Christmas Valley Back Country Byway

A 102-mile Type I and II route through central Oregon, past recent lava flows and cinder cones, sand dunes, a “lost forest,” and historic sites. Set among the bold volcanic features of central Oregon, the Christmas Valley Back Country Byway traverses 102 miles of paved and unpaved roads. It crosses a harsh, austere land of sagebrush, lava flows, cinder cones, and sand dunes, but it also passes green alfalfa fields, paddocks of fat cattle, and a golf course. Special Attractions: Fort Rock State Park, Fossil Lake, Devils Garden Wilderness Study Area, Squaw Ridge Wilderness Study Area, Four Craters Wilderness Study Area, Crack in the Ground, Sand Dunes Wilderness Study Area, Lost Forest Research Natural Area, Derrick Cave, hiking, rock-hounding, camping. This eTrail is a complete description of a scenic drive with a route map and information on the best travel seasons, interesting sites, recreation opportunities, camping locations, and much more.
(Excerpt from article by Stewart M. Green on Trails.com.)

The Christmas Valley Tour will deliver so many varied terrain, you’ll think that you’ve visited Australia, Hawaii, Death Valley and a central states prairie all at once.

I’ve been to eastern and central Oregon, growing up near the southern Oregon coast like I did, and the snow in the central Oregon region reaches record proportions annually. So, a check of local weather before driving the Christmas Valley route would be advisable.

Also near this area, to the south is Crater Lake National Park, and to the north is Mt. Rainier N.P. and Mt. St. Helens. Beyond those jewels, you’re only several hours drive away from North Cascades, Olympic and the Yellowstone/Grand Tetons area. But, if it were me taking a driving/hiking/photographic tour of the Great Northwest, a trip like that wouldn’t be complete without a day spent on the Oregon Coast.

All of the pictures you’ve seen published of Cannon Beach can not be compared to actually standing there looking out to The Rock.

Complete Trail Guide
Western Parks Portal

One of the main mission features of Adventure-Crew is to expose America and her guests to the arguably unmatched beauty and majesty of our national parks. The staff at Adventure-Crew started with a small collection of stories and photos of a few parks, and over a short number of years has created an ever growing data base of over 100 of America’s best loved national parks, monuments, recreational areas and preserves.

Starting in 2007, we began featuring each park at both Adventure-Space.com and Adventure-Crew.com, the preeminent sister sites that promote our American national parks. Each week, we highlight and promote one national park out of our growing database; including pictures, important facts and history.

So, why should you check in with Adventure-Space.com and Adventure-Crew.com every week? Because, besides enjoying new national park news stories and updates and giving you the opportunity to write about your personal outdoors experiences and share them on the web for free, you will learn important information about your national parks during each visit to our sites.

One week you’ll learn about the gem of the east coast, Arcadia National Park and her unmatched coastal display of wildlife, trees, rocks and indigenous ferns and flowers. The next week you might learn about the largest collection of naturally forming stone arches in the world at Arches National Park in Moab, Utah.

It is my opinion as the Editor in Chief of Adventure-Space that every child should grow up reading and learning about our important natural resources; one of the amazing features about America that sets us apart from other countries and helps to make us the greatest nation on this globe.

A daily dose of your national parks will eventually make you “park savvy”. You’ll be able to identify important facts, like
-where each of your national parks are located
-when they are open and when some of them close for the season
-what animals are protected and which ones are dangerous
-how to safely and properly investigate and enjoy some of the more delicate areas of our parks, like crypto biotic soil, and other microscopic flora and fauna.
-how the park can help families enjoy their time spent in each park

No where else on the web is it possible to get such a great education by merely showing up every week.

So, start your trek to becoming Park Savvy today. Log on to http://www.adventure-space.com/ and find out what happened today, yesterday, last month, or what’s happening next week or next Spring in your favorite park.

Adventure-Space.com, your National Park Outdoor Adventure Blogging Community.

Sincerely,
Stu Marks, Editor.

Yes, another Grand Canyon. The Little Grand Canyon in Illinois is either well known to you if you travel in the right circles, or you’ve never heard of it before and this sounds like a scam because as everyone knows, Illinois is almost as flat as Kansas.

Well, I’m the Oregonian who exclaimed at the tender age of eighteen, “I’ll never live in a land locked state,” because I didn’t want to live in a flat, featureless environment. Oregon and California’s coastlines are what I grew up with, so I’m a geographically spoiled baby who is always looking for hills, mountains, rivers and canyons because I have lived in Illinois for over ten years.

Illinois is anything  but flat. True, this state, and specifically my area near Dwight, Illinois is well known for “Land of the Tall Corn", but moving across or up and down the map in any direction will yield some hills, and moving along the Mississippi River in any direction will yield more than hills.

Little Grand Canyon is located near the Mississippi River bottom near Murphysboro, Illinois. This is near the bottom of the state, far from the land of tall corn, all though there are still some expansive corn fields down there.

Leave your bikes at home and strap on your good walking shoes or hiking boots, and watch the weather. Here we go…

Directions: Take 20th Street south in Murphysboro, IL. After crossing the bridge the road becomes Town Creek Road (CR 5).  Turn left onto Hickory Ridge Road 0.8 miles after the bridge. Follow this blacktop road about 6.2 miles where you will see Little Grand Canyon Road.  Turn right and travel 1.4 miles.  If the Shawnee NF sign is missing, a green road sign will say "little grand canyon lane".  Follow it to the parking lot.  If you are coming from Jonesboro, take IL Route 127 north to Etherton Road, turn left and travel 2.6 miles, turn left again and go 1.2 miles on Poplar Ridge Road, continue west on Hickory Ridge Road 2.3 miles, and finally turn right on Little Grand Canyon Road 1.4 miles to the parking lot. 
There are two trailheads at the parking lot. I suggest taking the one by the restrooms.  This is a 3.6 mile loop and is rugged for a short distance while ascending or descending the canyon.  As you hike along this backbone trail, note the deep ravines on both sides of the trail. Eventually, you will encounter Chalk Bluff Overlook for a spectacular view over the area.  Descend the canyon on the switchback trail.  At the bottom, look for a faint trail on your left near the canyon wall to continue through the open brush and back into the woods.  Now you will be able to look up at the canyon walls and rock formations. 
Soon you will encounter a confusing trail intersection -- go right.  At some point you will note the scenic, rock staircase opening to ascend the canyon.  Before doing so, go straight ahead and follow the dry creek bed to a large shelter bluff and on to a lovely narrow canyon/grotto. You can then ascend the canyon on a switchback trail to the top and yet another scenic view over the canyon.  The trail ends at the parking lot.  Picnic tables are available.  In the winter if there is a hard freeze, preceded by rain, you will be rewarded with several 300 -- 400 ft frozen waterfalls as you descend the canyon (taking the left trail as I suggested above). 
Two cautions are in order:  If there is a chance of heavy rain, don’t even think of getting into this canyon.  In the event of significant winter ice, the last drop to the bottom of the canyon is very risky.
For additional information on these or other outing locations, call Bob Tyson at 684-5643 or mailto:robkay43@webtv.net

Sources; Trails.com, The Sierra Club, Google

OK. A raise of hands; who here has never heard of The Pacific Northwest Trail? How many think that I meant the Pacific Crest Trail? Ooh. More hands.

The 1200 mile Pacific Northwest Trail (PNT), running from the Continental Divide to the Pacific Ocean, ranks among the most scenic trails in the world. This carefully chosen path is high for the views and long on adventure. It includes the Rocky Mountains, Selkirk Mountains, Pasayten Wilderness, North Cascades, Olympic Mountains, and Wilderness Coast. The trail crosses 3 National Parks and 7 National Forests.

CLICK ON PHOTO TO ENLARGE

In the early 1970s, Ron Strickland had the dream of a long-distance hiking trail from the Continental Divide to the Pacific Ocean. This dream, now a reality, is called the Pacific Northwest Trail.

Thirty years ago this summer, the Pacific Northwest Trail Association was established in order to construct, protect, promote, and maintain the Pacific Northwest Trail. Volunteers; contributors, donors, and grantors; PNTA employees; and SKY Education and Job Corps students have tirelessly worked and are still working to make the Pacific Northwest Trail one of the best long-distance trails in the United States.

There is an excellent summary of the history of the PNT and PNTA in Ron Strickland’s guidebook “The Pacific Northwest Trail” second edition, 2001.

To celebrate the Trail, the Association, and all those who have worked so hard for both, a community program was held in Mount Vernon WA the last day of June 2007. Ron Strickland and Jon Knechtel, Director of Trails and Acting Executive Director, were co-program presenters.

It is my opinion that of the four major continental trails that crisscross America, the AT, PCT, CDT and the PNT, the PNT is the most rugged but not neccessarily the most difficult. The PNT crosses four mountain ranges running east and west across the top of the US, parrelelling the Canadien border. It also drops into some lower plateaus, valleys and meadowlands in between the ranges that afford a greater diversity of ecosystem. On top of that, the western end runs down into the coastal ecosystem of northern Washington, adding the vast diversity that the ocean beach wilderness brings.

PNT Web Site, Olympic NP Site, North Cascades NP Site, Glacier NP Site

Much was assembled from the PNT web site.

Lower Table Rock
White City Oregon

One of the benefits of growing up in Southern Oregon is that almost every village, town and city is surrounded by a view. This is not true of many areas of our vast U.S.

(StockwellPhotos.com)

The various locals to which I have called home over the years include Dwight, Illinois in the Chicago area, Murfreesboro, Tennessee just south of Nashville, Crown Point, Indiana virtually a Chicago suburb, Vallejo and Napa, California on the east side of the San Francisco Bay, Eureka, California just south of the Oregon border on the coast, and my home town of Medford, Oregon.

Other than Medford, most of these other places were pretty much surrounded by, well, nothing. Napa and Vallejo were mostly green, rolling hills that all look alike. At least that was better than flat corn and soybean fields. Murfreesboro, Tennessee is located in a big brown and green bowl, out of which one MUST escape in order to see the world.

Of all of these places, Medford was the most picturesque.

My path through this industry of advertising design has taken me around the country, and given me opportunities to live in and visit many interesting and beautiful places. But, Medford remains the most interesting as far as surrounding horizons.

To the east, there is Mt. Baldy and a low but close peak called Roxy Ann. It was the place of choice to take a date and watch the evening lights of the Medford and Central Point skylines. Just in front of it, built upon an outcropping is The Rogue Valley Manor, a beautiful, massive retirement community that resembles an upscale hotel. Beyond that, further to the east is snow capped Mt. McLaughlin, the peak that many mistake for Mt. Shasta.

To the south and east are Mt. Shasta and Mt. Ashland. Mt. Ashland is the regional skiing capitol of Southern Oregon and Northern California.

Towards the west, just over the western Rogue Valley foothills are often snowcapped Little Grayback Peak, and Holcomb Peak. Just beyond these peaks, though invisible from the valley floor, is the Pacific Ocean.

And, completing our compass tour of the Rogue Valley, directly to the north of Medford and overlooking the famous Rogue River are the Table Rocks, both upper and lower. The Table Rocks are leftover lava deposits from volcanic Mt. Mazama, over forty miles away, which became Crater Lake after its explosion a few thousand years ago.

Scientists keep insisting that it was 6,850 years ago. But, since that is the same number that was taught when I was in grade school forty years ago, I’m beginning to wonder if they really know when it happened (doing the math, it should now be documented as 6,890 years ago).

So, it doesn’t make any difference where one is standing in Medford, there is always something interesting in view on the horizon.

The Table Rocks are known as the Upper and the Lower. The lower is situated a tad south (a matter of a few yards) of the upper and might be the origin of the identifying names.

Hiking the trails on either Table Rock has both up sides and down sides, but the treks are worth the down sides. On the up side, there is the Rogue River Overlook, the spring wildflowers that completely cover the top of the table rocks and are only visible from on top, the views of other geographic monuments like the south rim of Crater Lake, Mt. McLaughlin, and Mt. Shasta, the evening view of the rogue valley lights that can be seen from nearby Central Point, to further Ashland which is just twelve miles from the California border.

The down sides include loads of poison oak (Southern Oregon’s scourge), plenty of thistles, and the ever present danger of rattle snakes. Though I’ve never seen one up there, and everyone that writes about the lower table rock says they’ve never seen one either, still the warning exists. Southern Oregon is well known for its healthy population of rattle snakes, and the rocky, protected Table Rocks are picture perfect stomping grounds for the dangerous, poisonous snakes. Also, the trail up the Lower Table Rock is quite a bit steeper and includes some minor rock climbing, depending on which of the upper forks one takes.

Choosing the season of one’s visit to the Table Rocks is important. The spring can be very boggy up top, with snow melt and rain. Summer is almost certainly very hot and dry for a few weeks, so a good supply of water for each hiker, as well as a good hat are important. Rain is a pretty common occurrence during fall and winter months, so mud would be a problem then as well as in the spring.

Important gear would be;

-Snake-safe hiking boots. Tall-ankled, leather boots with sturdy treaded soles.
-A good walking stick or sticks.
-A wide brimmed sun hat that can also repel rain.
-Mosquito repellant.
-Long legged pants and long sleeved shirt. This helps against sunburn, bug bites, snake bites and brush scrapes against poison oak and thistles.
-Sun screen.
-Ample water carrying vessel.
-Cell phone (turned off unless needed for an emergency).
-Dark sunglasses.
-A good camera with a wide angle and standard lens. The view is pretty awesome from up top, but there are also many opportunities for macro close-ups of wildflowers. The seasonal ponds almost always have colorful waterfowl including mallards. The less liked, but still photogenic buzzards are also in abundance all year long.

To enjoy the Rogue River Overlook, go past the end of the abandoned airstrip and turn slightly right and through a small tree grove. The Rogue Valley and the Rogue River will be laid at your feet, the river running east to west at that point. And, almost exactly due east is snow capped Mt. McLaughlin.

Getting There
From Medford, take Table Rock Rd north past White City. The route makes a left then a right before intersecting with Wheeler Rd., four miles beyond TouVelle State Park, on the Rogue. Take a left at Wheeler Rd and follow it for two and a half miles to the trailhead area. There is parking for about twenty cars.

by Stu Marks, Adventure-Crew Outdoors Editor

In view of all the heat and humidity of recent weeks here in the Chicago area and many other areas around the country, we figured you might want to consider a cooler climate for a few days.

How about a cool hike up into the northern stretches of the Pacific Crest Trail.

Traveling small portions of this trail as a boy scout back in the 1970s, I never got more than a few klicks from Crater Lake. All though this area of the PCT would certainly be cool enough at over 8,000 ft, in contrast to the rest of the country to the south, there’s a lot more snow still to be had around the Mt. Hood area. As a matter of fact, there are summer ski training schools going on right now!

Below is a short description of a part of Section G of the PCT near Mt. Hood.

Preview: From Barlow Pass near Highway 35 (4155), the PCT passes west of Mt. Hood, the highest peak (11235) in Oregon—it is about all you see during the first part of Section G. Once past Mt. Hood, you reach Lolo Pass (3420) and follow the Oregon Cascade crest until you begin a long descent into the Columbia River gorge at the Bridge of the Gods (200).

Source; Trails.com

Other Links; Crater Lake National Park web page

by Stu Marks, Adventure-Crew Outdoors Reporter

With so many fires smack dab in the middle of this summer’s vacation season, like Yellowstone, Lake Tahoe, Shenandoah and North Cascades, we thought we’d search for trails in a park in which there are no large fires, and the average temps won’t boil your drinking water while hanging on your hip, nor allow the sun to burn through your canvas sun hat.

After checking the current fire management list from the National Park Service, we found a national park in the part of the country and with sufficient elevation to meet our summer needs.

Olympic National Park, located on the north western tip of Washington State, near Seattle, and just across the Puget Sound from Victoria BC, has an August average high of 69 degrees, and is loaded with trails. One of them is the Forks to Ruby Bike Route.

Riding your bicycle through the hilly and forested Olympic Peninsula is like no other ride. There are so many different environments. The views are awesome and you’ll be tempted to stop often for pictures of creeks, rivers, wildflowers and wildlife as well as the awesome panoramic views of both mountain and beach.

Fairholm Campground to Kalaloch Campground

Also, Adventure-Crew has an entire web site devoted to just Olympic National Park.

Sources; Google, Trails.com, Vicky Spring and Tom Kirkendall, The Mountaineers Books Publishers

by Stu Marks, Adventure-Crew Outdoors Reporter

On July 26, 2007, the new John Smith National Park Trail was completed. But to enjoy this trail might be a tad unique. You can leave at home your walking sticks, trail boots, and maybe even your back pack for this 3,000 mile hike.

That’s right. This trail is approximately 3,000 miles long, and is all on water. The John Smith National Park Trail commemorates the exploratory journey that Smith and others took in their quest for gold and silver along the coastline of Virginia, Maryland and Delaware in and among the tributaries and inlets of the Chesapeake Bay.

All though most who plan a “hike” on this “new” old trail do it in their favorite canoe or kayak, most of the trail can be viewed conveniently from a small motorized water craft. But a map or maps are absolutely necessary in order to follow the course taken by the age old explorers. Maps and charts are available at many places around Chesapeake Bay

The water trail is most recently marked by three, brand new, “smart buoys” anchored in Chesapeake Bay. They are at Jamestown, Va., at the mouth of the Potomac and at the mouth of the Patapsco.

The smart buoys are equipped with data gathering tools that automatically upload their findings to live feeds on the Internet. Click here You can check the local data of each buoy including water temp, air temp, bar. pressure, swell heights, etc. As I write this on Tuesday, July 31, 2007 from my office near Chicago, I can easily see that the air temp at  Jamestown, VA is 82.0F, the wind speed is 5.0 knots, the wave height is .1ft, and the dissolved oxygen level is at 6.0 mg/L (6 milligrams per liter).

Interesting Facts;
-The reason that the trail is so long has to do with all of the many inlets, streams and gateways that the explorations took over 400 years ago in their search for treasure.
-John Smith National Park Trail is the nation’s first national historic water trail.
- Since the Colonial Era, the Chesapeake Bay has been critical to the world’s commerce. Today, approximately ninety million tons of imports and exports pass through the major ports of Hampton Roads and Baltimore each year.
-There hundreds of points throughout Virginia, Maryland and Delaware from which one can access the water trail. More information on these locations and how to get there can be discovered at www.baygateways.net.
-Map. Click here to download the main chart.
-The .gov site for this new “park” is http://www.nps.gov/cajo/

Sources; nps.gov, Trails.com, Google

By Stu Marks
Adventure-Crew Outdoor Reporter

We just came back from a quick family trip to central Wisconsin. While up there, we were surprised by a view of the famous sandhill crane communities and some prairie chickens. Near Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin, there is a prairie chicken preserve and several communities of sandhill cranes.

prairie chicken

sandhill crane

The interesting birds motivated me to write this week’s Trail of the Week about trails in Wisconsin’s National Parks. Since there are no formal national parks within Wisconsin, I found trails within Apostle Islands National Lakeshore on Lake Superior.

The Apostle Islands are a small group of islands bunched together at the very northern tip of Wisconsin. As a matter of fact, they are barely within Wisconsin’s borders, being within spitting distance of the Minnesota and UP of Michigan boundaries.

A great, scenic hike away from the general population, is Trout Point on Stockton Island’s north shore. Life is certainly different here as one camps on these quiet shores. A mixture of tropic, yet northern wilderness flavor with the nearby shores that trail off into horizon scenes of far off beaches and endless water.

Raptors and water fowl abound as they continue their endless pursuit of food.

The Trout Point Trail spans the entire island and is a twelve mile long, there and back again trek through bustling shoreline boating traffic and remote backcountry. Spanning the entire island allows you to view all five regions; Lake Superior Lowlands, Northern Highlands, Western Upland, Central Sandy Plain, and the Eastern Moraines/Lake Michigan Plain.

By the way, to enjoy the sandhill cranes and see the Prairie Chicken Preserve, take I-39 up into central Wisconsin around Plainfield and Wisconsin Rapids.

Link: http://www.uwsp.edu/wildlife/pchicken/index.htm

Sources; Trails.com, Google

by Stu Marks, Adventure-Crew Outdoor Reporter 

Crater Lake is widely known for its intense blue color and spectacular views. During summer, visitors may navigate the Rim Drive around the lake, enjoy boat tours on the lake surface, stay in the historic Crater Lake Lodge, camp at Mazama Village, or hike some of the park's various trails including Mt. Scott at 8,929 ft. The winter brings some of the heaviest snowfall in the country, averaging 533 inches per year. Although park facilities mostly close for this snowy season, visitors may view the lake during fair weather, enjoy cross-country skiing, and participate in weekend snowshoe hikes.

One of the most interesting hikes in the Crater Lake region is the Boundary Springs hike near Union Creek, Oregon (Oregon is pronounced “Or’-eh-gun”).

It’s not true that the Rogue rises from a hole in the Crater Lake rim’s north side. Crater Lake is a closed system; nothing in/nothing out. It maintains its level purely through direct precipitation. The water feeding beautiful Boundary Springs, source of the Rogue’s main fork, comes instead from runoff and ground water on Crater Lake’s outer slopes. Highlights: A beautiful canyon, several magical springs, and the ultimate source of the Rogue River.

Because the Boundary Springs trail doesn’t pass above the caldera rim, and therefore affords no view of beautiful Crater Lake, I suggest saving that until after your hike. Just make sure you take the rim drive and stop a few places for photos before calling it a day.

Sources; Trails.com, Google, The National Park Service, Adventure-Crew.com

(We know of the intermittent problem with the lack of paragraphs. The software supplier has not been very motivated to fix the problem. Please bear with us. Thanks)

The wildlife is almost constant with great herons, egrets, woodpeckers, squirrels, rabbits and turtles. The green canopy that is shown in this photo from Saturday afternoon, 6/30/2007, is over many miles of the canal that reaches generally from around Joliet, Illinois to around LaSalle, Illinois, about 61 miles or so to the west. All though the total trail length is currently at 61 miles, a small portion of it is more for hiking than bike riding.

A popular 11 mile stretch in the Joliet and Chicago section has become a favorite for after work biking as it is completely paved and is close to several housing neighborhoods. The Morris sections are not paved but are well tended with fine limestone sand and gravel that is referred to as “screenings”.

The overall path is almost perfectly level as it is the historic tow path that accompanies the canal, built in the late 1800's and used until 1933 when it was closed to commercial barge and passenger traffic due to lack of use, being replaced largely by freight and passenger rail.

On the other side of the canal to the north are several back yards of older homes built right on the canal. In good weather there are people out there fishing, grilling lunch, or just watching the great outdoors occur. The older homes give way to pastures, corn and soybean fields, and industry.

Riding by swiftly and quietly, generating no sound except the ever present low crackling of the lime stone under tire, the herons and egrets take notice but also pretty much ignore us as they stand straight up with their feet in the water, almost like a straggling limb reaching up from its parent waterlogged trunk. They are most certainly doing what most of their human brothers are doing who we meet at canal’s edge; fishing.

On one occasion, a couple of Saturdays ago earlier in June, one of those events ended with the giant heron taking off straight at me, almost taunting me with my inability to get off a decent shot in time, and then arcing to my left, down stream and looping over the path where we had just ridden, only to return to the airspace over the canal and alight up in a tree, sixty feet over head, looking at me. Laughing quietly, I think.

The resulting back up water is a deep pond which locals say is a great fishing hole. It’s also one of the places where kayakers and canoers turn around or portage their craft. As we left the area, we saw a couple of canoes paddle away east in the direction of our halfway turnaround log.

This ride is a great one for all family members. We think it’s about the only safe type of ride for those trailing the expensive kiddy trailers behind their bikes; the ones we see in busy traffic around Joliet.

As Adventure-Crew has not yet left the realm of National Parks in our park page collection, here’s one of the dozens of good links with more information on the I&M Canal Bike Paths.

Adventure-Crew Outdoor Reporter

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Thanks; AC Staff.