On December 11, 2010, all the
weather reports said there was 100% chance of rain,
of course -- it is winter in Douglas County, what
else would anyone expect. Leaving a car at the
Jessie Wright trailhead, the group of ten hikers
drove on east to Medicine Creek Road to start
the hike on the Bradley Trail, where they saw that
there had been considerable snow in the area just
days ago so the rain looked a little better by
comparison.
The ten hikers started down, down, down the trail
until they encountered the Soda Springs area below
the trail, then they went up, up, up onto the lovely
plateau of Pine Bench dotted with the blackened
trunks of the ponderosa pines leftover from the two
fires that have ravaged the area. The fog rising
from the Boulder Creek canyon hid the creek from
view but couldn’t silence the creek hundreds of feet
below. Even with the fog and constant rain, the
views were
worth the climb.
Coming down from the plateau, it was a muddy trail
with some blowdown across it to make things
interesting. At the intersection of the trail with
the North Umpqua trail they came to where the Soda
Springs trail was blocked with a mesh barricade and
a sign that had been tampered with saying “Anger
Sexplosive Stay Away”. This trail is blocked
because of ongoing construction on the Soda Springs
Dam. Hikers crossed Boulder Creek on a wooden bridge
that John could make shake as the others walked over
it, unnerving to be sure. Boulder Creek rushing to
its union with the North Umpqua was in full spate.
On down the trail hikers had a late lunch, some
perched on enormous rocks by the river, others on
mossy wet logs and some troglodytes ( Ray, Rheo and
Richard) found a cave in which to shelter. After
lunch the group faced the final challenge of the
day, crossing Eagle Creek which also had a lot of
water pouring down full tilt. Some crossed with
great leaps and bounds, some risked life and limb on
slimy logs and rocks and others just gave in and
trudged through the swirling water. Many thought
that the Eagle Creek crossing would be a great
place to put a Richard S. memorial bridge.
At the end of the day, after seven and a half miles,
soggy, slushy boots and all, the group opined that
it had been a great hike.
