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Whitney Butte in the Lava Beds National Monument

Whitney Butte in the Lava Beds National Monument

There are two great trails to Whitney Butte in Lava Beds National Monument. Either makes a great day hike. Learn all about the butte and the trails and enjoy a short video offering expansive views of the area.

Backpacking the Wild Rogue Wilderness

Backpacking the Wild Rogue Wilderness

The 36,000 acre Wild Rogue Wilderness is located partly on the Rogue River – Siskiyou National Forest and partly on lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management in southwestern Oregon, USA.  It’s on the north side of the Rogue River between the towns of Agness to the west and Galice to the east. The […]

Winter at Crater Lake

Winter at Crater Lake

  Winter at Crater Lake National Park is a quiet time.    It begins with the first large snowfall in October or early November and continues into May or June.  Tourists are few and generally spend a few minutes enjoying the lake, visitor center and  gift shop before moving on.  Craig Ackerman, Park Superintendent,   told us […]

Winter on the Pacific Crest Trail

Winter on the Pacific Crest Trail

Enjoying the Pacific Crest Trail in the winter is not necessarily a 2,659 mile adventure. There are a lot of shorter trips you can take. Here’s one. . .

Van Meter Flat

Van Meter Flat

Van Meter Flat is an area of BLM managed land west of Poe Valley, Oregon and east of Stukel Mountain. It offers a nice walk and outstanding views.

Mountain Lakes Wilderness – Oregon Cascades

Mountain Lakes Wilderness – Oregon Cascades

The Mountain Lakes Wilderness was designated a Primitive Area by the U.S. Forest Service in 1930.  It is  just northwest of Klamath Falls, Oregon, on the Winema National Forest.  In 1940 the area was expanded and designated a Wild Area. It has a square shape because its boundaries follow a single township in the U.S. […]

Climbing Yamsay Mountain

Climbing Yamsay Mountain

Yamsay Mountain is located in what is sometimes called the Eastern Cascade Mountain Range.  Technically it’s the first range in the basin and range province in Oregon and California.  The Medicine Lake Highlands, to the south, and Newberry Crater to the north, are other volcanoes in the range. The Formation of Yamsay Mountain While geologists continue to […]

Ranger Springs at the Head of the Rogue River

Ranger Springs at the Head of the Rogue River

  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 […]

Seldom Creek Falls in the Southern Oregon Cascades

Seldom Creek Falls in the Southern Oregon Cascades

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…

Climbing Aspen Butte

Climbing Aspen Butte

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 […]

Hiking the Spence Mountain Trail – Klamath Falls, Oregon USA

Hiking the Spence Mountain Trail – Klamath Falls, Oregon USA

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 and the Jim Weaver National Recreation Trail

Waldo Lake and the Jim Weaver National Recreation Trail

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

Island Lake, Dee Lake and the Waldo Tree

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 […]

Climbing Hogback – Klamath Falls, Oregon, USA

Climbing Hogback – Klamath Falls, Oregon, USA

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

Billie Swamp Safari

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 […]

Caldwell Butte, Cave and Cabin

Caldwell Butte, Cave and Cabin

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

Mt. Scott Crater Lake National Park

Mt. Scott Crater Lake National Park

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.

Phantom Ship

Phantom Ship

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 […]

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