06-06-2025 There is Something About That 3:30 am Hour, and our May Camping Trip

Daughter Deborah captured these images of Mo and me in a familiar moment, with Mo trying to figure out why I am being so silly. Could it be the wine?

 I am not really sure how many long-time readers are still hanging around my blog, but if any of you are still here, you may remember that my best time for writing is often in the wee hours of the morning. Spring and Early Summer are in full swing now in Grants Pass, which means that gardening season is here. Cleanup in April, planting in May, trimming in June. The flow of the seasonal progression around here is a precious thing.

In that lovely progression, I had a fall, landing on my hip.  Thought maybe I cracked something, but no, just old lady arthritis, and a 7-day round of Prednisone was the solution to night pain that kept me awake.  Now I am awake, not from pain but from the spectacular miracle drug that is also full of side effects, like keeping me awake.  I try not to take it more than 3 times a year when nothing else seems to do the trick and lessen the uncomfortable feelings of IBM and aging.

At 3:30 this morning, I woke and treasured the intense quiet of the night.  No barking dogs, no cars going by, no sounds from town just below our terrace.  The moon is gone and the stars are brighter this time of night.  We have a couple of solar lanterns on the decks, and yesterday I added some solar lights along the back gardens.  The glow in the sky is the glow of our town, which is captured perfectly by the night mode on a Samsung camera.  Silly photo, but it reminds me of the silence that kept me awake and sent me here to the office to write about our last camping trip.

Daughter Deborah camped with us again, only this time she brought her own tent for sleeping instead of staying in the RV.

Despite the springtime chores, we still manage to get in at least one trip each month, and Mid-May was no exception. Our destination was close, just a little over an hour east toward the mountains and the lovely Lost Lake Reservoir.  The Joseph Stewart State Park is still called that even though it is now owned and operated by Jackson County Parks.  

Lost Creek Lake is a reservoir on the Rogue River in Jackson County, Oregon. The lake is impounded by William L. Jess Dam, which was constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1977 for flood control and fisheries enhancement.

Monday midday at Joseph Stewart, with all the Mother's Day weekend campers gone.

It is a lovely park, with widely space campsites, well maintained grounds, electric and water hookups in about half the campsites, and a dump station that worked better than most we have encountered.

Our campsite, with room for the MoHo, the Tracker, Deb's adorable Subaru, with her tent, and a partial view of the lake toward the back.

Above, The view of our launch site at Catfish Cove, across the lake from our campground. Below, aerial view of the perfect place to launch kayaks on Lost Creek Lake.

We camped at Lost Lake in 2023, and like that year, the reservoir this year was 99 percent full, a lovely condition which encourages kayaking.  We usually avoid reservoirs because, in years of drought, there are only brown dirt embankments surrounding the water, and it isn't very pretty from a boat.  Summer may still bring drought if predictions are correct, but in spring during snow melt this year, all the reservoirs in the Rogue Valley system were full.  I wish we had time to go camping and kayaking at every single full lake within an hour or two of home.

On this kayak trip, however, we initially planned to take turns in the boats, with three campers and only two kayaks, it was the only solution. However, a couple of minor surgeries involving my lower leg and my toe meant I couldn't get in a bathtub or a hot tub, much less a wild lake. As a result, we had two kayakers, Mo and Deborah, two kayaks, and me.  I helped with the launches, waited in the car with the dog and went on a few short hikes. 

And they are off, on a bright clear morning with very little wind

I drove back to the bridge crossing the lake for a view of the two of them from above.

Watching until they disappeared upstream

Such a beautiful place on a sunny morning, and it was fun to see it all from a different perspective and try to follow them on the trail that parallels the lake on the left side.

Mariposa lilies and lupine lined the trail in the sunnier spots

In addition to kayaking, we had campfires every night.  The winds weren't as strong as they had been in the past, and the smoke was manageable and even laughable at times as we moved our chairs around the fire to be in just the right spot to avoid it.

Suppers were pre-planned, easy and fun, with the favorite being a bbqed pork loin with my own special marinade, creamy vanilla and maple flavored sweet potatoes, and my signature plum-cherry sauce for the pork.  Steamed and seasoned green beans rounded out the colors.

 

The second morning of kayaking wasn't quite as perfect, with overcast skies and a bit of wind shortening the time on the water for Deb and Mo to less than an hour.  They still loved it in spite of the challenges, and I enjoyed more time walking the short trails around Catfish Cove.

Later that day, the clouds lifted and we went for a long walk around the park.  This time, I needed to use the trusty walker on the rough trail, and it added a bit of challenge.  Onward, and keep laughing!

It was Mother's Day, and Deborah wanted to treat us to a lovely dinner at Mac's Diner in Shady Cove, just half an hour from the campground.  Deb lived in Shady Cove for some years and had often mentioned wanting to take us there.  We had a good time with a great view of the river, enjoying the unique ambience of the diner.

That night it rained all night, and Deborah used a tarp to keep her tent dry.  We decided that a rainy day might be the best time to do some local sightseeing, and instead, the rain stopped and our sightseeing day was spectacular.

Deb took us to a waterfall that, in all our years of driving up Highway 62 toward Crater Lake, we had never seen.  Just a couple of miles east of the highway is Mill Creek Falls, a spectacular cascade that flows underneath a beautiful historic bridge.

Returning to Highway 62 through the little community of Prospect, we continued to a familiar place where Mo and I often take guests on our sightseeing trips around Grants Pass.  The Natural Bridge area has a lovely trail to the wooden bridge that crosses the wild Rogue River.  There are interpretive signs that explain the volcanic geology of the area and the way the river goes underground through the volcanic rock that makes up the Rogue River Gorge.

The Rogue River is magnificent from its birth, not far from this spot in springs on the east side of Crater Lake, all the way to its meeting with the Pacific Ocean at Gold Beach. For any river nerds reading this blog who might like to get into the weeds about the Rogue River, here is a link to a great article in Wikipedia that describes its beginning, its end, and all the tributaries that flow into it.  (The Rogue River). The great river flows through our town and is a highlight of a drive to the grocery store.  A few miles west of us, the river is designated as "Wild and Scenic" and is a wild run of rapids and beauty for the most adventurous rafters.

A cool, rainy day was the perfect backdrop for a stop at the historic and iconic Beckies Cafe at Union Creek.  Famous for their Marionberry pies in season, this time we had to settle for a simple blackberry pie, also perfect.  Surprisingly, the French fries were the best we had eaten anywhere.  Pie and fries, what could be better?1

Beckie's is famous all over the world, often mentioned in travel stories about driving to Crater Lake with a stop at Union Creek for their famous pies.  

The cafe has a rich history spanning over a century. It was built in the early 1920s by Ed Beckelhymer and quickly became a popular stop for travelers and locals alike. The cafe is part of the broader Union Creek Resort, which is still a thriving business with lodging and guest cabins. 

Ed Beckelhymer, known to locals as "Beckie," originally ran the restaurant and a service station. The Union Creek Resort, including Beckie's Cafe, was a significant part of the early tourism in the area, serving as a popular camping spot and a place to rest for tourists and berry pickers. After Ed's passing, his wife, Cecil, continued to run the business, also known as "Beckie," and became famous for her huckleberry pies. Beckie's Cafe is listed on the National Historic Register.  The cafe remains a popular destination for those seeking a taste of the past and a peaceful setting near the Rogue River and Union Creek. 

After our snack, we continued east and north on Highway 62 just a short distance from Beckie's, to visit Deb's favorite spot on the River, the Gorge.  Here, the trails wind along more wild cascades where the river has eroded the volcanic rock into a deep gorge.

Rogue River Gorge Viewpoint has a short, paved path loaded with incredible, close-up views of the river’s rushing waters through the narrow channel. There are incredible views of a portion of the 215-mile Rogue at its narrowest: just 25 feet wide and screaming with the hydraulic force at a rate of about  410,000 gallons per minute. Along the path, there are more interpretive signs explaining some of the science of what’s going on here, including one for The Living Stump, which is exactly what it sounds like, a stump that, because of its interconnectivity with roots of neighboring trees, has continued to live. 

Yes, we ended the day once again in the rain. The two-shoe option had to do with the foot surgery that made it impossible to wear a proper shoe on both feet, but I needed at least one to keep proper balance.

Our camping trip was the perfect balance of sunshine, rain on the roof, kayaking, sightseeing, and excellent food. It was a truly spectacular way to spend Mother's Day with one of my daughters, and Mo and I agreed the short trip, just an hour from home, was nearly perfect.  We are so very lucky to live where we do.

Deb got a phone shot of the full moon rising on our last night at the park.  

May is just behind us now, and writing about our trip and the cool rain and lovely days reminds me why I always say that May is the very best time to visit this part of Oregon.  Our green grasses are now browning in the lower pasture where we don't irrigate.  The days have been nearly perfect, with only a few reaching the high 80s in the last weeks of the month. 

Astrological summer begins this year on June 20th at the Summer Solstice.  However, meteorological summer, as defined by climatologists, runs from June 1st to August 31st. This is a fixed, three-month period that is used for more convenient data analysis and comparison of seasonal trends across years. Here, it already feels like summer, and we are expecting triple digits in Grants Pass this coming weekend.  Now it begins.  The sweet spot is over, and now we wait for the heat and the dryness, the possible fires and all the other delights of living in a place that is very nearly perfect, but not quite.