Friends of the Umpqua Hiking Group
A Roseburg, Oregon hiking club. Providing guided hikes to the Coast, the Cascades, and all points in between!
Hike Coordinator: Brad Bishop.
The Friends of the Umpqua hiked at their old standby Cape Arago. On this day, the sea was unusually quiet, even at high tide, so there were no waves booming along the shore like usual. Beginning at Sunset Bay State Park, this perennial favorite of the club provides view after view of the rugged coast north of Cape Arago.
Read more about this hike on Richard O’Neill’s Blog
Pictures for this hike can be found on Richard O’Neill’s Flickr Page
Hike Coordinator: Lane Harris
Narration by Lane Harris
Hikes that are scheduled weeks, or sometimes months in advance are never planned around the weather. No one can predict the weather that far in advance. So, we just schedule the hikes and hope for the best. And when those hikes are scheduled on the Oregon coast, well, that makes it even more unpredictable. And a hike scheduled in November? Odds are really good that you’re in for some cold, miserable weather…
But, as it turned out on this particular day in the middle of November, it appeared we had beat those odds! A large group of us arrived at the Oregon Dunes day use area north of Reedsport, greeted by some very friendly weather and some very friendly fellow hikers from the South Coast Striders hiking group. The conditions were so good, that many of us hiked the entire hike with just short sleeved shirts. Exceptionally calm winds with mild temps made for great hiking!
The caravan of hikers departed the parking lot and headed down the hill and towards the foredunes. The mile-long walk to the beach offers up a mix of part sandy desert, part forest, and part dune before promptly spitting hikers onto the beach. We took an immediate turn south, as the plan was to walk the beach all the way to Tahkenitch Creek. Several hikers opted for the shorter, 4-mile loop back up, which was achieved by only walking a mile and a half down the beach and then turning back inland toward the day use area. The rest of us made the long journey to where Tahkenitch Creek empties into the ocean.
The beach offered several distractions on the long trudge, including huge logs that had washed ashore, seagulls frolicking in the water, and jellyfish the size of frisbees, and larger!
After the long beach walk, hikers sat atop logs and such near Tahkenitch Creek and dined on whatever hikers bring for lunch. After a long respite here, we donned our backpacks once again and headed back north up the beach.
By this time, all hikers had been spread out as thin as that last bit of butter on a piece of toast, and we were in groups of only 2 or 3. At what is apparently milepost 114 on the Oregon coast, everyone turned inland for what would eventually be the strenuous part of the hike.
The trail was kind enough, as it meandered through the foredunes and a lush, forested knoll. Hikers caught a few glimpses of Tahkenitch Creek before the trail turned north towards the trailhead.
It was the last 1.5 miles that made us wonder why we decided to do a marathon hike to Tahkentch Creek before we turned around. The sand was deep and not the easiest to navigate. Anyone who has walked through deep, thick sand knows it takes twice as much energy to walk through it than walking on a solid surface. According to that math, then that last part, according to our legs, was really 3 miles, not 1.5!
All hikers made it back, thankful for the kind weather that mother nature had delivered. For those of us who did the whole enchilada, this was a rewarding 8.5-mile hike. Umm, better make that 10!
Read about this hike on Richard O’Neill’s Blog
More pictures on Richard O’Neill’s Flickr page and Lane Harris’ Flickr page
Pictures below by Richard O’Neill
Hike Coordinator: Lane Harris
Narration by lane Harris
The Jessie Wright section is named after Jessie Wright, who with her husband Perry, built a homestead on nearby Illahee Flats in 1915. They must’ve been hardy people, to reside in a place that dictated that you live a life of day-to-day survival. And to think that we now traipse around this area for mere recreation. And it’s a given that Jessie and Perry Wright would’ve killed to own a pair of Gore-Tex boots!
It was 36 degrees at the trailhead when 13 of us hikers headed out on this portion of the NUT (North Umpqua Trail). Ahh, but the sky was blue and the sun was actually shining. Ok, so it wouldn’t keep us warm the whole day, but the thought of knowing that it was there somehow warmed the soul.
This section of the NUT is where the trail crosses the river and stays on the north side of the highway and river. Theoretically, this means we would be on south-facing slopes, meaning we should see more sun as opposed to being on north-facing slopes. In theory. In reality, we probably caught the sun’s direct rays about 10% of the hike. Oh well, we’ll take it!
The trail started out fairly level, but soon offered up a few gentle climbs and one steep switchback going downhill. This was gonna be fun to come back up! Eventually, the trail made its way back towards the river, and was absolutely level in some places as we paralleled the North Umpqua River. We walked through the burn zone that occurred several years back, noticing that the forest was recovering quite nicely. However, that same fire totally destroyed a bridge that this hiking club had actually paid for as a way to cross Eagle Creek. Hikers must once again hope the creek isn’t flowing too high as they encounter this part of the trail. Today, all it took was a long step across.
Upon reaching Boulder Creek, we took a long lunch break on a sandy area near the creek. As we jockeyed for positions in the few sunny spots, we discussed about turning around here or going forward. All agreed that this would be a good turn around spot. This section of the trail continues on for about another mile and a half to Soda Springs Dam, but that part of the trail is basically along an old road and is nothing to write home about.
On the return leg, the air was actually heating up, by autumn standards. Most everyone shed one layer and enjoyed the leisurely hike back. Well, except for that steep switchback, this time going uphill! But overall, it was a very satisfying hike on a fantastic fall day.
Read about this hike on Richard O’Neill’s Blog
More picture on Lane Harris’ Flickr page and Richard O’Neill’s Flickr page
Pictures below by Lane Harris
