On a beautiful Saturday, members of the Friends of the Umpqua Hiking Club collected at the Swiftwater Trailhead for a briefing by Jane Flewelling, hike coordinator. Jane explained the difficulties of the trail and options for turning around at the 4-mile marker or continuing on to Bob Butte which is just beyond the 5-mile marker.

The group soon broke up into several smaller groups, fast hikers out for exercise and slower ones who wanted to observe the beauty of the area and take pictures of it. About 30 minutes after the hike started, Gary slipped and fell on a wet foot bridge, injuring a finger. He and Nancy returned to their car and took off for the nearest hospital. Fortunately the finger was only dislocated, not broken, so by taping it to the next finger Gary is still be able to go on a  golfing tripon Monday.

It was reported that a couple hikers spotted a cave possibly used for hibernation by bear, but no one volunteered to investigate to see whether the cave was occupied. Numerous foot bridges were crossed in the hike and it was obvious that most of the trail was well maintained with sand or sawdust being spread on the trail
.
Seventeen hikers made it to an open area just below the turn off for Bob Butte where we enjoyed our lunch in the sun. Edwin did hike part way up to Bob Butte and he and John Malone also went on a bit further to look at a clear cut area on private land. All in all a very enjoyable and productive hike which really makes us appreciate the
beauty of our local area.