North Umpqua Trail (Mott Segment)

Even though this hike was done in early May, much of the quality of hiking in our little piece of Oregon in 2019 has been and will be determined by the aftermath of February's Snowpocalypse. The wet and heavy snow, lots of it too, knocked down tons of trees onto all the trails in our Umpqua National Forest. When you have a horizontal forest lying across most trails, well it does make it rather hard to find a trail to hike on, doesn't it?

The Forest Service crew's handiwork

The North Umpqua Trail (NUT) was no exception to the tree carnage, despite its exalted status as a National Recreation Trail. However, the Forest Service had dispatched a trail crew to clear out the Mott Segment of the venerable NUT, and at the time of this hike, that was the only segment that had been reopened following the February storm. Well, since the only other option was to hike on a closed segment and do a "boot camp" hike over, under, around, and through all the tree obstacles, we were good with hiking on the Mott Segment.

Moss covers all that does not move

Ten hikers and one dog showed up for this one and it was a happy scene as twenty boots and four paws set out on the trail on a fine spring day. The sun was shining, the sky was gloriously blue and cloudless, and the temperature was perfectly mild. Normally, I complain loudly and vociferously (some would say shrilly, even) about having to hike on the frigid shady side of the North Umpqua River but on a day like this day, the shade was equally pleasant as the sunny side of the river, temperature-wise.

The North Umpqua Trail, on a fine spring day

The day was quintessentially spring, and winter had been completely banished to nice-weather purgatory for the next six months or so. Because it was truly and fully spring, the burgeoning forest vegetation was exploding into riotous profusion along all things North Umpqua, be it trail or river. Green was the color of the day with all manner of trees, vines, shrubs, bushes, and other assorted vegetative life forms sending out vigorous leafy growth to compete for what little sun actually reaches the forest floor. 

Fern, still in the process of uncurling 

Ferns were plentiful, their rolled-up fronds still in the process of unfurling, making the curlicued polypodiophytes (ferns, in plain speak) with their curled "elephant trunks" look like some kind of strange vegetative pachyderms (fancy word for elephant-like life forms). By the way, I looked up the definition of "pachyderm" and the root words mean "thick-skinned", so I know plenty of overly sensitive hiking friends and comrades who are definitely not pachyderms in the etymological sense of the word. But I digress...

Wild ginger flowers are just weird

Wildflowers are very much a thing in spring and where there are wildflowers, there is me, lying prone on the trail photographically documenting seemingly every flower I see. My favorite flower is the wild ginger because like me, it's a little hard to find, it's brown, and it's hairy. Well, that's zero true out of three statements, but suffice to say that the flower is the very antithesis of  what a flower should look like. By the way, "Wild Ginger" used to be my stage name, but that's another sad story best left untold in a hiking blog. Bless its little brown alien-looking head though, and I soon lagged behind because of my photographic search for the perfect specimen. One other plus to wild ginger are the aromatic and flavorful leaves which taste like...well, they taste like ginger. I crumpled up a couple of the heart-shaped leaves and dropped them into my hydration bladder so I could drink refreshing ginger-flavored water for the duration of the hike.

Calypso orchids are just flamboyant

Most of the floral specie were white in color, with calypso orchid being a notable exception. The flamboyant flowers were in full samba song, dancing in a conga line across the forest floor, appearing strikingly exotic and tropical among all the staid and overly dignified conifer and maple trees. The orchid Carnaval presented yet more opportunities for me to lie prone on the ground and lag behind!

The North Umpqua River, all day long

The North Umpqua River was a constant companion on this mostly level hike, the waters glowing blue-green in the seasonal sunlight. In winter, the river runs fairly silty and can even sport the same dull muddy brown color of a wild ginger flower. But in spring, the river begins to clear up and we could see previously hidden rocks lurking just below the surface, eagerly waiting to unpleasantly surprise river kayakers and rafters. At best, if they couldn't triumphantly snag a boat, the jagged rocks are more than willing and able to snag a fishing lure or two or three or several dozen. Actually, they probably don't snag as many lures as they used to since I gave up fishing a couple of decades ago.

What vine maple does to a forest

I've already mentioned the trailside greenery, and the main donors thereof were vine maple and dogwood trees. Vine maple is probably the most photogenic tree ever, except maybe in in bare-branched winter. In autumn, the forest is seemingly set ablaze by the colorful vine maple leaves flashing with every hue and tint available in the autumnal spectrum. However, in spring the leaves only flash green, of course. Despite the monochromatic color choice, the riotous profusion of vine maple leaves will green up a forest in a hurry, and nothing says spring quite like a forest full of vine-maples adorned with new leafy growth.

Someone left the dogwood lamps on

Not to be outdone by vine maple, dogwood was also putting on a show with ample quantities of six-petaled white flowers bedecking the branches arching over the trail. Being it was a sunny day and all, the flowers and leaves were illuminated and lit up by the riverside sunlight like so many garden lamps. While the dogwood floral display gave me further camera-related reason to  lag even further behind my comrades, at least I didn't have to lie prone on the trail to take photos of the blooms.

Part of that landslide we walked across

The Mott Segment is one of the few extended stretches of  the NUT that is basically level in gradient. However, that's not to say the hike was not without a few travails, mostly in the form of trees lying across the trail, a souvenir of some recent winter storm that occurred after the trail crew had cleaned up this segment of the NUT. Piles of sawn logs lay off to one side of the trail in testament to the hard work of the USFS trail crew to make this trail hike-ready (Thank you!). Unfortunately, their work is still incomplete, for a fairly sizeable landslide sprawled over and on the trail, forcing us to scramble across the face of the slide with all its tons of debris poised above, seemingly ready to slide again at the slightest triggering provocation (like scrambling hikers!). I'm glad to report that no land slid as we carefully made our way across.

Timber Creek, flows across the trail

Several large creeks (Fisher, Timber, Cougar, John, and Wright, to enumerate all the named creeks), run across the NUT but fortunately, rustic footbridges got us across each one without any dainty hikers having to wet their feet. The bridges made for nice photographic vantage points and the creeks soon separated our group of hikers into those with cameras and those without.

Fisher Creek at Zane Gray's camp

Fisher Creek is the site of Zane Gray's fishing camp and us older hikers enjoy tormenting the younger set by asking them if they know who Zane Gray was. Cruel to be sure, but it is funny to see that panicked look on their faces, the same look a student who did not do the homework assignment gets when unexpectedly called upon by the teacher. I don't have any other funny stories to tell or fabricate about the other creeks, but they were nice to look at as we hiked by.

The end of the road

Unfortunately and sadly, we arrived at a meadow just after we crossed Wright Creek. It was a crying shame too, for the meadow marked the end of our hike and nobody really wanted to stop hiking on such a beautiful day.

Morels are just $36 per pound at your local supermarket

For more photos of this hike, please visit the Flickr album.

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North Umpqua Trail - Mott Segment 2/2018

This hike was all about low expectations. You see, the prior day had been spent hiking on a gloriously sunny day on the Oregon coast, and you just can't beat a sunny day at the coast. Unfortunately, the following day I arose to the sound of rain pitter-pattering on the deck outside. The blue sky of yesterday was gone, replaced by a dark brooding cloud cover that perfectly matched my mood in direct correlation to the weather conditions. However, there was a part of me that felt like I had to go hiking regardless, like it was a school assignment or something like that, as mandatory as a politely-worded chore "suggestion" from the wife. So off Luna and I go, with no expectations other than a very short and cursory hike on the North Umpqua Trail.

Life on a tree trunk

I really should have looked at the weather report. The car's temperature gauge said it was 32 degrees and obviously, all the rain I was driving through could quite easily turn to snow. By the time I reached the small town of Glide, the rain became slushy and by the time I hit Idlyld Park, it was definitely more snow than rain. My inner angel and devil were perched on either shoulder, telling me to do the opposite thing in opposite ears: The devil wanted me to turn back and drink some hot chocolate, while the angel wanted me to go hiking anyway, despite the dire conditions. 

Bridge crossing at John Creek

When I parked at the Wright Creek Trailhead, slush was coming down but it wasn't too bad. I compromised with my two imaginary nagging friends and said I'd hike just a mile or two, just to say that I did, and then reward myself with a steaming cup of hot chocolate. But no sooner than I started hiking, the snow started falling in earnest. My criteria for turning back became "when the snow starts to stick", regardless of the hiking mileage. 

Trail shot, as the snow fell

Luna was somewhat confused by the snow. Each time a heavy flake landed on her, she felt it was like somebody tapping her so she spent most of the snowy part of the hike looking over her shoulder for the mysterious spectral entity touching her so. The falling snow occluded the views of the North Umpqua River canyon and mountainsides, so the hike was all about forest, river, and continually moving to keep warm. At least the thick forest somewhat warded off the chill breeze blowing down the river.

Sleety view of the North Umpqua River

After a mile of hiking, the snow was beginning to stick but at the same time, the snow was reverting back to slushy rain. Somewhere around that point, I made the decision to continue as far as Fisher Creek before turning back. See, I was actually beginning to enjoy the hike despite, or maybe because of, the crappy weather. 

Harvesting water

The lush trailside growth of salal and ferns, fed by constant river humidity, were water traps and my pants legs were soon sopping wet as we brushed by. But spring is coming, and snow queen was profuse on the ground, waving small lavender flower buds in anticipation of that event. Lichen and moss were everywhere and it was interesting to observe the various bio-mechanisms employed to funnel raindrops in the eternal pursuit of sustaining life. The lichens tended to offer small cups to the sky while needle-like  moss leaves strategically directed life-giving water to the base of the plant organism. 

Mushrooms push through the lungwort

Cabbage-leafed lungwort lichen clung to life on standing tree trunks, while small mushrooms pushed their way through the lichen. British soldiers, another kind of lichen, entertained the camera with their bright red heads. The hike quickly devolved into photo shoot, what with so many things to take pictures of.

Green, blue, and green

With all the water falling from the sky in both solid and liquid form, it stood to reason that the creeks crossing the trail were rather boisterous with the extra runoff. So too was the North Umpqua, it was wide, fast, and deep, with the water colored an opaque turquoise in the deeper pools, and a dark black color that screamed "cold!" in the shallower parts. 

A web with which to catch wet flies

Last time I had hiked the Mott Segment of the North Umpqua Trail, we had been entertained by a fallen tree, suspended between two of its standing tree brethren (or sistren). The tree was still there and the top of the tree dipped into the river and bobbed in the current, keeping time with the rhythm of the river flow. With some regularity, the river slapped the tree and gurgled right at the point where the tree entered the water. The "glug" sound then carried up the tree and was amplified, like a giant tuning fork of sorts. "Boom...boom...boom..." that sound reverberated through the forest long before we arrived at the tree and I had one freaked out dog on my hands, "Who's doing that and where is he?"

The hike leader

By the time we reached Fisher Creek, the rain, snow, slush, or all of the preceding, had stopped in entirety and we actually witnessed brief interludes of sunlight on the way back. Luna had hiked most of this hike off-leash, which meant she had hiked double distance at a double speed, as that is her doggy nature. When we got home, she could hardly move, lying on the carpet with her body posture screaming "I've fallen and I can't get up!" Her discomfort was assuaged somewhat by a can of wet dog food, the doggy equivalent of a cup of hot chocolate. 

British soldiers

For more pictures of this hike, please visit the Flickr album.

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North Umpqua Trail (Sections Panther and Mott)

This hike was a lot of work. Not because of the 10.7 up and down miles along the North Umpqua River, but because I was in charge of this Friends of the Umpqua Hiking Club venture. We had 32 hikers show up, about half opted to hike the North Umpqua Trail's 5 mile Panther Section with the remaining half opting to tack on the Mott Section for a 10.7 miler. It was so hectic with coordinating rides and shuttle vehicles that it was a relief to set foot on the trail and begin hiking.

Fawn lily, fawning away

I don't think I've ever hiked on the lower sections of the North Umpqua Trail in any other season than winter. I really should visit the venerable trail in spring and summer if this hike is any indication of the woodland beauty available for camera toting hikers to enjoy. On the Panther Section, the trail gently angled upwards and I quickly found myself behind the group, poking my camera into all the trailside shrubbery. Trillium, calypso orchid, snow queen, and wild ginger were blooming all over in the forest; spring has definitely arrived!

Smooth-trunked madrone 

The trail spent most of its miles in deep shade. We could see blue sky above in forest openings, and the bright turquoise waters of the North Umpqua River were simply iridescent when illuminated by the bright sun. Sunbeams filtered through the trees and happy plants sprouted where the beams touched down. A cool breeze kept the temperature just perfect for hiking.

Small little creeklet

Small creeks crossed the trail at various points and foot bridges allowed us to cross over dry-footed. The bridge railings served double duty as makeshift tripods for exquisitely long camera exposures of the creeks tumbling down the hillside. Good thing I lead from the rear because that's where I would have been anyway with all the neat spring thingies to take pictures of.

A perfect day to hike

Basically the trail was crossing across the face of Panther Ridge and at just about halfway, the trail crested across a rocky cliff and began a general descent to the end of the Panther Section. After coordinating the shuttle pickup by yelling at drivers to hop in Valerie's car, I bid adieu to the five-mile hikers and continued hiking forth on the Mott Section, joined by Lane and his son, Colby.

Water under the bridge

The Mott Section generally was closer to the river than the Panther had been and we enjoyed walking in the shade next to the strikingly blue river. The clime here was a little bit drier than it had been on the Panther and the forest was carpeted with salal. We crossed several creeks on rustic bridges, the creeks being large enough to have names.

A brook babbles, just like me!

One such creek was Fisher Creek, so named because the famed author Zane Grey had a fishing camp there, a commemorative sign marks the spot. As an aside, his wife Dolly managed his business, proofread, and edited his writings. It seems Zane Grey and I have a lot in common, except for the fame and fortune thing (or lack, thereof). I'm not sure if his Dolly made him mow the lawn, either.

This picture will make me famous!

After this hike, Timber Creek will always be a special little place for me. Crossing over on yet another footbridge, I took a few pictures of the creek. Later, various pictures from this hike were uploaded to Flickr. The following morning, I found out that the Timber Creek picture on the left was literally seen by thousands as it was featured in Explore, which is Flickr's place for special (in the good sense of the word) pictures. That made my day, and maybe I will someday become as famous as Zane Grey after all.

The North Umpqua River

After 10.7 miles of hiking, we arrived at the Wright Creek Bridge, our end point. Strewn about and resting on the bridge, were the rest of our 10 milers, all waiting for us. Seems like we were not Wright on time. Across the roadway was the start of the North Umpqua Trail's Tioga Section and Lane did not make a lot of friends when he happily stated "Two sections down, one to go!" He was about to get lynched until I interceded by pointing out Lane was our shuttle driver. The one remaining duty as hike leader after that was to get all drivers shuttled to the Panther Trailhead and then get waiting riders picked up. Everybody made it back to Roseburg, or if they didn't, then it hasn't wound up in the newspaper yet which makes this another successful hike in spite of my leadership.

Did I mention it was a perfect day to hike?

For more pictures, please visit the Flickr album.

Riverview Trail loop

So Lane sends me an invite to do the Riverview - North Umpqua Trail loop and what got my attention was not the trail or destination but instead his well placed and articulate phrase "...O hiking guru". Flattery will get you nowhere they say but that's not necessarily true: it can get you a hiking partner on short notice. Having a distinct weakness for flattery, it took me all of 0.2 seconds to accept the invitation, despite my having hiked the same loop earlier in the year.  

The North Umpqua River

Beginning at the historic Mott Bridge (no kids, I was not alive when it was built), a short road walk over Steamboat Creek brought us to the Riverview Trail trailhead where the the trail headed quickly up to the cliffs overlooking the North Umpqua Highway. We were walking on the old road bed of the historical and since decomissioned highway. The ups and downs were gentle and the roadway had recently been graded so it was easy walking for the two of us.

Pretzel, anyone?

Apart from a bridged crossing and picnic table at Williams Creek, there weren't a lot of big-ticket highlights, just a pleasant walk through absolutely frigid woods. Oh, one item of interest was a wet poop, left by a small carnivore in the shape of a perfectly made pretzel. We spent the next two miles discussing and speculating on the intricate butt geometry and machinations required to create that particular piece of trailside homage to the lowly pretzel. In case anyone was wondering, neither Lane nor I attempted to emulate the anonymous pretzel maker.

All signs point to Lane

At Bogus Creek, we left the Riverview with a "Bogus, dude" done in our best California surfer accent where "dude" sounds like "du-u-u-u-u-de!" Cutting across the Bogus Creek campground, we exited onto the North Umpqua Highway where it would be a mile long walk along the road before crossing over to the other side of the river on the Wright Creek bridge. From there, it would be 6 miles on a real trail.

Blue and cold are one and the same

Now on the North Umpqua Trail's Mott Section, the trail was 6 miles of moss, creeks, trees, mushrooms, and cold air. Oh, and always the North Umpqua River, running a pretty but lethal turquoise color. I think if I were to fall in, my body would be that same turquoise color within seconds.

Fisher Creek

We crossed over several creeks on rustic bridges as the creeks rushed madly on their way to the North Umpqua. Fisher Creek is notable in that Zane Grey had a fishing camp there back in the day. A railed bridge provides a nice view of the creek and an opportunity to set a camera on the rail and take a slow shot in the dim forest light.

Sunlight, and it's so beautiful

Speaking of light, we didn't get any. The other side of the river was bathed in sunlight but at the bottom of the river canyon it was cold shade where puddles were frozen solid. If we weren't walking, we'd have been frozen solid too. After enjoying an overlook at the picturesque cascades at Steamboat Inn, we actually felt sunlight on our skin for all of about 10 feet of trail. We didn't feel warm.

Skating rink next to the river

However, car heaters and hot chocolate restores warmth in cold fingers, toes, ears, and noses, and in the end this was a perfectly enjoyable 12'ish mile hike. It just goes to show flattery on occasion will indeed get us somewhere!

British soldiers

For more pictures of this hike, stop by and see the Flickr album.

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North Umpqua Trail - Panther Section

Christmas is a time for doing the things you enjoy with the people you love the most and that's why I went hiking by myself on the North Umpqua Trail on Christmas Day. Between having a Christmas breakfast and an impending Christmas dinner, I took advantage of the in-between down time to get in a short hike on the North Umpqua Trail's Panther Section.

I repeat:  Dang, it's cold!

This time of year, not much sun gets down to the North Umpqua River canyon floor and my first thought was "dang, it's cold!" My second thought was "dang, it's cold!" Maple leaves, left over from autumn, were frosted solid and the icy ground crunched noisly underneath my boots like peanut shells on the floor of a Texas barbeque joint.

Did I mention it was cold?

About a quarter mile into the hike, the trail dropped down next to the North Umpqua River along a mossy cliff that was notable for the thick icicles hanging from the rocky wall. Similar icicle formations were hanging from my nostrils, no doubt. The rocky trail was littered with icicle debris and the going was treacherous, I should have brought my crampons. Much photography ensued and no hikers were harmed while negotiating the slippery trail.

The North Umpqua Trail

The basic pattern of the trail, typical of most sections of the 78 mile long North Umpqua Trail, was a climb up and away from the river followed by a descent to the river. Up and down was the theme of the Panther Section experience, apart from the Christmas theme thing overlaying the entire day. While going up and down, lots of pictures were taken of moss, mushrooms, trail, river, creeks, etc.

Rare water bead that wasn't frozen solid

Since there were only a couple of hours to kill, this wound up being a short 4 mile exercise session. Oddly enough, I saw no other hikers, didn't even see Santa Claus; apparently I was the only jolly old guy out and about on the trail. I'll have to come back and hike the entire Panther Section later on.

Blue and green

Ho, ho, ho...Merry Christmas, everybody!  For more pictures of this hike, stop by and see the Flickr album. 

Decaying biomass in many forms