15 Grayback Mountain Trail

Grayback Mountain Bigfoot - Josephine County, Oregon

Searching for Bigfoot was not on the agenda when we hiked up Grayback Mountain.

I just wish I had shed an extra ten pounds first!

We followed a well-marked, steep trail for the majority of the hike.

Grayback Mountain has two different stories as to how it was named.  One is that its' silhouette resembles the profile of a gray whale.  It does.

The second story is that early miners named it for the tiny gray lice that infested their mining camps.
I much prefer the former, as it is a beautiful mountain.

We crossed three rushing streams on our way up the mountain, stepping across on larger rocks.

Many photos are clouded in the distance, due to the forest fires, some say California, other reports say it's from Canada.

In one muddy area on the side of the trail, I saw two large footprints.  Much larger than my size 10 hiking shoes, but no tread marks or lines.  At first, I thought they were bear tracks, but our black bears aren't normally that large, and since they were rather deep impressions, and the sides folded in as they settled back into the ground, I dismissed it.  Until later --

Then, we arrived at the Snow Cabin!

The door of this sturdy cabin claims it belongs to "Viking Dave."  Whoever he was, he wrote his name all over the place, but it is available, free to the public.

This is really a surprise -- a fully stocked cabin for the use of anyone who comes upon it!

There are sealed containers which have clothing, toilet tissue and other donated items.  Even a pair of hiking shoes.  The sealed containers also have some open food packages, and this keeps the smell from bears and other critters.

Adorning the walls are all sorts of helpful tools, a new tree saw, hatchet, hammer, and a host of other items handy around a camp; broom,  even a rake and shovel.

Canned foods align the shelves, even some organic soup.

A fresh water dispenser sits on a shelf, with water in it.

You'll find a Frisbee, bongo drum, badminton rackets, a dominoes game, books, magazines, blankets, a Coleman stove, lanterns and accessories for them.

Rain ponchos, and pots and pans hang on the walls.

There is a large supply of cut firewood

for the cooking stove, and a woodshed outside with more cut wood.

There are two bunk beds, and the screen windows have shutters that you are asked to put back on when leaving.

If you are planning to use the cabin, try to leave something of value behind to add to the larder.  It would be nice if each visitor would cut a little more wood, or do something to help in the upkeep.
Leaning against the outer wall is a very nice folding cot for an additional guest.
If the door is hard to open, slide a knife in the crack between the frame and the door, and lift up to release the latch.

Sign in the guest book, and leave a comment for others about your experience, if you would.  Here's where the Grayback Mountain Bigfoot thought came up!

A comment in the guest book from people who really enjoyed their stay, but they were disappointed in not seeing Bigfoot.  Evidently, they came up on a special "Bigfoot" search.  Reading their comments made my mind go back to the excessively large footprints, but naaaah ---

After leaving the "Snow Cabin," we headed for the "Krause Cabin."

Our next search was for the "Krause Cabin," but our information was out of date, as we later learned it burned down in 2001.  We found where it had stood, and this stove/oven and chimney are all that remain.

Since it had stood since 1945, there was a large rubbish heap on the side hill.  Who knows how many antique items may lie under the pile?

Beautiful mountain meadows spread in all directions, and are alive with

dazzling displays of flowers.

Everything is blooming at this 6300 foot level.

Standing at the "Krause Cabin" location, and looking in all directions makes one realize how very beautiful it must have been back then, when there weren't very many people in this wild area.  There still aren't very many people that visit here, as we didn't see another soul for five hours.

Our next hike on Grayback Mountain is to cross over the peak in this photo, and at 7000+ foot level, we should have a view of the Pacific Ocean at Crescent City, California, Crater Lake, the entire Applegate Valley, the Illinois Valley, including Oregon Caves National Monument, and hopefully Mt. McLoughlin and Mt. Shasta, and I imagine if the day was clear enough we could see Mt. Hood and Mt. Rainer, but with all the interference like smoke and heat waves, we'll just take what we can get.

The way down was certainly a lot easier.

Everywhere we went were magnificent trees racing each other to the clouds.  Some had to bee 150 feet tall, and many were over 30 feet in circumference.

There were a lot of signs of forest fires, both from a long time ago, and some more recent.  Some trees had been badly burned and recovered, but still show the scars.

There are a lot of monster trees that have blown down, their root balls leaving huge holes in the ground.

Trees laying in every direction.

We probably passed a lot of creatures, but all we saw were a deer and lots of squirrels and chipmunks.

Deep beneath the underside of this tree is a den where a bear obviously spent the winter months.

Passing one chasm, I heard "grunting" sounds that came from a large hole beneath two criss-crossed trees that had long ago crashed to the forest floor.
Being more curious than common sense would dictate, I had to investigate.

My first thought was that a bear was eating something, and the grunt-like snorting emanating from the pile was him enjoying his meal; I figured he would be more afraid of me than I of him, so I worked my way around and downward to try for a photo, but when I looked over the corner of the large tee-pee like mish-mash of logs, there was nothing there!  The noises ceased as I started over the edge, so I guess I made too much noise.

The tree that once stood here probably started its' growth about the time Amerigo Vespucci or Christopher Columbus discovered North America.  By the time it grew to an obviously enormous size and died, and deteriorated to this point had to take that much time!  At this stage, bears tear apart the stumps to eat the ants that are plentiful in the rotting logs.

Have you ever wondered what a tree branch looks like from the inside?  The top photo shows where the branch began growing at the large base on the right side, then as it grew outward, to the left, the tree expanded, and the branch just remained being fed from where it had begun.  When you see branches growing out of trees, it has always seemed to me that the branch just moved outward at the same time as the tree grew, now I see that the branches just remain where they start.  Maybe you knew that, I sure didn't.
The second photo shows a montage of other branches meeting in the center and extending in all directions.
This is the source of the "tree spirits" that you see carved by people into faces and other scenes, and are available in gift shops, fairs and craft shows.

Returning home, I was discussing those grunting noises with my wife as I had sent her and our dogs far down the trail -- just in case, my thoughts again turned to the Grayback Mountain Bigfoot.  After the trip, I researched Sasquatch sighting areas.  After reading the reported sightings in this entire area, I'm still not a Bigfoot believer but; we are going back!