A Day In The Great Outdoors

On Saturday my friend Ralph Scott and I took Jason and Annalie up the Rogue River to visit a couple of historic landmarks. We had originally intended to ride the Pine Grove Trail but when we got there we found a pickup already parked at the trail head. Normally this wouldn't have been a problem except that it is bear hunting season and we were pretty sure the guy wasn't just trail riding. Rather than risk interrupting his hunt we opted to check out 2 other places that I also knew about. The first one was an old homestead most recently known as the "Fry Place". Someone with that last name actually lived here 20-25 years ago. The cabin is pretty intact and probably isn't terribly old but it was a beautiful place to stop for awhile and look around. I didn't venture going inside with Jason since only the rats and a bear inhabit the place now. We continued out a dead end spur road that had some impressive views of the burn caused by the Biscuit Fire of 2002. On our way back we came around a corner and saw the backside of a good-sized black bear running up the road away from us. It's always ironic that so often the people that aren't hunting are the ones that see the critters. Anyway that was pretty exciting for Annalie. Next it was up another road a couple of miles to the Wild Horse Fire Lookout. This lookout was recently condemned due to damage caused by wind, snow, and probably time. The good news is that it is scheduled to be restored in the future according to the sign that was placed there. We carefully took the kids up the steps and shot a few pics. The 3rd picture was a great place for a picnic! Next stop was home for some homemade soup and strawberry ice cream......yum! Dave