Trip Report

A varied group, ranging in age from 11 to 93, including eight nonmembers, departed VRC at 8:00 a.m. on a mild, overcast Saturday. At our rest stop near Sutherlin we enjoyed excellent goodies and coffee courtesy of our hospitality committee. We continued south on I-5, then Hwy. 42, exiting at TenMile; the next 25 miles were over narrow, curvy mountainous roads, never meeting another vehicle or person. But in abundance were rhodies, foxglove and unnamed angiosperms, plus several deer and great scenery. Twenty-seven of us hiked through the old growth forest to this Champion tree, 12 ft. in diameter and 329 ft. high. Bill Sullivan described the 3/4 mile trail as "easy", but in fact there were a number of hazardous places. We lunched at the trailhead, only one picnic table which we supplemented with extra camp chairs. Then back down the mountain, via Lookingglass, and through Roseburg, up the North Umpqua to Swiftwater Park (the Narrows) where the salmon were jumping, a great show. Another three miles to the Susan Creek picnic area, and 23 of us hiked the well-maintained, easy one-mile trail to the falls. A bit crowded with lots of day hikers, including a tour group from Germany and Holland. Ben Jeffries was hero of the day as he reunited a lost five-year-old boy with his sister and mother. Departing at 4:30 with a brief stop at Colliding Rivers, then the Wilbur Cutoff and home at 6:20. Driver Pat Carter was acquainted with the complex roads and performed flawlessly.

Riders were Lucille Adamson, Ethel Allan, Gayle Berge, Pat Bayliss, Bette & Lloyd Bissell, Jean Butler, Nicole Chase, Marissa DeLeon, Bob Devine, Florence Douglas, Marian Duke, Jeanette Forsman, Dora Harris, Pat & Ben Jeffries, Ben Kirk, Gloria Layden, Mary, Kay & Jesse Lemons, Missy McKee, Rosemary Mason, Cleora Mersdorf, Mary Millman, Liz Reanier, Bobbye Sorrels, Nancy Schreiner and leader Ray Jensen.