Pilot Rock Oregon – BOOTS on the TRAIL

Backdoor to Rhyolite Ridge (Soda Mountain Wilderness) 09-Apr-2021

2021-04-092021-04-25Posted in Hiking, Southern OregonTagged BLM, Bureau of Land Management, Caldera Brewing Company, Day Hiking, Hiking, Mount Shasta, Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), PCT, Pilot Rock Oregon, Rhyolite Ridge Oregon, Soda Mountain Wilderness, Southern Oregon4 Comments

Rhyolite Ridge is a bench that curves around below Point 5401 (“Rhyolite Point”) on the western edge of the Soda Mountain Wilderness. We first learned of it from William Sullivan’s Southern Oregon hiking guides. It’s a short diversion, on what was is now a much faded old ranch road, from the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT). Going out to it gives you sweeping views of the peaks (most notably Mount Shasta) and valleys to the south. Its south-facing aspect also encourages early season emergence of some unique wildflowers such as the Dwarf Hesperochiron and Yellow Fritillary. We’ve hiked out to the Ridge several times from the PCT, as have others judging from how a single-track has now formed in the old road.

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Point 5321 & Hey Bear! (Southern Oregon) 28-Nov-2020

2020-11-282020-12-03Posted in Hiking, Southern Oregon, U.S. National Parks & MonumentsTagged Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, Day Hiking, Hiking, Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), PCT, Pilot Rock Oregon, Point 5321 Oregon, Rhyolite Ridge Oregon, Soda Mountain Wilderness, Southern Oregon4 Comments

Our last hike to Rhyolite Point (Point 5401 on the map) west of Pilot Rock was in April of this year. The first wave of the Big V had just broken over Southern Oregon. There was confusion about whether you could go outside and, if so, where and when and with whom. Eventually outside was deemed acceptable. But it was judged best if you stayed local, distanced, and didn’t try anything epic where rescuing your sorry ass might tie-up resources needed elsewhere. So we did a short loop around Rhyolite Point on the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) for wildflowers and views. We saw lots of wildflowers but only three people (at a distance) and had a nice hike. 🙂

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Snow on the Siskiyous (Southern Oregon) 11-Nov-2020

2020-11-112022-03-09Posted in Hiking, Oregon Wilderness Areas, Southern Oregon, U.S. National Parks & MonumentsTagged Boccard Point Oregon, Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, Day Hiking, Hiking, Little Pilot Peak Oregon, Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), PCT, Pilot Rock Oregon, Porcupine Mountain Oregon, Soda Mountain Wilderness, Southern Oregon2 Comments

In November of 2016, we hiked out to Boccard Point from the (then new to us) trailhead on Baldy Creek Road. It was snowing when we started, the Point was packed in clouds when we got there, and the sun only appeared when we were on our way back. 🙄 In May of this year I used this same trailhead to hike west on the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) to Porcupine Mountain. The views along this route were impressive – perhaps even a little more so than from the Point. Scroll forward to today and the first snows have fallen on this section of the PCT. With more and bigger snows expected soon, today seemed like the moment to reprise the views experienced on that May hike, this time on walkable snow and with The LovedOne. ❤

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Porcupine Mountain (Cascade-Siskiyou NM) 07-May-2020

2020-05-072020-05-09Posted in Hiking, Southern Oregon, U.S. National Parks & MonumentsTagged Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, Day Hiking, Hiking, Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), PCT, Pilot Rock Oregon, Porcupine Mountain Oregon, Southern Oregon4 Comments

Porcupine Mountain sits just north of the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) between Soda Mountain and Pilot Rock. It’s in the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument right next to the Soda Mountain Wilderness. We’ve hiked to the views from its summit several times before. But always from a start to the west where the PCT crosses the road to Pilot Rock. This time we decided to start from the east where the Baldy Creek Road intersects with the PCT. This is the informal trailhead for Boccard Point. The short section of the PCT from here to Porcupine is an easy one that passes through patches of meadow and forest, with big views all along the way. The hike out-and-back to Porcupine is only 6 miles with 1,100 feet of gain and today was a perfect day (weather-wise) to do it. 🙂

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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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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.