Limpy Botanical Interpretive Loop Trail (Grants Pass, Oregon)

A friend and I went on a short hike yesterday near Grants Pass. It wasn’t the best time of year for the location. In a couple of weeks, I imagine the fall colors will be pretty good, but probably the best time to go would be late spring when the greens are at their peak and the water is flowing with more volume. Still, it was a lovely place–especially on a hot day. Yesterday was in the 80s, but near the creek the temps were closer to 70.

The trail was nice and dry, despite recent rain, but it seems to be a very muddy trail in spring.

Posted on October 8th, 2023 under nature, outside of ashland, photography, places. Tags: hike, landscape, moss, NIKKOR Z DX 16-50mm f/3.5-6.3 VR lens, Nikon Z 50, water, waterfall. Comments Off on Limpy Creek

Upper Rogue River Trail (south of Woodruff Bridge – October 17, 2021)

Posted on October 28th, 2021 under nature, outside of ashland, photography, places. Tags: autumn, hike, landscape, leaves, moss, NIKKOR Z DX 16-50mm f/3.5-6.3 VR lens, Nikon Z 50, trees. Comments Off on Upper Rogue River Trail

Posted on May 24th, 2021 under nature, only in ashland, photography, places. Tags: grizzly peak, moss, Nikkor Z DX 50-250mm f/4.5-6.3 VR lens, Nikon Z 50, trees. Comments Off on Hairy Trees

We hiked around on Marys Peak today. Most people were just heading to the summit, which was rather unspectacular, IMO, and then heading back to their cars and taking off. The view from the summit would be far more spectacular at sunrise, sunset, or on an extremely clear day. Today things were a bit hazy and the overhead sunlight washed everything out. So a runner we talked to recommended the Meadow Edge Trail. This trail was extraordinary. As we walked in an old growth Noble Fir forest the sunlight came squeezing through just enough to make the clover-covered ground look amazing. This was probably my second favorite trail (after Stout Grove in Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park) that didn’t include real “views” or a lake at the end.

Posted on August 20th, 2017 under nature, outside of ashland. Tags: hike, marys peak, moss, Nikon 24-120mm f/4G ED AF-S VR, Nikon D750. Comments Off on Eclipse day -1

Yesterday we went in search of Boundary Springs. We couldn’t find the trailhead (or maybe we did and just didn’t know it). In any event, we parked at the Mazama Viewpoint off Highway 230 as we could see no other place to park near the Mile 19 marker, which is where we read the trail is supposed to start. The sign at Mazama Viewpoint said Upper Rogue River Trail (I think). There was no internet from there, but my GPS worked fine. It looked like we could still do the Boundary Springs Trail if we could find it.

Even though there should have been tons of snow in the area, the snow was fairly minimal–especially for this time of year–so we didn’t bother to put our snowshoes on. We ended up walking on the trail for several miles before realizing we were no longer going toward Boundary Springs. At that point we turned around, walked back to our car, drove to Crater Lake, and snowshoed there.

I want to try the Boundary Springs Trail again. I saw this sign, but couldn’t read it. Apparently this is where we should have turned to get to Boundary Springs.

Posted on January 26th, 2015 under nature, outside of ashland, photography. Tags: hike, moss, Nikon 24-120mm f/4G ED AF-S VR, Nikon D750, rogue river, winter. Comments Off on Upper Rogue River in winter