September 24, 2017
After welcoming Autumn with a hike at the Jacksonville Woodland Trails on Friday, we decided to get out and enjoy the absolutely beautiful Autumn weather in Southern Oregon again. This time we went across the highway to the Jacksonville Forest Park.
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| A hiker's worst nightmare? |
Over the past year the Forest Park has added some new trials to bring the total number of trails to 25. We have hiked all of them except -- the Legburner, Claimjumper, and Sophie's trails. So today our goal was to hike out to those 3 trials and hike them to complete the hiking cycle.
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| Oregon Grapes in their Autumn splendor |
We parked in the main parking area (P1) and hiked along the Norling, Canyon Falls (yes there was still some water in the creek), and Jackson Ridge trails for about an hour. We then took a nice break at one of the viewpoint benches and enjoyed the quiet and views of the valley which included a snow covered Mount McLoughlin.
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| The view on our break along Jackson Ridge - Mt McLoughlin is left of center with snow. |
After 3 miles of hiking we finally came to the trailhead of the Claimjumper trail. Many of the wooded areas along this trail were full of Madrone trees which are now shedding their bark after having dropped many leaves. The trail and surrounding areas were covered and it made for a noisy crunchy hike. It also meant that no wild animals could sneak up and surprise us, so that was good too.
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| Claimjumper trail with Madrone trees, bark, and leaves. |
Eventually we arrived at the junction with the Legburner trail and made the turn to head up to the top of the ridge. We hiked this trail south to north and felt it was not that bad. It did climb, but was manageable. As we headed down the other side from the ridge, the trail seemed much steeper. So if you want a challenge, hike the Legburner from north to south and let us know how that went.
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| The one and only other hiker we met on the Jackson Ridge, Legburner & Sophie's trails |
The Legburner trail ended at Sophie's trail and we made a left turn and hiked half of the very shaded trail till we reached the Jackson Creek trail. The woods along Sophie's trail were thick with trees and despite being in the afternoon, the sun was blocked out by both the ridge and trees. It was probably our favorite trail of the day.
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| Exit stage left |
The Jackson Creek trail took us back to the Norling trail which took us back to our car. At times Jackson Creek had water and then it would disappear and the creek would go dry, only to have water reappear again. Katie preferred the water filled portions since they provided opportunities for a quick dip.
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| Fallen Autumn foliage along the Jackson Creek trail |
Between the blue skies, some Autumn color, the peaceful quietness and wonderful smells of the woods, it was a nice 7.8 hike to wrap up the first weekend of Autumn.
Trekking Together
Glenn & Carol
