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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) […]

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 […]

OC&E Woods Line State Trail

OC&E Woods Line State Trail

History . . . This trail began as a railroad owned by the City of Klamath Falls and named the Klamath Falls Municipal Railway.  After beginning construction in 1917 and reaching Olene a year later,  Robert Strahorn, the contractor and major proponent of the project, offered to buy the railroad from the city.  The sale […]

Crater Lake Wildflowers

Crater Lake Wildflowers

The growing season at Crater Lake is very short.  The typical snow-free season is July to mid-October and frost can occur any time.  Certain wildflowers have adapted to these conditions and put on a great display at the park. Castle Crest Wildflower Garden Castle Crest Wildflower Garden is located just south of park headquarters on […]

Upper Klamath National Wildlife Refuge

Upper Klamath National Wildlife Refuge

by Canoe . . . The Upper Klamath National Wildlife Refuge is one of six National Wildlife Refuges in the Upper Klamath Basin of Oregon and California.  It is located on the north-western shore of Upper Klamath Lake near the Oregon community of Rocky Point. With almost 15,000 acres of marsh and open water, but […]

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