Galice Oregon – BOOTS on the TRAIL

Brandy & Fish Hook (Agness, Oregon) 04-Jun-2021

2021-06-042022-05-07Posted in Hiking, Southern OregonTagged Agness Oregon, Brandy Peak Oregon, Day Hiking, Fish Hook Peak Oregon, Galice Oregon, Hiking, Illinois Wild and Scenic River, Rogue River, Rogue River - Siskiyou National Forest, Southern Oregon2 Comments

Those who have been fortunate enough to raft the Rogue or Illinois Rivers, or backpack these river’s namesake trails, have likely experienced Bear Camp Road. Also dubbed Forest Road (FR) 23, this narrow, twisty – but paved – road runs between Galice on the Rogue River, over the mountains, to Agness, near the confluence of the Rogue and Illinois Rivers, not far from the Pacific Ocean. It’s not open year-round, but in the summer, it’s the quickest way back to the Rogue Valley from a take-out at Foster Bar or trail’s end at Oak Flat. It was still closed when we did our trips on the Rogue and Illinois this year, so an extra two hours or so were added to our returns from these trips.

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Little Silver Creek Lake (Galice, Oregon) 10-Nov-2019

2019-11-112022-01-31Posted in Hiking, Southern OregonTagged Day Hiking, Galice Oregon, Hiking, Little Silver Creek Lake Oregon, Little Silver Lake Trail #1184, Merlin Oregon, Southern Oregon7 Comments

We enjoy hiking to the extent that almost any hike makes us happy. 🙂 This includes hikes that induce happiness only in retrospect (Are you sure that’s the last tick?). And those that shall never, ever be done again. So the happiness bar is pretty low when it comes to a hike. But sometimes a hike disappoints and a happiness deficit ensues. Sadly, a planned hike to Little Silver Creek Lake in the mountains west of Grants Pass resulted in such a deficit.

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Silver Peak-Hobson Horn Trail (Galice, Oregon) 27-May-2018

2018-05-272022-01-30Posted in Hiking, Southern OregonTagged Day Hiking, Galice Oregon, Hiking, Illinois River Trail Oregon, Illinois Wild and Scenic River, Montana Spring Oregon, Oregon, Rogue River - Siskiyou National Forest, Silver Peak-Hobson Horn Trail, Southern Oregon

Silver Peak Hobson Horn Trail Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest Oregon

When I hiked the Illinois River Trail in 2016, I passed the western end of the Silver Peak-Hobson Horn Trail (USFS #1166) on the ridge north of Fantz Ranch. I didn’t have time to think much about it then but later it popped-up when I was looking for different trails to explore. The #1166 traverses one of the most remote and pristine areas in the North Kalmiopsis Roadless Area, has had quite a convoluted history, and has a real world condition that diverges sharply from that which appears in internet searches. Of course, we didn’t know that going in, so it was just as well I billed this hike as an exploratory adventure and we did it on a clear, mild day under wide-open blue skies. Update: Almost the entire length of the #1166 was impacted by the 2018 Klondike Fire.

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Taylor Creek Trail (Southern Oregon) 07-Nov-2016

2016-11-082022-01-29Posted in Hiking, Hiking (Bike Assist), Southern OregonTagged Big Pine Campground, Burned Timber Creek, Day Hiking, Galice Oregon, Hiking, Merlin Oregon, Oregon, Rogue River, Rogue River - Siskiyou National Forest, Taylor Creek Trail1 Comment

A few weeks ago, our local paper, the Medford Tribune, ran a story (here) about how the Forest Service, in collaboration with numerous volunteers (and with some artful grantsmanship), had been able to replace five bridges on the Taylor Creek Trail (USFS #1142). This was a near miraculous story given that trail building (and even trail maintenance) too often seems but a distant memory. So, of course, we had to see this miracle for ourselves. Taylor Creek is a popular hiking and mountain biking trail in summer (because it’s shaded and goes along the creek), in Fall (because of the colors), and in winter and spring (because it’s too low for snow). We managed to miss almost all of the Fall colors and so, again, focused on the mushrooms, which were numerous.

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