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One of my favorite views in town is from the Ashland Middle School. I took this picture from inside the school looking out to the north. If I was a student I would not be able to do anything but stare out the windows–especially this time of year when things have gone green. We only get a few months of rich green before summer turns much of this view a duller, brownish color.
The cherry blossoms have begun to make their appearance. This tree is in the Ashland YMCA parking lot. Grizzly Peak is in the background.
Any current or former SOU student will recognize this setting. A few feet forward and you are standing under the Southern Oregon University entry arch. Walk across the street (being careful not to get hit by a car), and you will have survived the trip to Mihama’s (Case Coffee, 7-Eleven, the Electric Beach, etc.). In the distance a freshly powdered Grizzly Peak overlooks the town.
I’m frequently asked if I own Case Coffee Co. (being that my last name is Case). The answer is “no.” It turns out there are several Cases in town. The owners aren’t closely related that I know of. They seem to do a great business though. The location has been a revolving door of businesses over the years, none of them doing much business until Case Coffee Co. took things over. Now the place always seems busy. I haven’t done business there since it turned into a coffee shop though. I can’t stand the stuff. Just the smell turns my stomach. Actually drinking coffee to me would be like drinking bad breath. No thanks.
I was kind of hoping that the old Island Juice (which wasn’t very good) at this location would turn into a Jamba Juice. Alas, we are still left without a single Jamba Juice in Southern Oregon.
Grizzly Peak panorama
This image isn’t done justice in a blog window. Hopefully you have a decent monitor (18+ inches) and can click on this to expand it to its full width.
If you look closely you can see not only cows but also some trucks on I-5.
I have always thought that one of the best views in town is from the middle school looking towards Grizzly Peak. So, this past week, when I went to pick up my son and arrived a little early I pulled out the camera to take in the view.
The cow in the foreground immediately came wandering over to me as if it thought I was going to feed or milk it or something.
I’ll try to remember to take a similar picture in a month or two when things are much greener.
A view from the backyard as a deer attempts to frolic on our neighbor’s play equipment. Grizzly Peak can be seen in the background.
A view from Ashland Middle School… This is the track with Grizzly Peak in the background. I took this picture on the way in to see a volleyball game. On the way out I took basically the same shot. The other photograph looks very different, however, as the sun was setting, the clouds were mostly gone, and the lighting and colors were all changed. I’ll post that picture sometime in the future.
Taken a while after yesterday’s photo, the clouds have now given way to some blue sky and the snow is rapidly melting on the top of Grizzly. Dennis Dunleavy is catching the SOU Soccer team in action.
A couple weeks ago we had a few cold days which resulted in a bit of snow on the nearby peaks. If the trees on the top of Grizzly Peak, pictured above, look a bit strange to you it is because of a fire that charred them six years ago. The contrast of the black and white is kind of cool. In spring, with late snow dustings like the above you can see a nice mixture of black, white, green (from grass), yellow, and purple (from wild flowers).
I’ll have to post some pictures of the valley from up on Grizzly Peak from prior hikes I have taken one of these days. It’s a great hike, just not this time of year as the back road is in the shade and likely covered in snow even if the front side looks dry.
