Ashland Daily Photo
Ashland Daily Photo - A picture a day from beautiful Ashland, Southern Oregon USA in the Rogue Valley
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Posts tagged Nikon Z50II

Siskiyou Peak, elevation 7,147 feet

siskiyou peak 7147 feet

US Geological Survey Bench Mark from 1932

You’ve heard of the Siskiyous, but did you know there is an actual Siskiyou Peak? I didn’t, until I was standing on it a bit over a week ago.

Mt. Ashland from the west

mt ashland from pct near grouse gap

Mt. Ashland from the PCT near Grouse Gap

Of the dozens of photos of Mt. Ashland on here, most are from the north, with a few from the east and south, but this may be the first one from the west.

Big Red Mountain Trail

Spreading Phlox on the Big Red Mountain portion of the PCT (May 24, 2026)

I found the “Big Red Mountain” trail on AllTrails and headed to it without further research. Big mistake. Although the trail itself was great, getting there and home was a bit of a nightmare. There is a reason you will encounter no other hikers on this section of the PCT; it is remote! Getting there from the Mt. Ashland parking lot requires over 7 miles of driving on an unpaved road (Forest Road 20). That road is mostly OK, but there are portions that are not fun to drive in any vehicle. Another option is to take Wagner Creek Road to NF-22 to NF-20. That way is almost 14 miles on dirt and rocks. I intended to go home that way, but I didn’t research things in advance, and there was no cell service up there. I went the wrong way on NF-20, and ended up not taking the road to Wagner Creek Road. Instead, I ended up on the Siskiyou Summit Road, eventually getting dumped out in the Applegate somewhere, after 15+ miles on unpaved roads. Maybe 15+ miles doesn’t sound like that much, but my average speed was well under 20 miles per hour, and was frequently under 10 miles per hour. There were a few really nasty (rocky) parts. 4WD with a high clearance is highly recommended, but I didn’t have either.

Anywho, the wildflowers were the highlight of this hike. Sometimes the trail was literally lined with them on both sides. Most wildflower trails that I have been on have three or four different kinds of wildflowers. This one had more than 10 varieties! You’ll want layers if you decide to do this hike. In the shade, it felt like about 60 degrees. In the sun, it felt like more than 80 degrees (although I’m sure that it wasn’t really that hot–it just felt hot as the sunnier sections were also the steeper climbing sections).

Cathedral Hills

cathedral hills grants pass

Grants Pass, Oregon (May 2026)

Happy birthday, Charlie Francipane!

emissary boatnik Charlie Francipane

Charlie Francipane of Emissary @ 2025 Boatnik

Happy birthday, Glory Pistole!

sou softball glory pistole

Glory Pistole

Happy birthday, Kierstin Grotewiel!

Kierstin Grotewiel

Kierstin Grotewiel

One year ago today…

sou churchill hall spring blossoms

Blossoms in front of SOU’s Churchill Hall

No more than one full moon month

moon clouds

Full moon on February 1, 2026

Just five more days until our next full moon. The one pictured above featured some pretty cool clouds that didn’t photograph well.

AI sucks

lithia park snow

Lithia Park in the snow (February 17, 2026)

AI seemed quite certain when it informed me that this photo of Ashland Creek that I took in Ashland’s Lithia Park was in fact a scene from the “North Fork of the Middle Fork Willamette River in the Willamette National Forest”.