Stout Grove
We went to the coast this past weekend and stopped in Stout Grove in Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, part of California Redwood National Park, along the way. I never tire of this place even though I’ve been there many times now.
Ashland Daily Photo - A picture a day from beautiful Ashland, Southern Oregon USA in the Rogue Valley
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Young buck
Not the rapper Young Buck, this young fella in my backyard was the real thing.
Descending from Castle Peak
During our only full day at Lake Siskiyou we drove about 8 miles to Castle Lake (elevation 5436 feet). From there we went on a 5-mile (or so) hike to Heart Lake (elevation 6035 feet) and then above it to Castle Peak (elevation 6617 feet). The views are best from Heart Lake and above Heart Lake on Castle Peak where you can see the lakes, Mt. Shasta, Castle Crags and a lovely 360 degrees of wilderness. Today’s photo isn’t from the top though. The lakes are obscured by trees, but you can see Black Butte and Mt. Shasta, as well as some of my hiking party.
Camping under the Milky Way
We can see the Milky Way on some nights in Ashland, but camping at the Lake Siskiyou Camp Resort in Northern California provides a much better view of the Milky Way. The smoke you see in today’s photo (below the Milky Way and above my tent) was coming from the next campsite over. I slept with just tent netting on the other side of the tent so that I could gaze at the Milky Way through the night. Unfortunately, clouds gathered, thunder and lightning began, and soon thereafter I was getting wet and had to close things up.
Lake Siskiyou panorama
We just returned from a few days in California. We camped near Lake Siskiyou which is near Mt. Shasta in Northern California, only a little over an hour south of Ashland. The lake was chaos on hot days in the afternoon on a weekend in August, but I took today’s photo in the morning with few people around.
Fishing anyone?
Today’s photo is from last week’s trip to the Howard Prairie Lake Resort Marina. Today we are heading down to California to do a weekend of camping at Lake Siskiyou.
Mount McLoughlin can be seen in the distance in the center. In real life the mountain stands out much more, but with a wide angle lens everything seems more distant than in reality.
Table Rock sunset hike
Last month we hiked up Upper Table Rock to watch the sun set. It’s not much of a hike really–more like a good walk. I’m not sure the exact distance we walked, but I doubt it was more than 5 miles including exploring the top. There is a bit of elevation gain on the way up, but it isn’t strenuous. In the summer you probably don’t want to do it in the afternoon or it will feel difficult from the heat. Go up in the morning or just before the sunset (with a flashlight for the way down) if you decide to visit on a hot day. Bring water.
Directions: To get to the Upper Table Rock trailhead from I-5 take the Central Point Exit 33 (just north of Medford and about 20 minutes north of Ashland), drive east on Biddle Road 1 mile, turn left on Table Rock Road for 5.2 miles to a curve, and then turn right on Modoc Road for 1.5 miles to the trailhead parking lot on the left. There is a sign as you approach Modoc Road so it is hard to miss.
Bird at Hyatt Lake
During my second trip to Hyatt Lake of the summer I saw this red-tailed hawk. In my prior post I labeled the bird as a bald eagle (as that is what I was told), but now I’m thinking it was an osprey.
Emu
Moments after taking today’s photograph at the Wildlife Safari in Winston, Oregon (about 2 hours north of Ashland on I-5), this emu seemed to think that our Prius was his mate. We couldn’t really move for a while (until he finished his business) without running him over.
Howard Prairie Lake
Twenty miles east of Ashland you will find Howard Prairie Lake. We headed up there yesterday to escape the heat and take a bike ride. At an elevation of over 4500 feet (Ashland is at 2000 feet), the temperature is usually about 10 degrees cooler.
Today’s photo is a three pic photomerge (with a wide angle lens to begin with) so it covers almost 180 degrees. If you look really closely you can see Mt. McLoughlin to the right of center.