Bear in Charge Blog 7. Mt. McLoughlin and Bears

Hello blog world.  Baxter here, waiting patiently for the humans to get hiking boots on and Sequoia leashed up so we can go hiking.  Today's hike is at the Jacksonville Woods.  A nice wooded trail system in town. 

My goal on this trail is to make it to panorama point.  Apparently on a sunny day you can get a good view of Mt. McLoughlin. 

Lots of open space on this trail.

Another example of a pacific madrone tree.  My favorite tree so far. 

I must be getting close.  

Made it to the viewpoint.  Mt McLoughlin was named after Dr. McLoughlin, the unofficial father of Oregon.  He was an important person in the Hudson's Bay Company and their beaver trapping business at Fort Vancouver.  He was also very generous, when pioneers on the Oregon trail came out to Oregon he would give them credit at the fort store to start planting a farm, get tools, and often give them supplies till they could start farming. 

After this hike it was time to explore.

Somehow ended up back at the town that had the homemade custard (no I didn't any this time :(

The town did have a few bears on display.  Every year they hold a bear fest.  These are some of the permanent bears as bear fest isn't till June.

This bear is ready for a white water rafting adventure. 

I need a hat like this. 

Sigh.  Time to head home.  Where is my next adventure going to take me? 

Out and about with Little Fox

Hello Blog Friends.
It is I, Little Fox here today excited to share with you a recent adventure.

This is going to blow some of your minds but I am in the woods getting ready for a hike.  Today, I am in the Applegate Valley (this is Applegate Lake in the background) waiting for my roommates to lace up their boots for a hike.

It's Spring and the lake is a little dry.  There was some snow recently but nothing major.  I hope the valley that relies on this lake has enough water.  This is forest fire country down here so this lake is a pretty important water source.

The woods are beary nice right now.  The trail is dry, the trees are in good shape and there is a ton of There are a lot of Manzanita trees  in this part of the state.  They are a red bark tree that almost seems as if it sheds it bark.

After sufficient rest and relaxation I was off on another hike. This one was on an old Bureau of Land Management (BLM) road.  This trail was called Enchanted Forest - sounds perfect for me. 

Some sort of flowering bush (I am no botanist, I'm an archeologist). 

An amazing meadow.  It was only a mile or so into the hike, too bad it would be perfect for lunch. 

A side hike in the enchanted forest was to a memorial.  The memorial is for a helicopter crew who crashed near here in the 90s.  I could not find any info about the pilots.  Were they loggers scouting land? Firefighters? Tourists?  The mystery remains. 

Along the way I came across an old truck.  This is farm and ranch country so there were lots of old machinery in the area. 

Sequoia says "hi"

Whew, made it to the viewpoint on the Enchanted Forest Trail.  Any further on the trail is private property so I am going to enjoy my PB&J sandwich at this viewpoint. 

Now, my roommates hinted that we are also in wine country. Maybe I can convince them to take me to a vineyard??????