Bits of rain on and off during the past week made the trail damp, muddy and at times slippery; so we changed the scheduled hike up Big Songer Butte to the less steep hike to Little Songer.

Once again Hiker’s Luck prevailed as the predicted forecast of rain and wind never showed up and we had a gorgeous calm and partly sunny day.

Liz, our Flower Floozy, suggested at the Greensprings Spur TH that we should be on the lookout for seasonal Lichen, now that wildflower season has passed. I spotted the first, as Shield Lichen was growing on a flat rock in the middle of the lower trail. After that bit of excitement, Liz did her due diligence back in the line and checked off five more spottings from her lichen list.

Fall colors were prevalent all around the lake region with sunlight off changing Oak leafs adding to the effect. Wild rose shrubs were now full of ripening rose hips, and Manzanita shrubs were displaying their red berries.

Along the lower trail, we saw a local hawk perched at the top of a tree and a two-person rowing shell getting their exercise in the lake.

Even the last part of the trail to Little Songer was a bit slippery, so rescheduling Big Songer with its 600′ of elevation gain to a drier day seemed reasonable.

Three in our group of nine climbed up on the large boulder at the top of Little Songer, but all of us got a great view of the sunny south with Emigrant Creek still flowing into the lake and Pilot Rock up on the Siskiyou ridge.

We followed the rocky trail down off the south side of Little Songer and headed back on the upper Spur trail for higher views of the lake. We stopped on our way back at a massive downed tree for our lunch spot.

On the day, we did 3.3 miles out and back with a total gain of 600′.

Next week we’ll hike up Bolt Mountain in Josephine County, 8:30 departure from the Rite Aid parking lot.

Hike Leader: Rich Stickle

Photos By: Linda, Randy