It was a successful tour. It may seem counter intuitive but local knowledge about the Rogue valley helped me to have a satisfying sense of discovery by knowing where to go and what to see.

Thinking more broadly about society, the local nature of this tour helped make it both practical and responsible during the pandemic reopening. I avoided high risk activities and high risk areas. It wasn't overly Rogue!

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The only deviation from the planned route was to skip a flat 11 mile loop around Upper Table Rock on day 3, the rainy day. I did the remainder of the route as planned. My tour routes tend to wander but this route is more circuitous than most.

Surprises:

Both historic hotels allowed me to take my bike into my room. Most historic properties are very fussy about no bicycles.
Jet boat tour reopening on the last day of the tour!

Disappointments:

Clouds prevented me from seeing 9495 foot Mt. McLoughlin and 7533 foot Mt. Ashland. I will definitely see them during my next tour.
No hike to Lower Table Rock.
Couldn't find a ghost town at Placer.

The difficulty level of this tour was about right for a guy who turned 59 the day after the tour ended. 6 days were moderately challenging and 3 days were short and flat. I ended the tour feeling tired but not exhausted. 324 miles in 9 days is an average of 36 miles (58 km) per day. That seems to be a good daily average if I'm not taking rest days.

Towns aren't really the focus of this tour but Ashland and Jacksonville are very unique and interesting destinations. I enjoyed staying at historic hotels in both towns.

I don't regret spending more than usual to stay at the two riverfront lodges. Riverside Inn in Grants Pass offers a great Rogue river view with a downtown atmosphere. Applegate Inn offers a great Applegate river view with a rural atmosphere.

Other than the covered bridges, historic bridges were not on my mind when planning this tour. I am a fan of the many interesting bridges designed by Conde McCullough and was pleased to encounter several of his notable bridges along the route.

The pandemic prevented me from doing some planned extracurricular activities on this tour. Mainly 2 hikes and a soak at Jackson Wellsprings. But I was still able to see 3 covered bridges and do a jet boat ride on the last day of the tour. The pandemic didn't come close to ruining the tour.

Another Southern Oregon Tour

Soon after finishing this journal I started a 6 day mini-tour in the Cascade range and high desert east of the Rogue valley. The two tours combine to form a grand tour of southern Oregon.