Monday featured clear blue skies and mild weather after weeks of smoke and heat.

Our group of 10 left Ashland at 8:30 and joined five more at the Union Creek TH at 10 am.

New hiker, Lisa, joined us for today’s hike so after welcoming her with our names in a circle we were ready to start.

The Union Creek Trail from the wayside parking lot immediately put us in shade along the creek. The temperatures in the shade were in the 60s and 70s when we broke out into the sunshine. Ideal for hiking. The trail meandered along with the creek and had us at times hiking through occupied camp sites. Our procession of 15 greeted surprised campers.
The trail was green and lush in vegetation with shade provided by canopies of arching young branches as well from the big trees.

When we broke out into the sunshine we were now walking by sandy beaches and on ancient lava flows, and now our watery companion was the Upper Rogue River.

Both creek and river trails are mostly level with the water. And we still had some later season floral color down by rushing currents.

After about one and a half hours we reached the Natural Bridge. A seasonal pathway across the Rogue that indigenous tribes used to follow herds of deer and elk. Lava tubes transport rushing currents under the bridge.

After taking in all the sights around the Natural Bridge we followed the trail into the forrest and found a long log for lunch in a shady spot. We had enough chocolate for everyone, including Patricia’s bar of Iceland Chocolate from her recent trip.

After lunch, the group split as seven took the trail up through the forrest then back down to a white water falls rushing through a narrow channel, while eight returned the way we came.

The two groups met at the “bridge to nowhere” and continued on together back to parking.

For this day, we had hiked 6.6 miles with gains from 100’ to 300’ depending on which trail was taken after lunch.