Applegate Ridge Trail - East

October 1, 2017

Here in Southern Oregon there have been many trails added during the year for us locals to hike. New segments have been created at the Jacksonville Forest Park to bring their trail count to 25.  Prescott Park has added new trails as they begin their upgrade and expansion which includes a new parking area and kiosks throughout the park. But our goal today was to try out the new Applegate Ridge Trail East - "The ART".

Time to go hike the ART!

The Applegate Ridge Trail is currently a work in progress.  The goal is to have a trail from the Cathedral Hills trail system in Grants Pass to the Jack-Ash (Jacksonville to Ashland) trail located in Jacksonville.  When completed, this would be over 50 miles of trail from Grants Pass to Ashland.  But don't worry, there are plans for various trailheads along the route that would allow access for day hikes.

First view of the Applegate Valley from the trail

 That is where our hike today fit in. Our friend Richard drove down from Roseburg to join us as the lure of a "new" trail was too much to pass up. We began our hike at the trailhead off Sterling Creek Road to try the this just completed 5.6 mile segment which ends at Route 238 near Ruch.  There are plans to have a trailhead at the Route 238 junction in 2018.

Hiking along the trail with a view of the trail crossing the ridge up ahead.

The first 3 miles or so offered us incredible views of the Applegate Valley with the Autumn colors of the grasses, poison oak, and a few trees that have begun to change colors. Richard was hooked on this trail within minutes and exclaimed "this is why we hike!"  The varying weather of sun, clouds and even a little rain, only enhanced the color and beauty that surrounded us as we hiked along the ridge.

Some of the Autumn color we saw along our hike

At times the trail led us into forested areas and offered a contrast and change of view from the ridge portion, but was still just as beautiful to hike.  After the first 3 miles or so, the trail begins to slowly descend on its way down to the Route 238 junction.  We did not hike all the way to the end, but found a spot just a half mile short of the end where we took a nice break and told old hiking stories. Richard did not bring a banana for our dog Katie, so she had to suffer by eating jerky and dog biscuits.

Peeking through the oaks from the trail

A tree that has seen better days, but still beautiful.

Our return hike began with climbing back up to the more level ridge segment and allowed us once again to take a deep breath and enjoy the quiet and beauty of the surrounding hills, mountains and woods.  When we finished our hike, we had logged 10.5 miles.  Richard  enjoyed the trail so much that he is hoping to bring the Friends of the Umpqua Hiking Club down to try a shuttle hike of this segment.

Great views on a beautiful Autumn hike!

If you are interested in a shorter distance, there was a bench at about the 2.5 - 3 mile mark which had an incredible view and allows you to sit down and take a break before hiking back.

Looking up the ridge from the trail

If you are interested and want more information on the ART, Jack-Ash and other trails in the area, be sure to check out the website for the Applegate Trail Association and the Siskiyou Uplands Trail Association.  Their websites have great information, maps, and updates and you can also sign up to receive emails/newsletters from both.  Happy Autumn Hiking!!

Trekking Together
Glenn & Carol

Mule Mountain Trail

May 3, 2015

Just seeing the words Mule Mountain Trail on a trailhead sign would be enough to stop some folks from even attempting the hike.  Add to that these two facts: 1) Mule Mountain is said to have received its name during the Indian War period when mules, pulling a howitzer (a small artillery piece) supposedly slipped off the trail and fell in to the creek. 2) It was on the Mule Mountain Trail that the Friends of the Umpqua Hiking Club first used the phrase "Richard Hike" to designate a long, uphill both ways, tough hike, which in this case was led by one of it's members - Richard.

So despite all those facts, we decided to call our hiking friend Richard (the same as noted above) and plan a hike up the Mule Mountain Trail -- after all, we have never hiked this trail and how do you know how tough a trail really is until you have hiked it?

After meeting Richard in Ruch, we drove up the Applegate Lake Road to a turnout just past mile marker 12.  Sometimes the trail sign is knocked over which makes finding the trail start a little more challenging, but today it was there in plain sight.....and so the adventure began.

Uphill we go.....lots of tall grass and poison oak along the trail too.

The first 1 - 1.5 miles of trail were uphill, but it was a slow steady uphill, not too bad, as we hiked up through a shaded forest area filled with wildflowers.  Stops were made often on this hike as there was not only a large variety of wildflowers, but also large quantities of each of those varieties!  This trail is a great wildflower hike, but I digress.

Having completed the first "section" of the trail, we then entered the next 1 - 1.5 miles  of trail which was very similar except for one slight difference, gone for the most part were the trees and shady areas -- replaced now by sunshine and heat.  The actual steepness also remained about the same so we were still skeptical about the stories and warnings as noted in the first paragraph of this post.  On we trekked, enjoying Lupines,  Starflowers, Cat's Ear, and the many other wildflowers as well as the incredible views of the surrounding mountians and valleys.

Starflower

Cat's Ear

Lupine

Then we came to the last portion of our 4.2 mile hike out to the base of Baldy Peak.  Still great views....still lots of wildflowers.....still lots of sunshine and increasing heat.......but the trail went into another gear and we found ourselves steeply climbing to  what we could see would be our turnaround point.  It seemed so close, but seemed to take a long time to reach.

After much effort we made it to a lone large tree below Baldy Peak which provided us with shade as we took a much needed break for food & drink.  The toughness of the trail though was quickly lost as we took in the views and the sound of silence during our break.  Occasionaly the wind would blow through and it was so nice just to sit there and take it all in  - it was worth the effort.

One of the many views

But all good things must come to an end and eventually we knew it was time to head back down.  As much as uphill hiking can be tough, sometimes it is the downhill that wears on our knees the most.  So even though our bodies wanted to head down the trail quickly, we had to pace ourselves so that we would live to hike another day.  Once again we were treated to an incredible display of wildflowers and got to see the mountain and valley views that we did not see on the way up.

One of the locals checking us out near Baldy Peak

Yes, the heat does affect Glenn in strange ways!

Yes we were tired after the 8.5 mile hike was done, but we were also glad that we could and did hike this trail.  We fared far better than those mules in the Indian War period and we survived a "Richard HIke" as well. Not bad for one day of hiking.

Trekking Together

Glenn & Carol

P.S. We want to say a special "thank you" to Richard for joining us on this namesake hike and for also sending us some pictures that we could use on our posting.  Please visit Richard's hiking blog by clicking here.  He should have his side of the story posted soon and usually includes a link to pictures of each hike.