I made plans to take everyone camping at Rogue River Ranch. But since everyone was at school and working and such, we knew we'd all be getting a late start and getting to camp late. Sure enough, we were running about an hour late by the time we got underway. Emma didn't actually go on this trip because a final exam had been moved up to Monday and she needed the weekend to study. But everyone else met Dohn and Teresa in Wolf Creek and headed down Grave Creek, then drove up towards Dutch Henry Peak, and finally down towards Rogue River Ranch. It was a long and windy drive and both Dohnele and Zephyr got carsick and puked. There was a reason I had never taken them on this trip, but darnit, it's just so amazing once you get there!
Speaking of which, we got to Rogue River Ranch just as the last bit of twilight was fading and SURPRISE! The gate was closed. Apparently, there's no access provided after sunset. That's new! So my grand plans for camping at Rogue River Ranch fell through, but the backup plan was still on the table: Mule Creek Campground which was just half a mile down the road.
The only times I'd been to Mule Creek Campground was in the winter when it was all drippy and gross and so I hadn't wanted to stay here, but since I didn't have a choice, we went for it. And even though it was first come, first served, there were still three or four campsites available. We parked and quickly unpacked and set up camp in the dark which is easier than it sounds.
The next morning, we slowly got up and around and finished setting up camp. We also had breakfast and then did dishes down in Mule Creek. The campsite was really quite nice as it turned out. We then loaded everyone up into one car and drove the couple miles down to the Rogue River Trailhead past the ghostown of Marial. We hiked into the Wild Rogue Wilderness Area and downriver to Inspiration Point which overlooks Rogue River and Stair Creek Falls.
I had been nervous about taking the kids on this hike because it is a shear dropoff into the river below as the trail has been chiseled into the cliff by gold miners over a hundred years ago. But I didn't have to worry as they did just fine. It was hot, but the scenery was amazing!
After we got back to the car and drove back to camp, we had lunch. And after lunch, I convinced folks to head over to Rogue River Ranch so that we could see the museum there. It really is a beautiful place and for the first little bit, we had the Ranch and museum to ourselves. But then a bunch of rowdy rafters showed up and it was no longer fun. We walked down to the Rogue River hoping to do some swimming, but the beach was covered in rafters. I even tried hiking a bit upriver to find another beach, but I just found a guy panning for gold instead. In the end, we backtracked a bit and went swimming in Mule Creek which although frigid, was at least all ours. Unfortunately, Zephyr lost his water bottle downriver which upset him. Dohn and Teresa hung out in the car because the trail down to the creek was pretty steep. Everyone else went swimming except me; I only ventured in up to my waist because the water was so cold!
That night for dinner, I fried burgers in a cast iron pan which turned out amazing, and we all sat around a campfire for a number of hours. After everyone went to bed, Zephyr and I stayed up reading by fire light which was really nice.
The next morning, we again, slowly got up and around and packed. Driving out was much nicer because I took folks down West Fork Cow Creek (where I used to work when I was on the Medford District!) I stopped in at an amazing swimming hole, but it was occupied, so we just headed out. At the bottom of West Fork, we went our separate ways (we drove to Riddle and Dohn and Teresa drove to Glendale).
1 comment:
A few "bumps in the road"...but perserverance paid off. Lovely lovely pictures.
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