Spring seems slow in coming this year. Maybe the coldest March on record in the past 100 years has something to do with it. Or the refusal of the big pile of snow in the front yard to give in and melt. We started looking around the state for somewhere a bit warmer. Maybe some wildflowers? Even the wildflowers in the Columbia Gorge seem slow to come this year. So we opted for a location we don’t normally frequent, southwest Oregon.
The sun was out and we enjoyed a couple days in the Applegate Valley. Up till now most of the time I’ve spent in the Applegate has been on wildfires. Blazing hot, smoky and steep terrain full of poison oak might be the picture I would paint. But that hot weather also allows for a variety of wine grapes to be grown you don’t find in other parts of Oregon. We visited a few spots for a sample or two.
I think Foris and Rosella’s may have been my favorites. But a quiet Sunday morning eating cheese and sausage at Woolridge comes highly recommended as well.
We used Cantrall Buckley park as a base camp. It was much quieter than my visits in the past when it was being used as a fire camp for about 2000 people. With many of the higher campgrounds and public lands snowed in it was a great option for the weekend.
Leaving the valley behind on Sunday we stopped at Table Rock outside of Medford for a hike.
When the wildflowers start to pop it’s undeniably spring. They were popping.
Views were grand, and the temperatures were plenty warm. It may have been our first day in the 70’s this year and the heat was a bit of a shock to the system.
And just like that, the weekend was over.
