Lake of the Woods
Lake of the Woods - Southern Oregon
At the end of our bike ride we found ourselves back at Lake of the Woods.
Ashland Daily Photo - A picture a day from beautiful Ashland, Southern Oregon USA in the Rogue Valley
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Trails by Lake of the Woods
Bikes at the Pacific Crest Trail and High Lakes Trail junction
This may be the first photo of my “new” bike I’ve posted. I’ve been riding it for several months, and it wasn’t new when I purchased this Lefty Fork Cannondale. (I take that back. There is a prior photo here, but you can’t see much of the bike in it.)
At this point on the High Lakes Trail you have your choice of continuing to Lake of the Woods (to the right) or Fish Lake (to the left). You can also head to Brown Mountain Trail (which I need to do one of these days), or you can head perpendicular to this trail to go on the Pacific Crest Trail. The possibilities of adventure are not few.
Mt. McLoughlin from High Lakes Trail
Mt. McLaughlin from High Lakes Trail - Southern Oregon - Outdoor things to do in the Rogue Valley
Two thousand years ago andesite lava flows erupted from Brown Mountain near Fish Lake. Many of these rocks can still be seen along the High Lakes Trail. I like the change in scenery while riding a bike along this trail; one minute you are in a forest and the next you are cruising through single track with lava rocks on both sides of you.
Fish Lake
Fish Lake - Jackson County - Southern Oregon
If you are going round trip on the Lake of the Woods to Fish Lake trail (High Lakes Trail, about 15 miles round trip) then it doesn’t matter which lake you begin and end at in terms of difficulty. However, if you want to take it easy and are only going one way then the route from Lake of the Woods to Fish Lake, pictured above, is a bit easier since Fish Lake is a few hundred feet lower in elevation than Lake of the Woods. There is a bit of a summit in the lava rocks between the two so regardless of which lake you begin at you will be going mostly uphill initially and mostly downhill as you approach the other lake.
High Lakes Trail No. 6200
Parking place for High Lakes Trail
This past week we went on a little family outing to the east of Ashland. We have done the trail from Lake of the Woods to Fish Lake before, but this was the first time we all made it for the entire round trip.
To avoid paying the $7 day-use fee by parking at one of the lakes, we parked at the sign pictured above which is approximately where the A is on the map below.
Biking trail map for Lake of the Woods
At this point we made a mistake and went to the right since the sign says Fish Lake is to the right. This does not put you on the High Lakes Trail (which is what you want if you are hiking or biking). Instead, it puts you on the Resort Trail which looks like an old car trail. The Resort Trail is anything but resort-like, and it eventually disappears, but not before you have to carry your bike over lots of fallen trees and ride over other rather difficult terrain. To avoid this pitfall, keep going down the road (to the left toward Brown Mountain Trail) in the top photo a bit (maybe 20 yards) and then hang a right on High Lakes Trail.
More photos and info to come in the next week…
Brandi Carlile (part 4)
Brandi Carlile
Some more Brandi Carlile for you today…
Brandi Carlile at Britt Festival
I took these photos from several rows back of the stage. Brandi tossed one of her guitar picks straight at me for a bonus souvenir on top of the photos.
Phil Hanseroth, one of the identical twins in Brandi's band
Brandi Carlile performs in Jacksonville, Oregon
LodeStar Bar in Jacksonville, Oregon after dark
LodeStar Bar in Jacksonville
Different season, same time of night as this prior photo for this beautiful building (historic Redmen’s Hall — circa 1884) in Jacksonville. If you look really closely you can see Allison and Victor playing inside.
Lake of the Woods
Lake of the Woods, Southern Oregon
Another photo from the archives today… This one is from June of 2009. I took this picture (with my LX3) just before taking the one featured here.
Time to cool off
Snow in Ashland, Oregon
Ashland is hot this time of year, compared to Scandinavia (where I’ve been the past six weeks) anyway. So when this winter photo showed up as my desktop background today it felt kind of refreshing.
From the east side of Ashland
Ashland Springs Hotel and Ashland, Oregon from the base of Grizzly Peak
I took today’s photo back in mid-June. Alas, things are browner now. The location I took this picture from was the same as this prior blog entry.
The Ashland Springs Hotel is in the distance on the right. Empty box cars can be seen on the train tracks that cut through town (even though trains coming through are extremely rare these days).