Hobart Bluff Oregon – BOOTS on the TRAIL

Parsnip Lakes (Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument) 23-May-2021

2021-05-232021-05-25Posted in Hiking, Southern Oregon, U.S. National Parks & MonumentsTagged Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, Day Hiking, Hiking, Hobart Bluff Oregon, Oregon Spotted Frog, Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), Parsnip Lakes Oregon, PCT, Southern Oregon8 Comments

The weather for our hike on the Rogue River Trail had been warm but otherwise wonderful. However, the day after we returned, the weather did a complete reversal, closing in for several days with much lower temperatures, high wind, clouds, sporadic rain, a dash of hail, and general gloom. Snow fell at the higher elevations and stuck. In the middle of May? So time was spent finishing (ha!) a DIY landscaping project, working, volunteering, and doing exercise hikes. When a nice day was forecast, we made plans to return to the trail.

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Green Springs to Hobart (Southern Oregon) 01-Nov-2020

2020-11-012020-11-02Posted in Hiking, Southern Oregon, U.S. National Parks & MonumentsTagged Caldera Brewing Company, Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, Day Hiking, Green Springs Inn Oregon, Hiking, Hobart Bluff Oregon, Hobart Peak, Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), PCT, Southern Oregon2 Comments

Today we fell back. In time that is. We may soon be falling back to the Dark Ages but that’s still to be decided. The ostensible purpose of this “falling back” and “springing forward” (Could we even do this without these catchy phrases?) is to give us more daylight in the summer months thus saving energy and reducing crime (True, you hardly ever see Time Bandits wandering around during summer.). Of course doing so completely messes with our primordial circadian rhythms (note: not a jazz quartet) leading to confusion, grumpiness, intemperate emails, and utterly artful (but still shameful) exposures during Zoom meetings. So sad. 😥 I’ll bet the Neanderthals would still be around if they hadn’t decided that daylight saving (not savings) time would give them an extra hour to hunt cave bears (or visa versa as it apparently turned out). Frankly, I think it’s a waste of time doing all this falling and springing. Let’s just pick a time and stick with it! And damn the Time Bandits!

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East Fork Camp Creek (Soda Mtn. Wilderness) 03-Jun-2020

2020-06-032020-06-09Posted in HikingTagged Day Hiking, East Fork Camp Creek Oregon, Hiking, Hobart Bluff Oregon, Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), PCT, Soda Mountain Wilderness, Southern Oregon12 Comments

In the United States, wilderness areas were not established just so we could go hiking in them. They were created to serve higher purposes – such as securing the benefits of wilderness for present and future generations, preserving areas untrammeled by humans, protecting a community of life, etc. So one shouldn’t expect to find trails in these areas. It’s nice if there are some but that’s just sprinkles on life’s doughnut. So when the Soda Mountain Wilderness was designated in 2009, there were no formal trails in it other than the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), which skirts its northern edge. There were, however, several old dirt logging and ranching roads. The Siskiyou Mountain Club turned some of these into hiking trails – most notably the Lone Pilot Trail and the Boccard Point Trail. This was great work on the Club’s part but it left more than a few of the old tracks unexplored. Inconceivable! Previous efforts on our part lead to explorations of Scotch Creek and Lone Pine Ridge. Today it was Camp Creek’s turn.

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Hiking Southern Oregon: 25 Hikes (February 2020)

2020-02-052022-02-06Posted in Hiking, Southern OregonTagged Aspen Butte Oregon, Big Red Mountain Oregon, Blue Grotto Oregon, Blue Lake Group Oregon, Collings Mountain, Day Hiking, Devils Peak Oregon, East ART, Grizzly Peak (Jackson County), Heavenly Twin Lakes Oregon, Hiking, Hobart Bluff Oregon, Kerby Peak, Lower Table Rock Oregon, Mount Ashland Oregon, Mount McLoughlin, Muir Creek Oregon, Pilot Rock Oregon, Puck Lakes Oregon, Seven Lakes Trail #981, Southern Oregon, Squaw Peak Oregon, Stein Butte Oregon, Sterling Mine Ditch Trail, Takelma Gorge, Upper Table Rock Oregon, Wagner Butte, Whisky Creek Cabin10 Comments

To celebrate our 600^th post on WordPress, we’re highlighting a select few of the many hikes we’ve enjoyed here in Southwest Oregon.

As we’ve perused lists of Oregon’s greatest hikes, we’ve come to notice that these lists are heavily skewed, with a few exceptions, toward hikes near Portland. That metro area’s greater population helps if a list is based on some kind of vote. And proximity to its major airport helps get votes from those who drop in for a brief Western adventure. Even some of the classics, like the Wallowas in Eastern Oregon or the Three Sisters in Central Oregon, often don’t make these lists because they are too far away. So a lot of “great” hikes get done near Portland – the state’s most populated town. And then the complaints roll in about how there’s no parking, the trails are too crowded, you need a permit or must pay a fee, it’s raining, etc.

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Hobart Peak (Cascade-Siskiyou NM) 21-Sep-2018

2018-09-212022-01-30Posted in Hiking, Southern Oregon, U.S. National Parks & MonumentsTagged Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, Day Hiking, Hiking, Hobart Bluff Oregon, Hobart Peak, Oregon, Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), PCT, Southern Oregon2 Comments

Hobart Peak Bluff Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument Southern Oregon

Hobart Bluff (5,502 feet) is a short hike in the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument to big views of the Bear Creek Valley, Pilot Rock, Mount Ashland, and (on a clear day) Mount Shasta. It’s wildly popular and features prominently in numerous guidebooks, tourist brochures, and trail websites. The obvious use trail to the Bluff has even earned its own signed junction with the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT).

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To celebrate our 600th post on WordPress, we’re highlighting a select few of the many hikes we’ve enjoyed here in Southwest Oregon.

To celebrate our 600^th post on WordPress, we’re highlighting a select few of the many hikes we’ve enjoyed here in Southwest Oregon.