Oregon’s Rogue River begins its 215 mile journey near the crest of the Oregon Cascade Mountains.  It passes the towns of Prospect, Eagle Point, Grants Pass and Agness before entering the Pacific Ocean at Gold Beach.  Near Prospect the river’s three upper branches split with each reaching high into the mountains.  In this article,  we’ll explore the […]

At almost 5,000 feet in elevation, Great Meadow, near Lake of the Woods, Oregon, normally collects a lot of snow through the winter. Centuries ago Great Meadow was underwater year-around as part of what is now Lake of the…

Getting Ready No amount of training will make your backpacking trip enjoyable if your backpack is uncomfortable.  My recommendation is to try out some packs and get one that fits you properly.  I solved my pack issues with an Osprey Atmos AG 65.  I wrote a review of the Atmos with all the details –  including […]

Predictions of snow and rain led the Klamath Basin Outdoor Group to cancel a planned backpacking excursion into the Mountain Lakes Wilderness.  Instead they decided upon a day hike to the top of Aspen Butte  (42°18′56″N 122°05′15″W).  The plan was to follow a route no one in the group, except your Pathfinder, had followed before.  This […]

The Spence Mountain Trail is about 15 miles northwest of Klamath Falls, Oregon, on Highway 140.  The trail was developed by the Klamath Trails Alliance in cooperation with JWTR LLC (the landowner), Oregon Department of Forestry (for the land at the trailhead), many donors of cash and technical services and numerous volunteers. The first segment, from the trailhead up the […]

Waldo Lake is located in central Oregon 12 miles north of Highway 58 between Willamette Pass and the community of Oakridge. The lake is about 75 miles from Eugene, Oregon, 80 miles from Bend, Oregon and 115 miles from Klamath Falls, Oregon.  The Jim Weaver National Recreation Trail circles the lake and was formerly named the Waldo Lake […]

Island Lake, Dee Lake and the Waldo Tree are all located in the Sky Lakes Wilderness on the Rogue River National Forest in the Cascade Mountains of South Central Oregon. The general area is known as the Blue Canyon Basin.  I hiked in with the Klamath Basin Outdoor Group from the eastside of the Cascades […]

Introduction The Chief Scout and I recently got new backpacks. The Chief Scout is quite small, so even the women’s version of this pack, the Osprey Aura AG™ 65, would not fit her properly.  The owner of our local outdoor store, The Ledge (Klamath Falls, OR), helped us with choosing and fitting our packs and special […]

Hazards of Lightning At 11:30am on June 28, 2015 lightning began striking Mt. Bierstadt  in the Mount Evans Wilderness of Pike National Forest.  Eight people were injured and three were hospitalized, a dog died.  They were 500 feet below the summit. On July 17, 2015 one person was killed and three injured due to a lightning strike on the […]

First, let’s define orienteering. There are lots of orienteering definitions, but let me offer my own simplified version: That’s a definition of foot orienteering,  the subject of this story, but there are is also auto orienteering, canoe orienteering, ski orienteering, equestrian orienteering, bicycle orienteering and others that would be defined similarly – except for the mode of transportation. […]

When people in Klamath Falls, Oregon want to take a scenic and invigorating hike they don’t have far to go.  Hogback Mountain looms over the city’s east side and offers a lot of exercise and some spectacular views over a five-mile trek.  I took this hike with the Klamath Basin Outdoor Group.  Hans (Age 70) […]

Billie Swamp Safari is named after Kissimmee Billie a Seminole woman who stood up to the soldiers during the Seminole wars to enable her clan to escape from them. The Safari is located near Clewiston, Florida, near the northern end of the Everglades.  Here we present the story of Billie Swamp Safari. History There were around 200,000 […]

A lot of exploration can be done in a car, on horseback or even in a wheelchair, but if you want access to the most remote places, your feet will provide the best transportation.  I’m not a podiatrist, so I won’t offer any medical advice, however, I do have feet and I do explore using […]

 Awhile back we wrote about Photo Exploration and used landscape photography, close-up photography and wildlife photography as examples of genres that would let you build your adventures around your photography hobby.  Photographing stars and the night sky is another way you can build an adventure around photography. Low light or nighttime photography takes special skills […]

Caldwell Butte, cave and cabin are located near the south boundary of Lava Beds National Monument, near Tulelake, California.

Introduction When something goes terribly wrong and you are a long way from help, you must be able to survive on your own for at least as long as it takes for someone to come to your rescue.   Making a rescue possible requires some actions before you leave home like telling people where you […]

Mt. Scott, is the tallest peak in Crater Lake National Park and the tenth tallest peak in the Oregon Cascade Mountains. Yet, it is not as difficult to climb as you might think.

Rising from the waters of Oregon’s Crater Lake is what early explorers described as a ship – a mysterious ship – a Phantom Ship.  This rock formation seems to float upon the deep blue waters of the lake, truly evoking the image of a ship. The Phantom Ship began to form  400,000 years ago from an early volcano […]