There were 8 hikers who decided to try the longer way to the Lower Rogue by driving through Sunny Valley. We crossed through the Grave Creek covered bridge. The road was all paved, windy and at times narrowed to a single lane. Just before arriving at the boat launch parking area we saw that they had closed and blocked the bridge heading towards Galice. This is a good idea since the Rainie Falls trail is closed due to many landslides.

We turned to go to the boat launch to park our cars. We could see that part of the parking lot had water flowing over it. This is normally just a trickle. All along the trail, water flowed more than I have personally ever seen it. Slippery Rock Falls (as Dan calls it) was indeed slippery and some crossed on the trail, others went below. Ron took a little slip and got his pants a bit wet and muddy.

We could see the fire damage from the Rum Creek fire and many of the rock and debris on the other side of the river. It may be a long time before all the damage can be repaired and the Rainie Falls trail reopened. On the trail we were on, there were some downed trees and slides that had damaged a gabion basket. Trail maintenance must have been done to make it safe for our passage.

Most of us went up to see the Whiskey Creek Cabin. After a quick exploration we went back down by the Whiskey Creek Campground and enjoyed our lunch.

On the return hike, we could see a waterfall that started way up on the mountain. We had not noticed it on the hike in. We were fortunate to have Liz along on the hike. She was able to name at least 15 different flowers that were in bloom. In 1 to 2 weeks it will be amazing with flowers.

On the drive home, we stopped to see a rock memorial for Gray's Ranch. We also stopped at a little store in Sunny Valley for some ice cream and potato chips.