I had planned to visit Lemolo Falls on my way to Prospect. I decided that it might be best to skip that area due to thunderstorms being in the forecast. There must be something about Lemolo. This is the third time that weather has kept me away. The weather wasn’t exactly pleasant the one time that we were able to go there. It was 102 degrees that day. For the rest of the world, that’s obviously measured in Fahrenheit.

Taking another route did allow me to stop at one picturesque spot on the South Umpqua. This time there was some pretty green algae in the water. That’s probably not great for the folks who surely visit the area in the summer, but I thought it was pretty. I was busy taking pictures and then decided to wash the sand off my tripod feet. I startled a large fish when I put them in the water. It quickly left the shallows, and I lost sight of it in the stirred up algae.

After a long drive, I started a hike on the Rogue River. I quickly decided that I wasn’t going to have time for a seven mile hike. I knew that I was going to be stopping rather soon and spending a lot of time taking pictures at Natural Bridge. I still think that folks behind the fence on the other bank must wonder about the idiot walking on the lava adjacent to the river. But they’re behind a fence, and there is no fence on the side I come in on. It’s also right next to a campground, so I cannot imagine that a lot of people aren’t out there in the same place as me during the summer.

Instead of hiking to the Rogue River Gorge, I drove my car there. I’ve already hiked that area in the past. I would love to do it again, but I probably won’t have time during the rest of the trip. I have too many places to see, and not enough time to revisit trails.

I always look forward to photographing a very scenic area above Rogue River Gorge. Imagine my surprise and disappointment to find that the river channel is currently all but dry. I started walking back to the car but turned around when I realized that this was a rare opportunity to explore the island. I have to report that it was fine to see, but I didn’t see many photographs of the main Rogue channel.

My next stop was at Union Creek Falls. There were a lot of cars and trailers parked along the road to the upper trail head. I noticed that people seemed to be camping wherever they could find a spot. Last time I was here I hiked the Union Creek Trail from the lower trail head. This time it was a quick walk from the upper trail head to the falls.

I finished the day at the always wonderful National Creek Falls. The funny thing is that after taking pictures at a bunch of locations, I almost ended up choosing a quick snapshot for my picture of the day. I was hiking up the switchbacks and saw a little section of the trail I really liked. I thought I might have time to go to another location, so I was hurrying. I don’t suppose that y’all are that interested in a shot of the trail, so I’ll have to choose a different picture. I’m going to do that next, so at the moment I still don’t know what I’m going to share.

I’m back. I decided to choose a picture of Union Creek Falls. I shot the falls from a different perspective last time I was here. I think I may prefer that vantage, but I wanted something different this time, so I chose to emphasize the lava in the foreground. I also think that the photograph itself is better. Although I certainly wouldn’t claim to be a highly skilled photographer, I believe that I’ve gotten better over the past few years. The funny thing is that before this month I hadn’t even held a camera in almost a year. At the beginning of this trip I was stumped trying to remember how to switch on my camera’s live view. I had wondered if I would be getting any decent shots. I needn’t have worried; I’m in my element. There’s nothing I like better than rivers and creeks running through the forest.