Stewart State Park

March 28, 2017

Since it was Spring Break week here in Southern Oregon, we made a break for Stewart State Park (officially it is called Joseph H Stewart State Recreational Area) for our first 10+ mile hike of the year.

Even the slugs were out for a Spring Break hike!

We began our hike at the day use parking lot and following the bike path for about 2.5 miles through woods which included many large Madrones and along open grassy fields with some very old oak trees. We got to see (and smelled) a few Yellow Skunk Cabbage flowers while passing a creek in route to Peyton Bridge.

The pretty and stinky Yellow Skunk Cabbage flower

Just before Peyton Bridge we made a sharp left turn and continued following the paved pathway which was now the Rogue River Trail.  This portion follows the Lost Creek Lake shoreline most of the time till arriving at the day use area.  It was also our favorite portion of trail during today's hike as it wandered through thickly forested areas, provided viewpoints of the very full Lost Creek Lake, crossed over various bridges, and passed numerous small creeks and waterfalls.  It was in this portion that we also got a good look at a large Pileated Woodpecker and saw Snow Queen, Yellow Violets and Oak Toothwort wildflowers.

Snow Queen

A very full  Lost Creek Lake

A black fungus thingy!?

Hiking and doing the Limbo Dance on the same trail!!

Once we arrived back at the day use area we decided to continue hiking on the Rogue River Trail towards the dam.  We made Upper Rumley Creek falls our turnaround point (just short of the dam) due to time restraints but made sure to take a few minutes to enjoy the falls beauty and sound.  This side of the lake also had the most tree downfall from the winter storms this year, but we were able to navigate the few trees still across the trail.

Upper Rumley Creek Falls

When our hike ended back at the day use area we had covered 10.4 miles in 4 1/2 hours and only had sore feet which was due to most of the trail being paved.  Not bad at our age. As a reward we stopped at the Picnic Basket Deli located in the Fishin' Hole Fly Shop in Shady Cove and picked up Veggie and Philly Cheesesteak sandwiches for dinner to top off a great day and hike.

Trekking Together
Glenn and Carol