Upper Rogue Trail

April 18, 2015

Since warmer temperatures were in the forecast, we decided to drive up to the Union Creek area and stretch our legs (and Katie's) for a long and beautiful hike along the Rogue River

The Upper Rogue trail stretches over 40 miles along the Rogue River.  One end is at the Mount Mazama Viewpoint in the north, the other end is at the Prospect Reservior Park in the south.  In between there are various access points that allow for short or long day hikes.  We chose the Woodruff Bridge Picnic area for our access on today's hike.

We began by hiking from our car to the Woodruff Bridge and seeing the beautiful falls directly upstream.  Not sure if the falls have a name or not, but Woodruff Falls would seem like a good name.  We then began our trek that would take us from Woodruff Bridge south to the River Bridge Campground and back again.

Within the first mile we encountered two places where large trees had fallen into the river and taken with them large amounts of the riverbank, including the trail!  We worked our way around these areas and rejoined the trail without having to do too much bushwhacking.

Even though the Rogue River is a little low for this time of year, it was still very beautiful to hike along this scenic river and enjoy the fresh smell of the woods.  It didn't take long for the noise of the river to increase as we arrived at the beginning of Takelma Gorge.

View of the beginning of the Takelma Gorge from 2014 hike

We took a break to enjoy the viewpoint and did notice  a few new logs at the beginning of the gorge that had been washed downstream over the winter.  The trail at this point became very rocky as we hiked up above the gorge, but always within sound of the rushing water below.

After the gorge segment we enjoyed hiking on softer ground and were treated to a few wildflower varieties: small white trilliums, yellow woodland violets,  snow queen, and even some fairy slipper orchids.  The British Soldiers that we saw last year when hiking with our friend Richard, were present as well.

Faily Slipper Orchids

Snow Queen

Trillium

Yellow Woodland Violets

We arrrived at the River Bridge CG after 2 hours of hiking and found an empty campsite where we could sit down, eat, and enjoy a nice break.  In Katie's opinion, the salmon jerky was the best item for lunch, followed closely by a banana.

Once rested and refreshed, we began our return hike to Woodruff Bridge.  One highlight of the hike back was seeing a Pileated Woodpecker fly by and land on a tree within viewing distance.  We have seen these very large woodpeckers a couple of times while hiking Roxy Ann, but never along the Rogue River.

After our two hour hike back to Woodruff Bridge, we decided to continue on the trail and hike a few extra minutes north.  As a result we finished our hike at 10.1 miles -- our first 10+ mile hike of the year.  A long hike -- a beautiful river -- temperatures in the 70's.  What a great day!

Trekking Together
Glenn & Carol

April 7 -- Repeat Hiking

Just a quick posting to update those of you who follow our blog........

Since our last posting in March, all of our hikes have been on trails that we have hiked before and as a result we have already done postings on them.  Please feel free to check out some of those past postings.  As always, if you have questions on any of the hikes, email us at tablerocktrekker@gmail.com.

Those hikes include the Jacksonville Woodland Trails which we have hiked 3 times this past month as we enjoy seeing the constant change from winter into spring.

We also went camping with our daughter Maggie at Harris Beach State Park and enjoyed hiking in the park as well as along the beach.  We included a few pictures from that trip for your viewing pleasure.  One disclaimer though.  In his second ever attempt at taking a selfie, Glenn broke our camera.  Yes, this is no joke.  The camera flash went off, Glenn flinched, and the camera froze.  The lens will not recede, the camera will not turn off, and as a result, we are shoping around for a new camera.  We included that selfie below, not to scare you, but to warn you of  the hazards of selfies!!

Kaite enjoying the beach!!

View from cove along one of the State Park trails

Sunset at Harris Beach

ONE VERY GOOD REASON TO NOT TAKE A SELFIE!!!

We hiked Lower Table Rock about a week ago and really enjoyed all the wildflowers that were in bloom along the trail and at the plateau, including one of our favorites, Fiddleneck.  We also got to see a large number of wild turkeys while hiking the short nature trail located near the parking lot.

Yesterday we hiked the Roxy Ann loop at Prescott Park and braved the cold winds and gravel pit trucks. We were once again treated to the many colors of the spring bloom!

So we are still out there hitting the trails and look forward to some new hikes planned for late spring and summer with names like "Mule Mountain", "Mount Elijah", "Eel Lake" and "Cape Perpetua".  Let the adventures continue!!!

Trekking Together
Glenn & Carol