Great Grey Owl @ Jacksonville Woodland Trails

Monday, May 11, 2020

Each year we hike at the Jacksonville Woodland Trails 20-30 times.  But over the past couple of weeks we have become owl whisperers.  In the last 3 hikes @ JWT, we have had 5 sightings of owls.  These sightings are along the White Oak trail for those of you who live in Southern Oregon and/or hike at the Jacksonville Woodland Trails.  One of the owls we saw in the past was about 20 or so feet from us, but we didn't have our camera and the our phone picture was mostly a dark silhouette.  When we did have our camera, the owls always were too far away and we had to settle for using our binoculars for a view.  But today, yes finally today, we saw not one, but two owls on our hike and we had our camera.  The first was not too far off the trail and was on a branch of a pine tree and is in the photos below.

First owl sighting which we think was a young owl

Same young owl just a slightly closer picture from a differnt angle on the trail.

We  are not sure what type of owl it was - let us know if you have any idea.  However, just a little further down the trail, Carol almost walked under a Great Grey owl that was literally 10 feet from us.  We spent 5-10 minutes just taking in the beauty of this creature and even got to point out the owl to two other people on the trail.  We even had Katie with us, yet the owl stayed right there on the branch for us. Incredible!

Our Great Grey friend @ JWT

Hope you enjoy the pictures and if you are in the Southern Oregon area, get out to those trails and find an owl if you can.  They are there, you just have to look real carefully.

Trekking Together
Glenn and Carol

February Hiking Update

February 28, 2020

During the month of February we hit the trail 7 more times including a nice 9.2 mile hike through every corner and height of Prescott Park.  Since there has been little rain or snow this month, plus lots of sunshine, the flowers are already making their "pre-spring" appearance in some areas.

Oaks Toothwort

Marsh Marigolds

One of many young bucks we saw at the JWT

The first Spring flower we saw this month was the Western Buttercup as we hiked the Lower Table Rock trail.  That was followed by Oaks Toothwort at the Jacksonville Woodlands Trails.  During this last week of February we have seen Grass Widows, Fawn Lilies, Houndstongue and Indian Warriors.  Seems like all of these are a few weeks early due to the warmer and drier weather here in Southern Oregon.

Houndstongue

Grass Widow

Indian Warrior

As March approaches we can only anticipate even more flowers along the trails and when combined with the start of daylight savings time, it makes for one of the high mileage hiking months of the year for us.  We plan on some new trails in March too and will try to post those as  time allows.  Till then, get out and enjoy nature as Spring arrives.

Trekking Together
Glenn and Carol

2019 Hiking Begins

January 5, 2019

As the new year begins, we look forward to getting out and hiking old and new trails throughout the year.  In 2018 we hiked more times (90), more miles (465.3), more long hikes of 10+ miles or 4 hours (6) and our average miles per hike even surpassed our previous personal best too.  We traveled out to Wyoming to visit our daughter and got to hike in the Snowy Mountains again and we checked off another of Oregon's 7 Wonders when we visited and hiked at Smith Rock State Park.

Snowy Mountains

Smith Rock State Park

In 2019 we hope to make a few trips to the coast where we plan to hike Floras Lake, Cape Perpetua, and more of the Oregon Coast Trail (OCT).  With the year only 5 days old, we have already been out hiking 3 times, although all were relatively short hikes.

On January 1 we hiked at Touvelle State Park. The trail took us along the Rogue River and Little Butte Creek.  Then we did a quick 1 hour hike at the Jacksonville Woodland Trails one day after Glenn got off work.  We basically hiked till it was dark which comes early this time of year.

Today we hiked at Prescott Park as we tried to get a hike in before some winter storms arrived.  As we hiked the Manzanita Trail up to the top of Roxy Ann, the wind preceding the storms hit and it felt like we were hiking at the coast.  Needless to say, we did not stop and take many pictures for fear of being blown off the trail or having a tree blown on top of us, but we did get one short of an old Oak tree along the Manzanita trail that didn't seem to mind the wind at all.

Old oak along the Manzanita trail at Prescott Park

On the hike back to our car the winds really picked up and a few times we could not even step forward as the wind blew some gusts at an estimated 60 mph.  We found that Katie doesn't like hiking in the wind as the extreme gusts made her really pull to get back to the car.

As the year goes on we hope to share our adventures with  you and look forward to hearing your comments and questions.  Hopefully you set a goal to get out and walk or hike in 2019.  In which case we look forward to hearing of your adventures.

Trekking Together
Glenn & Carol

Jacksonville Woodland Trails

October 17, 2017

"No spring nor summer beauty hath such grace as I have seen in one autumnal face"
--- John Dunne

After hiking Elk Creek on Sunday, we wanted to get back out and experience Autumn again before it is gone.  So after work we made a quick trip to the Jacksonville Woodland Trails and hiked for a few hours.  Lots of yellow color, blue sky and sunshine!  Also saw turkeys, deer and squirrels.  Katie wanted to chase the squirrels or at least climb the trees after them, but was on leash and prohibited.  No need for any commentary on this hike.....just enjoy the pictures.

Trekking Together
Glenn & Carol

Autumn & the Jacksonville Woodland Trails

September 22, 2017

HAPPY AUTUMN!

Finally as the season changes, the heat and especially the smoke are gone.  It has been a while since we have posted a hike so we thought we would post today's hike to get you up to date.  We have been hiking over the last couple of months, but mostly local trails.  Even those hikes though have been limited since Southern Oregon was in a cloud of smoke for quite some time due to all the forest fires in every direction.  For 29 straight days we had air in the unhealthy range!

Time for some AUTUMN hiking!

But since today was the first day of Autumn and there were blue skies, big white clouds and temps in the low 70's, we headed out to the Jacksonville Woodland Trails after work and got in a couple hours of beautiful hiking.

The colors are a changing.

Some many trails, so many options!

The grasses are now all brown, trees and bushes are slowly beginning to change, and acorns litter the ground in the oak tree groves.  During our hike today we saw many busy squirrels, a few deer, a rafter of turkeys, along with a few crows and a flicker. Sorry but we didn't get pictures of any of them.  Maybe it was the Katie factor?

One of many great views of the hills in Applegate and blue sky.

The shadow knows it's Autumn

Jacksonville Woodland Trails - half in sunshine, half in the shade as evening begins.

Well that's it for now. Since Autumn is our favorite season of the year, we look forward to getting out as often as possible and plan to hike a few new trails that have been on our radar during the summer.  Hope to share those and more with you soon.

Trekking Together
Glenn & Carol

Cathedral Hills Park - Grants Pass

January 29, 2017

As January comes to a close, we got in a couple of local hikes.  First on Friday we revisited the Jacksonville Woodland Trails to find that most were now clear of snow and ice.  That being said, they were now muddy.  But hikers can't always be choosy and Katie loved getting her paws all muddy!  The sun was out while we hiked for 4.3 miles and we got to see wild turkeys, deer, and even our Screech Owl friend on the Britt Ridge trail.

Time to hike in Grants Pass!

On Sunday we drove over to Grants Pass and hiked at Cathedral Hills Park.  Our 6.7 mile hike consisted of hiking out to and on the Wild Rose Loop followed by hiking what is probably the most popular trail at Cathedral Hills Park, the Outback Loop.  We started both hikes at the Espy TH.

Looking up the ridge at the inversion layer.

One the views of Grants Pass - where???

We found out that even though Medford had some clearing and sunshine, Grants Pass was all about the inversion layer, so we literally hiked "in the clouds".  We kept trying to envision the wildflowers that will be all along these trails in a few months.  For now the trails were mostly lined with creeks & puddles from the winter weather.

View of the Outback Trail from the Outback Trail

 We did get to see a large Pileated Woodpecker while hiking the "W" trail out to the Wild Rose Loop.  We couldn't get a picture, but if you want to see what a Pileated Woodpecker looks like, click here.

The start of what we consider the toughest climb on the Outback Loop!

Well that's about it for now.  Felt great to get out a stretch the legs again and soon the wildflowers will be here!

Trekking Together
Glenn & Carol

Jacksonville Woodland Trails

January 16, 2017
5.2 miles

We had originally planned to start our 2017 hiking with a "First Day"  hike.  However the year started with record snow, rain, snow, wind, snow....well you get the picture.  Yes Southern Oregon did not feel Southern at all for the first few weeks of January.  So our "First Day" hike became a "Birthday" day hike as we celebrated Glenn's birthday by stretching our legs for the first time in 2017.

Time to get hiking in 2017!!!!

We had thought about the Elk Creek trail, but heard reports that there was still 3-6 inches of snow.  Then we thought about hiking at Stewart State Park, but it was a longer drive and we heard of recent cougar sightings plus it is at a higher elevation than Elk Creek, so who knows what snow and ice awaited us there.  So we chose a lower elevation multiple trail hike at the Jacksonville Woodland Trails and still found snow!!

Katie celebrates the snow by making snow puppies.

We parked by the Jacksonville Library and used the Britt Festival entrance as we started down the Sarah Ziegler trail and found it covered in ice and snow. While beautiful, it was slow going.  Jackson Creek was full and flowing fast from recent rains and the snow melt, so we enjoyed seeing and hearing the creek as we started our hike.

Some portions of the trails were still completely covered in snow.....

....while other trails were visible and surrounded by snow.

Jackson Creek running full and fast.

We then went up the Jackson Forks trail, took a connecting trail to the South View trail, and made our way along the Sugar Pine trail.  Most of these trails were snow free with some mud, but when the sun came out with blue skies, we forgot about any trail issues.

Icicles along the Bebee Woods trail

We eventually made our way past the Chinese diggings and hiked the Bebee Woods loop.  It was here that we saw our first deer of the day.  After hiking through a neighborhood segment, we hiked up the Grove Woods trail and saw a large group of deer that were not too sure about Katie, but stayed put so that we could get pictures and enjoy their beauty.

We finished our hike by going down one side of the Beekman Canyon Loop and through some more neighborhoods till we arrived back at our car.  Even the Beekman House suffered some damage from the recent storms as a tree was blown down and had to be removed.

Tree damage at the Beekman House

It felt good to get out and finally start hiking in 2017.  Hope you will follow along throughout the year and better yet, that you take some time to get our and enjoy a walk or hike yourself.

Trekking Together
Glenn & Carol

P.S.  For those of you who live in the Southern Oregon area, we found two more blogs that provide great info and pictures of local hikes.  They are vanmarmot.org and oregonnater.wordpress.com.  Both have been added to our blog page and we hope you will take the time to check them out.

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

First Wildflower Blooms of 2015!!

Just a quick post to share with you what we saw while yesterday, Friday the 13th  --- the first wildflower blooms of 2015!!!

While hiking the Beekman Canyon Loop trail, which is part of the Jacksonville Woodland Trails, there along the sunny more open portion of the loop were numerous Hounds Tongue flowers already in bloom and one (yes, just one) Shooting Star.  Later, along The Grove Woods trail, we were treated to about a dozen bright yellow Marsh Marigolds in bloom.  Spring is coming.........

Hounds Tongue along Beekman Canyon Loop trail.

The one lonely but beautiful Shooting Star.

Bright cheerful Marsh Marigold

Hope these pictures brighten your Friday the 13th - Valentine's Day - President's Day weekend.

Trekking Together
Glenn & Carol