Arriving in Roseburg around mid-day, suddenly the business and traffic of I-5 again assaulted us, but taking a small side road into town and out again on the North Umpqua Highway was the perfect detour. Roseburg itself seems a little worse for wear, with the recession obvious with many closed businesses and a tattered appearance in the downtown portion. Sorry, Roseburg, I know you are trying.
Up the highway through Glide on to what is called Colliding Rivers and the Rogue-Umpqua Scenic Byway truly begins. Temperatures were perfect, warmer than the coast by 20 degrees at least, and clear skies. Campground choices on the map looked plentiful, and Mo's AAA book only listed a few of them. One especially seemed to call us so we set Susan Creek Campground as our destination. Arriving at the campground, we found it very nearly full, with just two sites open, one that appeared to have been very recently vacated. Since it was the Thursday right before the July 4th weekend, we took it without question.
One of the things I love most about the North Umpqua is the incredible variety of its flow. It is a wild and scenic river for most of its length, with class 5 rapids. But in some areas it is wide and lazy, with deep green pools, big boulders for sunning, and swimming holes. Other areas are perfect for tubing with riffles and class 2 rapids. The river guide at the website I linked to above gives a stretch by stretch description of the river, where the big rapids are,
The only drawback about this area is the poison oak. It is everywhere, thick, lush and green. It's difficult to walk a dog because the leaves hang out in the trails. If you are susceptible to poison oak as I am, it's not much fun. We took Abby on a lot of walks, but sadly had to leave her home for a couple of them.
We set up camp, then decided to drive upriver a bit to check out other campgrounds. There were actually some open sites here and there, but in one riverside camp an strange old gentleman waved us down and warned us about robberies and wild parties that happen in some of those campgrounds.
Had a great evening, playing cards and dominos, great supper and campfire, and time with the kitties outside which they always enjoy. Jeremy seems to like it better then Teddy, who wants to go back inside fairly quickly. Looking forward to sleeping in the forest tonight and planning a day of hiking waterfalls tomorrow. Perfect
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