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

Legburner, Claimjumper & Sophie's Trail @ Jacksonville Forest Park

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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