Rogue River Ranch

A couple months ago, over front porch beers, some friends of mine and I decided we needed to do one last camping trip before winter set in and we settled on Rogue River Ranch.  Of course at the time we made the plan, the weather was pleasant and warm and sunny.  By the time the week of the camping trip rolled in, so too had the fall rain.  Buuuut, there promised to be a small break in the weather for just the days we had planned to camp, so we went for it.

Ron, from Portland, drove down to my place and loaded his gear into my car.  Then we drove south to Riddle where we met Cory and got a few last minute essentials before driving up Cow Creek.  We stopped at West Fork Cow Creek to look at the historic 1905 railroad bridge even though it was rainy at that point.  Drove up West Fork Cow Creek and then up Goat Trail Creek (an old mining short cut between the railroad and the Rogue River.  Up over Goat Trail Creek and then down to the old, abandoned mining community of Marial on the Rogue River.

Rogue River Ranch had already shut down for the winter which unfortunately meant we had to park farther away than we had wanted.  But we parked nonetheless, unloaded gear, and piled everything into a mountain in the cart I had brought from home.  Then we hauled the cart all the way across the Ranch property which is actually managed by the BLM!  This late in the rafting season (primary visitors to the Ranch) there aren't many people around and we had the place to ourself.  I really like the Ranch because it's got this huge, amazing lawn on the edge of the Rogue River, that not many people know about or use!

So anyway, we set up our tents and then started a fire down on the beach and had dinner.  Unfortunately, about that time, the rain returned.  It was off and on and we got pretty wet, but the fire helped keep us kinda dry.  It poured all night long, but at least it wasn't too cold and my tent kept the water out.  Even had some thunder and lightning!

The next morning, Ron went birding and Cory and I went for a hike, downriver, into the Wild Rogue Wilderness and to Inspiration Point.  You see, the Rogue River Trail was originally created as a mule train for miners over a century ago.  The trail was blasted and drilled out of a cliff and is perched about a hundred feet above the river.  The views are amazing!  Anyway, the road to the trailhead got too muddy, so I parked at the old Mule Canyon Guard Station (abandoned by the USFS) and we hiked from there.  A couple miles downriver, we got to Inspiration Point, in the sunshine, with a great view of Stair Creek Falls across the Rogue River!

By the time we got back, rain clouds had moved back in, but I had plans for dinner.  I had brought a cast iron skillet and burger patties from home.  I'd always wanted to try frying burgers in cast iron over a fire.  It turned out better than I could have ever hoped for!  The skillet got super hot, the burgers were delicious, and all the condiments I brought worked out perfectly.  After burgers, I cooked up beer brats in the same pan.

At least this evening we set up a tarp to kind of hang out under while the rain came pouring down.  And we had the fire and we really kicked it up a notch and burned all of our wood so we didn't have to pack anything out.  The next morning, the rain which had come down all night long, had again stopped.  After breakfast, we packed up and headed out.  On the way out, we went farther up West Fork Cow Creek, then up Elk Valley Creek, and down Twelvemile Creek to Hwy 42.  And I was back in time to prep the house for Trick-or-Treaters!  Great trip all in all!