarf Hesperochiron

Yellow Bells

Snow Queen