Day 16: Home to Oakland

August 19, 2005

I slept until 8:15AM and didn't get on the road until after 10AM. The weather was sunny as usual.

Early morning view of Canton Creek from inside my tent.

Getting back to highway 138 was fast and easy going downstream along Canton Creek and Steamboat Creek. Progress was slower on highway 138 because of the headwind. My first stop was at the Fall Creek falls parking lot. The waterfall is a 1 mile hike down the forested trail. I waded into the cold plunge pool which is about waist deep. The flow doesn't appear very large but the water hit very hard when I got under it. Even a small flow can hurt when it drops 50 feet. I hiked farther up the trail to see the upper cascade but the lower cascade was much more scenic.

The 50-foot lower tier of Fall Creek Falls.

Back on the highway I stopped at the Susan Creek falls trailhead which is a BLM (Bureau of Land Management) recreation area. Every other place I visited along the North Umpqua is in National Forest. The trail is 0.8 miles to the falls but it's very strange. It has switchbacks with a grade of only 3-4 percent. The trail would be faster if it went straight up the hill without switchbacks. The waterfall is very scenic. I took a short swim in the cold plunge pool.

Highway 138 along the North Umpqua River.

Susan Creek Falls is a 50-foot fan-type waterfall.

After leaving Susan Creek falls it was only a few miles until civilization started to appear. But those last few miles have some of the most scenic views of the North Umpqua river.

Log trucks are a common sight along Highway 138.

The first civilization is the little resort community of Idleyld Park. Then the town of Glide where I stopped for lunch. The geography changes dramatically between Idleyld Park and Glide. For many miles I was in a steep narrow canyon with the road next to the North Umpqua river. But the river finally leaves the cascade mountains at the town of Glide. The valley widens and the vegetation changes. The hillsides tend to be covered with Oak trees or grass instead of Douglas Fir trees.

In the town of Glide I stopped momentarily at the "Colliding Rivers". The view is better from the highway bridge than from the designated viewpoint. This is where the Little River literally collides head-on with the North Umpqua river. This time of year it's a popular swimming hole.

Colliding Rivers. The North Umpqua river flows in from the top. The Little River flows in from the bottom.

Teenagers enjoying themselves on rocks in the middle of the colliding rivers.

Glide is also the site of a very large lumber mill. Many of the log trucks on highway 138 are headed to the Glide Lumber company. I've seen lines of as many as 12 log trucks waiting to be unloaded there.

Most log trucks on highway 138 are heading to Glide Lumber company.

On the west edge of Glide I turned right onto North Bank road. At this point highway 138 starts to go southwest towards Roseburg. North Bank road continues west along the North Umpqua river for 17 miles to the tiny town of Wilbur. North Bank road follows the river downstream but it's very hilly. The upside of the hills is that it has some great views of the river. After being in the mountains for several days it was interesting to see the different appearance of the lower valleys. More houses and farms, and many of the farms use the river for irrigation. The weather was noticeably hotter and there is almost no shade on the road.

The North Umpqua river valley is much wider downstream of the Cascades.

At Wilbur I turned north on US highway 99 with more 10 miles to get home. I stopped at the Wilbur store for a cold drink. The weather was much warmer than it had been for the last several days up in the mountains. The last 10 miles are the same route that I took when I left home on day 9 of this tour. I got home just before 7PM. The headwind seemed to cancel out the elevation loss of 1000 feet.

Overall it was a good day with time to see waterfalls and wade in the river. I felt reasonably strong and healthy for this 8-day loop but had a lingering cough the entire time. For most of the tour I got very few insect bites, but I did get a lot of bites near the end of the tour. First was at the Lost Creek campground at Crater Lake. Later I got a lot of bites at the hot spring.

Distance: 54.7 mi. (87.5 km)

Climbing: 1400 ft. (424 m)

Average speed: 11.8 mph (18.9 km/h)

Maximum speed: 38 mph (60.8 km/h)

Hiking: 4 mi. (6.4 km)

Today's ride: 55 miles (89 km)
Total: 754 miles (1,213 km)

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