Tunnel Ridge Trail – BOOTS on the TRAIL

Tunnel Ridge Loop (Southwest Oregon) 15-Apr-2022

2022-04-152022-04-16Posted in Hiking, Southern OregonTagged Applegate Valley Oregon, Bear Gulch Trailhead, BLM, Bureau of Land Management, Day Hiking, Hiking, Little Applegate Trailhead, Southern Oregon, Sterling Mine Ditch Trail, Tunnel Ridge Trail2 Comments

Well, last week gave us some of the weather we’d liked to have gotten spread out across January, February, and March – rain, snow, hail, sleet, high winds, etc. But, no, the skies waited and then slammed us with this stuff all at once. Recently brown hills are now green lower down and white higher up. The wildflowers are confused. But magic sky water is most welcome here however and whenever it arrives. More of this celestial moistness is expected in this evening and may then continue for another week. 😁

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Sterling Mine Ditch (Oregon) 26-Mar-2020

2020-03-262020-03-27Posted in Hiking, Southern OregonTagged Bear Gulch Trailhead, BLM, Bureau of Land Management, Day Hiking, Hiking, Little Applegate Trailhead, Siskiyou Upland Trails Association, Southern Oregon, Sterling Mine Ditch Trail, Tunnel Ridge Trail2 Comments

Our governor’s shelter-in-place order went into effect on Monday, with the now all too familiar (and painful) public closures, stay-at-home injunctions, and self-isolation directives. But, hiking, running, and biking are still encouraged PROVIDED you maintain a 6-foot (2 m) “alone cone” around yourself. Basically, just stay away from other people. And we’ve been good about that, as neither of us wants to give the Big V a shot at our decrepit immune systems. So, except for brief forays out for groceries, liquor, prescription refills, and the occasional take-out, we do not leave the house. Hiking is the one big exception. When doing so, we now have to think carefully about when and where to go – and be willing to abandon or revise a planned hike if trying to do it would compromise social distancing.

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Anderson Butte (Southern Oregon) 21-Dec-2016

2016-12-222022-01-29Posted in Hiking, Hiking (Bike Assist), Southern OregonTagged Anderson Butte Oregon, Applegate Valley Oregon, BLM, Bureau of Land Management, Day Hiking, Geocaching, Hiking, Mount McLoughlin, Oregon, Sterling Mine Ditch Trail, Tunnel Ridge Trail, Wolf Gap Trailhead4 Comments

Anderson Butte Applegate Valley Southern Oregon

The Sterling Mine Ditch Trail was the first trail we hiked in Southern Oregon before deciding to move south (post). Granted calling a trail “mine ditch” doesn’t make it sound all that attractive but it is, in fact, a very pleasant, low elevation, year-round trail, with wildflowers in the Spring and a rich history. We’ve now hiked the entire length of the trail between its Deming Gulch, Wolf Gap, and Little Applegate trailheads (post). Having done all this, the eternal quest for a new hike or a twist on an old hike kicked in. A posting by the Ashland Hiking Group attracted our attention to Anderson Butte (5,197 feet), a lumpy peak which rises above the eastern end of the ditch trail and which used to be graced by a fire lookout. After deep cartographic introspection, it looked like a loop could be formed using the ditch trail, some forest roads, and a bit of cross-country travel. The LovedOne has grown just a little leery of my “experimental” hikes and thus obtained a Winter Solstice Deferment (not enough daylight!) to avoid accompanying me on this one. So, feeling warmth only from my Dutch Brothers White Chocolate Mocha, I headed into the wilderness…

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Sterling Mine Ditch Trail (Tunnel Ridge) 05-Oct-2013

2013-10-052022-02-12Posted in Hiking, Southern OregonTagged Applegate Trails Association, Applegate Valley Oregon, Day Hiking, Hiking, Jacksonville Oregon, Oregon, Ruch Oregon, Southern Oregon, Sterling Mine Ditch Trail, Tunnel Ridge Trail

We were down in Jacksonville, Oregon on business (and enjoying the sun) but had time for a quick hike (there are many to chose from in this area). After consulting the guide and a local, we decided on doing a portion of the trail that follows along the abandoned Sterling Mine Ditch – which has now been restored as a hiking trail. This is Hike #62 in Sullivan’s 100 Hikes in Southern Oregon (Third Edition). The full hike is 17.1 miles but we went for the 4.7 mile loop that included a hand-dug, through-the-ridge tunnel. This is a very nice trail and it was somewhat encouraging to find ones’ tax dollars actually being used for something constructive and fun.

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