Jack-Ash Trail Oregon – BOOTS on the TRAIL

To An End of the Jack-Ash! 04-Sep-2018

2018-09-042022-01-30Posted in Hiking, Southern OregonTagged Day Hiking, Deming Gulch Trailhead, Grub Gulch Trailhead, Hiking, Jack-Ash Trail Oregon, Oregon, Siskiyou Upland Trails Association, Southern Oregon, Sterling Mine Ditch Trail

Jack-Ash Trail Jacksonville Ashland Oregon

In October 2017, we did our first hike on part of the recently completed Phase 1 of the Jack-Ash (Jacksonville – Ashland) Trail. This then new (yeah!) trail connects both ends of the well known Sterling Mine Ditch Trail, allowing for various hiking loops and other footy options. Because of the way we arranged that hike, we left the Jack-Ash at its junction with the Grub Gulch Access Trail and thus didn’t go all the way out to Griffin Lane. I was thinking of correcting this oversight with a hike & bike between there and the Deming Gulch Trailhead when I realized that I didn’t know exactly where the Jack-Ash connected with Griffin Lane. Owing to the amount of private property in the area, it was critical to know this location exactly, as unintentionally hiding the bike in someone’s backyard would be problematic (at best). So nothing for it then but to hike north from Deming Gulch, up Grub Gulch, and down to the end of the Jack-Ash (The LovedOne opted to avoid yet another instance of my hiking OCD by going to the library).

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East Applegate Ridge Trail (Southern Oregon) 14-Nov-2017

2017-11-142022-01-30Posted in Hiking, Southern OregonTagged Applegate Ridge Trail (ART) Oregon, Applegate Trails Association, Applegate Valley Oregon, BLM, Bureau of Land Management, Day Hiking, Hiking, Jack-Ash Trail Oregon, Jacksonville Oregon, Medford Oregon, Oregon, Siskiyou Upland Trails Association, Southern Oregon2 Comments

Whatever else you might say about 2017, it was a great year for new trails in Southern Oregon! Several hiking, biking, and equestrian trails came online in Prescott Park, Phase I of the Jack-Ash Trail was opened by the Siskiyou Upland Trails Association, and then the Applegate Trails Association weighed in with the East Applegate Ridge Trail, another addition to the still developing 50-mile long Applegate Ridge Trail (ART) system. It’s hard to keep up with all this trail activity and we were out fiddling with Point 5648 when Glenn & Carol and Richard ventured out along the new east ART trail. I hesitate to say that they “gushed” about their hike (even though it did rain some) but they were clearly captured by its smooth tread, vast views, open meadows, and transits of oak, madrone, and pine forests. We were consumed with envy. When today looked to be (and was) an amazingly bluebird perfect break in the atmospheric river of wet that has been coming our way lately, I went for it. The LovedOne stayed behind to make a dent in her growing number of fiber art projects, thus missing a great hike. So sad…

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Jack-Ash Trail Loop (Ashland, Oregon) 08-Oct-2017

2017-10-082022-01-30Posted in Hiking, Southern OregonTagged Anderson Butte Oregon, Applegate Valley Oregon, Bureau of Land Management, Day Hiking, Deming Gulch Trailhead, Greenstone Trailhead, Griffin Gap Oregon, Grub Gulch Trailhead, Hiking, Jack-Ash Trail Oregon, Siskiyou Upland Trails Association, Southern Oregon, Sterling Mine Ditch Trail5 Comments

In July of this year, thanks to the efforts of the Siskiyou Upland Trails Association (SUTA) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Phase 1 of the Jack-Ash (Jacksonville – Ashland) Trail was completed between Griffin Lane and Little Applegate Road, via Anderson Butte Road. This new (yeah!) trail connects with the well known Sterling Mine Ditch Trail, a trail which, since 2013, we have been able to hike all parts of, including the segment between the Deming Gulch and Grub Gulch Trailheads. In addition, I used sections of the Sterling Mine Ditch Trail to craft a loop over Anderson Butte to and from the Wolf Gap Trailhead. Based on these previous wanderings, and with the Jack-Ash now available, further map-gazing suggested a loop involving it, Anderson Butte, and the mine ditch trail. And so, on a Fall day with near perfect weather for hiking, we set out to explore this loop (and the new trail).

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