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We headed over to the Oregon Coast this past weekend for a couple nights. I’ll have some pictures from Bandon over the next little while. I hope you don’t mind the diversion, but the weather was fantastic so I have some pretty decent images.
Autumn in Portland, Oregon
Floater w/ Slow Children at Rogue Theatre - November 18, 2011
Let's see now, where were we? Oh yeah, the deciding match goes to 15, but you have to win by 2 points. The Coyotes made it to 15 first, but the Raiders tied it up once again.
16-16 score, games tied at 2 wins each
Angela Spieker saved this one with a diving effort
Things couldn’t have become, or stayed, any closer. This was some serious, nail-biting action.
Haley Fikso makes it 18-17 with this kill.
19-17 final score in 5th set
Everyone goes wild with the SOU, upset victory
Angela Spieker sets up another kill for the SOU Raiders
Megan Bartling with the kill. College of Idaho blockers can't make the block.
SOU celebrates the kill
Another celebration after a Natalie Scheller kill
From about 5-5 on in the deciding match no team could get more than a point ahead.
12-12 score, games tied at 2 wins each
14-14 score, games tied at 2 wins each
When students came back to campus at Southern Oregon University this fall they noticed that garbage cans had multiplied from one at a location to at least three to allow for recycling. This new art exhibit on Raider Way, through the center of campus, has taken that one step further. The recycling of prosthetic limbs seems to be making some headway.
Floater marquee - The Zoo - Roseburg, Oregon
I took a small road trip up I-5 for a couple hours to see Floater in Roseburg this past weekend. Floater played outdoors, on a stage built behind the old strip club which is now a bar called The Zoo.
Floater audience
The Zoo may no longer be a strip club but the pole dancers live on!
As a hiker approaches the top of Wagner Butte the scene changes again. Instead of forest, desert, wildflower-covered field, or grassy meadow there are a few rocks to climb (not difficult) to get to the top.
I have never seen a dandelion seed head this big before. I should have put a finger in the photo to give the viewer a point of reference. Usually they are smaller than a golf ball, but this one (and the others in the field on the Wagner Butte trail) was bigger than my fist.
The sign on the top of Wagner Butte has been there for probably a couple decades now. The elements have not been kind, and it is now barely readable.
I don’t believe I’ve ever been on a trail with so many varieties of surroundings as the Wagner Butte Trail. You can be under a forest canopy one minute, have lush vegetation under foot the next, follow it up walking through a meadow of wildflowers, and then be in a desert-like atmosphere soon thereafter. The views change constantly as well. Change is the only constant throughout.
Sunday I hiked the Wagner Butte Trail for the fourth time. This was only the second time I made it to the top. My first two attempts were with my kids when they were little so we only went for a mile or two. The entire hike is over 10 miles and includes climbing (and then descending) over 2,200 feet.
I brought along my new lens (Tamron SP AF 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5 DI II Lens) so I have far more than a week’s worth of photography for you. I’ll post several images a day and save some for later. For today, I’ll just explain how to get there (and post some rather uninteresting images that may help in orientation) as most guide books and internet sites give incomplete and/or erroneous directions.
Wagner Butte Trail begins southwest of Ashland. However, to get there, you need to go through Talent (to the northwest of Ashland). You can also get there from the top of Mt. Ashland, but most people are coming from other places in the Rogue Valley, making the Talent route easier.
From Highway 99 (Pacific Highway) turn onto Rapp Road which will eventually turn into Wagner Creek Road. Follow Wagner Creek Road all the way out. When Wagner Creek Road turns into a dirt road, at a point crossing the creek, check your odometer. You will find the trail head 6.1 miles from this point. Continue on Wagner Creek Rd. It forks several times. Stay on the most developed road (usually a left at the forks). At mile 4 since you started on the dirt road you will find a cattle guard. Cross it and go left at the fork immediately in front of you. Only two more miles until the trail begins. At 6.1 miles you will see the sign in the first photo if you are traveling slowly enough and look to your left. Pull into the parking lot on your right, pictured above.
The most difficult part of Wagner Butte Trail is the first (and last) mile as it is fairly steep.
Bring lots of water. I brought 40 oz., and it wasn’t nearly enough. I could have used 80 ounces, but it was a warm/hot day. If the weather forecast in Ashland/Medford is for 80 degrees or more, bring at least 2 liters of water per person. Note that it won’t be as hot as Ashland or Medford at this altitude, but it will feel warmer than Ashland or Medford on the way up since you will be climbing. Bring a jacket for the way down if the forecast is for 70 degrees or less in Ashland/Medford.