Aside from a few exercise walks up Roxy Ann, it’s been 10 days since our last hike. Part of this gap was due to some anxiety-provoking personal business. Part was due to bad weather – which didn’t turn out to be bad enough (in a good way) to pummel us with much needed rain and snow. 😥 And part was due to anger and frustration and ultimately despair about what’s happening in Ukraine. 😪 Seems we’re all getting a harsh lesson in the realpolitik that happens when a delusional dictator is willing to go nuclear if thwarted. So although hiking has always provided us with some respite from the cares of the world, it just seemed somewhat irrelevant.
But we finally rallied and decided that a hike would only help our mental state. So we did the easy out-and-back hike (7 miles (11 km) round-trip; 300 feet (91 m) of elevation gain) to Whisky Creek Cabin on the Rogue River Trail – one of our favorites for early Spring. We were there last year almost to the day. It was easy to see that things were much, much drier now than they were then. Only China Gulch and Whisky Creek had surface water flowing and even the Rogue River seemed lower and slower.
In wetter times, a small waterfall crosses the trail not far in from the trailhead and this wall of water can make for some tricky hiking. This year it was just a wet spot on the trail.
We’re always a little surprised by the number of wildflowers that bloom early along this stretch of the trail. There were fewer this year than in a wet one, but still enough blooms to carpet (in a small way) some of the slopes along the trail.
Last year we arrived at the beach where Whisky Creek joins the Rogue to find an abandoned campfire blazing away! 🤬 Then, up at the cabin, we found drug paraphernalia littering one of the rooms. We reported all this to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). This year we were pleased to find no open fires on the beach and that the cabin had been cleaned-up. 🙂
From the cabin, we went down to the beach, had a snack, and then started back. Here the Rogue River was skimmed with foam and very languid. It’s flow is controlled by upstream dams but, in the drought we’re in, it’s very hard to balance the competing demands of water for fish and water for other uses.
BOOTS on the TRAIL 
Good to know! Thanks for the links!
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Yes, we’ve backpacked it and also walked it from lodge to lodge. We’ve also backpacked the Wild Rogue Loop and the Illinois River Trail. All great trips – even better now that the Siskiyou Mountain Club has rehabilitated many of the trails. 😁
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Have you ever backpacked along this trail? looks gorgeous.
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We found that April – May and Sept – Oct are the best months, otherwise its too cold & wet or too hot & dry.
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Beautiful photos! I’ve been meaning to hike this trail for years, especially when I lived in Ashland. Perhaps I’ll do it later this spring or spring of 2023.
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It will most likely be March. I’m hoping with our early spring I’ll find some blooms knowing it won’t be peak but happy to take what I can. Just need to get out for a long walk and see some new scenery.
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We’ve hiked the Rogue River Trail in April, May, and June. Both April and May were good, but more flowers in April. June was a bit warm. If you get a weather window in April, I’d take it.
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We sure have been thrown some crap in these 2020s. Hiking and being outside is my best coping strategy. Your post is timely as I’m tentatively planning a full out and back. I hiked the first 20 miles in 2014 and I loved the flowers. Just watching weather to see if I can find a nice window.
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Thanks!
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What a beautiful walk on an equally beautiful blue-sky day. Half your luck! Mel
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Thanks for stopping by. 😄
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There’s still not much at Agness except a post office and some private dwellings – and a resort down the road. A couple tried to re-open the Old Agness Store a few years ago but there wasn’t enough business to keep them going. Lots of rafters during the summer but they typically by-pass Agness on the way back to Grants Pass.
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Great photos of the hiking sights…thanks for sharing
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Loved the pictures as usual! Back in the 70s I rafted the Rogue River. I remember that the take out point was Agnes Oregon – just a single wooden building with the sign, “Agnes, Oregon, this is it!”
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It’s easy to get discouraged. You have to fight it. As irrelevant as it is, hiking helps with that. 😊
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That trail was always one of our favorite early spring hikes. You are not alone in your feelings of despair about the situation in the Ukraine. I just wrote a post about it, too. In these challenging times, we need to find joy in this moment and do what good we can do.
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