Little Falls Trail on the Illinois River - Josephine County, Oregon
Note May 28, 2015: The Little Falls Trail and the Jeffrey Pine loop trail have now been connected should you wish to take a longer hike.
Our annual Fall trip to Little Falls on the Illinois River. This is a good time to come on this short, but scenic trail.
This
is mining country, and we are winding our way down through an area that
contains a huge ditch that was used to bring water from above for
hydraulic gold mining.
We are a very short distance from Josephine Creek, where it all started.
Our first glimpse of the now tame Illinois River.
You
can see where at certain times of the year, the water levels are a lot
higher than they are now. This is looking across the river, about a
quarter of a mile away, as I experiment with my new telephoto camera.
The
tranquil Illinois about three miles from where it will be joined by
Josephine Creek. Both the creek and the county are named after
Josephine Rollins, the first known white female settler.
The trail winds down and then follows the river upstream.
The water levels are really low now, but very soon the river will be covering all of the rocks in sight.
From the noise this thing makes, we almost expected to find a miniature Niagara!
Very soon now, we would have wet feet if we stood in this place long enough.
The weathered appearance of these rocks is testament that the water will soon be raging around them.
In
places, the water is over 20 feet deep, and there are many of the most
beautiful swimming holes scattered all along the river.
We found a meteorite chunk in this area. Hard to believe how heavy they are!
There were signs of deer, bear and squirrels everywhere.
Even though the sun was high, it was quite cold down in this valley. Harbingers of a winter around the corner.
