Mother Nature smiled on our little hiking group again, as a rainy trip up I-5 yielded to partly cloudy skies and 60o at the start of the hike. Seven went up the rocky path along the canyon wall and Sunny dazzled us with her new hiking attire.

The cloudy morning gave way to blue skies with temps approaching 70o. The weekend rain had finally knocked down the smoke and put the west coast in the green zone for clean air. There was evidence of early morning rain or dew on the leaves and trail.

The hike is seven miles out to Whiskey Creek and back with 1,270 feet of elevation gain because of lots of ups and downs above the river. We stopped at the sign which marked the December 23, 1964 flood on the Rogue River that washed away 12 bridges. The river rose 55 feet up to the trail and spread some 300 feet across the canyon. Hard to even imagine!

I took Jerry and Sunny up to see the historic Whiskey Creek Cabin of gold panner Lou Martin, while John took the boys down by the river for a sunny lunch break.

On the way back we viewed a flotilla of at least a dozen kayaks and rafts floating down the river as their music played.

We stopped by our usual place in Merlin for refreshments but found it closed due to a more limited Covid schedule.

It was a good day,
Rich Stickle