Mount Bolivar

MOUNT BOLIVAR OREGON Mount Bolivar is a simple rocky peak that lies in southwest Oregon. Though simple, it is very complex when it comes to its boundary location. Mount Bolivar is not only the highest point in Coos County, but it also holds a controversial title of being the highest point on the Coast Range. Some claim the title belongs to Mary’s Peak near Corvallis. The dispute is NOT over which peak is the highest because Mount Bolivar wins that by just a few hundred feet. Mount Bolivar is 4,319 ft. while Mary’s Peak is 4,097 ft. The dispute is over Mount Bolivar’s geographic location. (Mount Bolivar is the distant peak in the center of the photo below)

Mount Bolivar lies within the northern boundaries of the Klamath Mountains, the southern boundaries of the Coast Range, and a portion of the peak lies within the northeastern boundaries of the beautiful Wild Rogue Wilderness, the BLM industrialized property, and the Siskiyou National Forest, and Siskiyou Mountains. How can one peak be in all ranges and zones you ask? All of these ranges merge, and even collide in this southern Oregon location. An easy way to illustrate the complicated topography is to take Neapolitan ice cream and cut a block out. The Chocolate will represent the Coast Range, The Strawberry will represent the Klamath Range, and the Vanilla will represent the convergent zone.

Take your finger, start in the center, and begin making circles. Let the circles get larger to where your chocolate and strawberry start to blend with the vanilla.

You have now created the unique landscape that makes up the southwestern corner of the state of Oregon.

Man made boundaries also complicate the dispute. Curry County is considered to be in the Klamath Mountain, Coos County is a part of the Coast Range. The boundary between the two ranges is the Rogue River. Mount Bolivar is in Coos County, and north of the Rogue. But Klamath geology is also in Coos County as well as Coast Range geology is in Curry County. Technically, Mount Bolivar doesn’t lie within either boundary of the Klamath or Coast…or the Siskiyou Range for that matter. It lies within a merge zone of these ranges…making the geology formations and plant life unique to the area, and rare to any other place. Now that the science lesson is over…let’s go enjoy the journey to Mount Bolivar...no matter where it may actually lie. My buddy Brian and his dog, Lakota, joined me on this trek. They are both from Montana. While they visited Oregon this last summer, my goal was to take them to as many places I could throughout Oregon. Mount Bolivar was just one of the many adventures. You'll see more of where we went in later BLOG entries.

The trek to the top of Mount Bolivar is only a 1.4-mile hike, but has an elevation gain of 1,160 feet. The trail, with several switchbacks, hikes you through a multiple array of vegetation. I’d like to say the hike was a piece of cake, but I would be lying. Brian, at 29, is very fit, and he could have run up the trail if he wanted too. But for me, I had to stop at almost every switchback and catch my breath. On these breaks, I’d photograph whatever was interesting, and near me. Brian was kind enough to wait for me on several occasions. The Mount Bolivar area is a plant lover’s paradise. The air was perfumed of that you’d smell if in the Cascades, and yet we were nowhere near the rugged range. Similar plants can be found here. Several summer blooming wild flowers were everywhere. Water loving trees like the Big Leaf Maple and the Douglas fir were found growing next to drought tolerant trees such as the Knobcone Pine, Incense Cedar and the Sugar Pine. The rain forest loving Sword Ferns and the Coastal Rhododendron were growing next to high-elevation Alpine Bear Grass, and the Scrub Oaks were seen next to Vine Maples. We even found several Ponderosa Pines mingling with the Western Hemlock. In the region surrounding Mount Bolivar, over 70% of the Oregon native species of plants and trees can be found here. There is no other place in Oregon where so many species survive in one place. In the summer 2005, this rare ecosystem was almost completely destroyed when lightning started the Blossom Fire. The fire burned 14,908 acres. Most of the south and east sides of Mount. Bolivar were burnt. But not all was lost. The Knobcone Pine, which grows throughout the lower reaches of Mount. Bolivar will easily reforest the chard land. So will the aggressive growing Manzanita that dominates the entire peak help in the natural recovery process. The last portion of the trail leaves the cool shade of the dense forest behind and walks out into a parched rocky garden full of color. The summit is arid and the plants are stunted, but the view is spectacular. Mount Bolivar rises to an impressive 4,319 Feet above sea level. The 360-degree view from the summit stretches from Mt. Shasta in the south to Mt. Hood in the north, but due to the fires ragging in California, our distance views were hazed over. The most impressive view from the summit was the steep scared canyons and the sharp ridges to the south that comprise the northern border of the Wild Rogue Wilderness area. The Mount. Bolivar summit’s geology is derived of the Coast Range, while nearby Saddle Peak and Diamond Peak's geology is that of the Klamath Mountains. (Saddle Peak is in the photo below...on the left, Diamond Peak is on the right) To the north and northeast, you see the work of BLM and the patches of clear-cut hillsides through the Coast Range. The Eden Valley lies directly below. To the east and southeast, one can see mile after mile of forested hills, ridges, and mountains that make up the Siskiyou Range and the Rogue Wilderness. The summit of Mount Bolivar once had a fire lookout tower, but like many other lookout summits, only cement foundations and remnants remain. Mount. Bolivar was named in honor of Simon Bolivar, the Venezuelan-born liberator. Simon Bolivar was one of South America's greatest generals. His victories over the Spaniards won independence for Bolivia, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. He is called El Liberator (The Liberator) and the "George Washington of South America," (1783-1830). The country of Venezuela donated a bronze plaque to be placed on the peak named after their liberator. It reads; “The United States was the first to teach us the path to independence.”-Simon Bolivar Jamaica, 1815 The plaque was given to the people of Oregon in 1984. Mount Bolivar, in the upper left corner of the photo above, is an oasis, a peaceful island amongst a natural geologic merge zone and man-made boundaries. A place all its own.

Golden and Silver Falls

GOLDEN AND SILVER STATE PARK OREGON

                                
                                 Golden and Silver Falls State Park along Glenn Creek, is a hidden gem in a lush green temperate rainforest nestled in an amphitheater of solid rock in the southern Oregon Coast Range. These two falls join together and create one of the largest tributaries to the East Fork of the Millicoma River. My mother and I took advantage of our regions lack of rain, in order to capture some remaining fall leaf color.

Falling an impressive 200 thundering feet, plus an additional 40 foot cascade through steep talus, Golden Falls is quite likely, the most impressive waterfall in the Coast Range.

Golden Falls was named in 1880, after Dr. Charles B. Golden, a Marshfield businessman. But the creek in which it flows is named Glenn Creek.

This creek is rich in lost history, and diverse in recreational activities.

In 1901, four of the homesteaders, in the Glenn Valley above Golden Falls, blasted the trail out of the rock bluff above the falls giving a right of way to Coos County.

The Pack Trail descended from the top of Golden Falls and crossed a boulder pile at the bottom of Silver Falls on a one lane wood bridge. What a scenic adventurous but scary ride that must have been.

From 1912 to 1916 an auto stage line ran daily through this route transporting cargo, and tourist enthusiast passengers between Allegany and Scottsburg. The road was used by the county until 1958, when the last of the original homesteaders moved out. Today, the bridge crossing is gone, but the blasted portion of the trail remains and can be walked by energetic hikers.

Neighboring Silver Falls, named after the creek in which it flows, is one of the best waterfalls in regards to its elegant poetic beauty and grandeur.

The creek plunges over a domelike protrusion of solid rock, and freefalls 150 feet. An additional 25-30 feet of cascade drops among large boulder’s before coming together at the bottom.

Golden Falls is the second, and Silver Falls is the third highest waterfalls in the Oregon Coast Range.

My mother and I enjoyed our autumn visit to these two beautiful falls... ...Actually, I have a "Muttly" crew that comes along on my travels as well. From left to right, I have Mocha - Maxx - Pynekone - Tyg. They love to get out and explore.

I would like to return to these falls during high water levels…just to see how big the water flow can get. I also want photograph an area along Glenn Creek named, “The Cascades”. There are no trails into this gorge and it was getting dark when we stopped to look at them. I will enter the results in a future blog.

Yachats River Trek

 YACHATS RIVER OREGON

The Yachats River, pronounced YAH-hots, is derived from the Chinook Indian word, Yahuts, meaning dark water at the foot of the mountain...(aka - Cape Perpetua). This little river is nestled between the lush Sitka Spruce forested mountains of the Coast Range and ends where its water meets the lapping waves of the Pacific surf. A quaint little village, also named Yachats, lies at the mouth of the river. Our journey, (my mother and mine), began just after turning onto the Yachats River Road. We came across a couple canoeing up the still waters. A photo opportunity was at hand. They were residence of Yachats enjoying the peaceful fall, rare 85 degree day. The couple’s bright red canoe reflected perfectly in the dark water. As we continued up the river, the Coast Range widens and fields of lush farming lined this small river’s basin. Cows dominate the grasslands. Cows are nothing unusual to coastal rivers, but we came across a group of cows in which I had never seen before. We called them “Oreo” cows. These black cows had a white stripe that lined the center of their body. I later learned this unusual looking cow is called a Belted Galloway, or nicknamed a “Beltie”. The Beltie is native to Scotland, and used as a beef cattle. I did get a photo of the herd, but they were very skittish and ran away from us. The fall season was an excellent time to visit this little river. Thick mats of moss covered the shade dwelling native Big Leaf Maples. The colors of yellow and orange dominated the landscape. As the sun began to set over the ridge, glowing silhouette's of flouresent lime green lurked behind every tree. Native Vine Maples were scattered thoughout the banks of the river. Their fall color of red glowed with each turn...but the red leaves didn't take center stage.
Approximately 9 miles up the river drive we came across, what I would call the jewel of the Yachats River, the historic red North Fork Yachats Covered Bridge. This beautiful covered bridge was built in 1938, with a Queenpost truss, one of the few of this type remaining in Oregon, and was restored in 1989. The setting, a red bridge, a gravel road, a thick matted shaded forest, made me feel like I was in a fairy tale land. It wouldn't have surprised me if we witnessed a hobbits, or friendly trolls, and perhaps leprechauns going about their business. No such luck though. On the hill just above of the bridge grows a giant multi-branched Sitka Spruce. The base of the tree measures at least seven feet across, and stands approximately 200 feet. Though not the biggest Sitka Spruce, its branching structure was definitely worth photographing. The tree stand as if guarding the small covered red bridge...and possibly the home of the unseen leprechauns. Though this small river doesn't have any grand photogenic vista's, it does carry its own as a tranquil important watershed to the Coastal Range. Salmon and trout run free here, and so does the river.

My mother and I had a great little adventure. I was even able to capture a photo of my mom that might become her next Christmas card.

We left the shaded valley and returned to the beach, where the sun was still out and very warm. After a bit of agate collecting we went to eat at the Blue Whale Restaurant in Yachats. The sun was getting ready to set, so we got our Swiss potato soup and freshly baked bread to go, and we ate dinner watching the sun set. It was a fun day exploring the beauty of the Yachats River with my mother.