Get Out: Friday, Sept. 14

To have an event listed in Get Out! , email the information to adventure@rosebudmedia. comOutdoor Emergency BasicsWednesday, Sept. 19: Every time you step into the wilderness, be prepared to help yourself and others. This free program has a wealth of valuable information to better prepare you for your adventures, from a day in the state park to an extended backpacking adventure into the wilderness. The class starts at 6:30 p. m. at Medford REI, 85 Rossanley Drive, Medford. For details, see www.

VIDEO: Flies on the Rogue, part 3

September and October in the Upper Rogue River, are not fly fishing only, it's *flies* only, and there's a big difference. Fly fishing 3. Watch part 1 here. Watch part 2 here.

VIDEO: Flies on the Rogue, part 2

Since 1991, fly fishermen have been able to fish out of a boat, which allows them to fish with heavy bugs, dropping them right down to where the fish are. Fly fishing 2. Watch part 1 here. Watch part 3 here.

VIDEO: Flies on the Rogue, part 1

By going flies-only on the upper Rogue River this time of year, fishermen can go after the waterway's steelhead without messing with the salmon. Fly fishing 1. Watch part 2 here. Watch part 3 here.

When you need luck to be good

Podcast about guy running the Rogue's Rainie Falls in a standup paddle board along with reminisces about getting lucky in outdoor reporting. Check it out. It's free.

Fat on a beach

PORT ORFORD — Erin Kessler pedals down a sketchy pathway to Battle Rock Beach, her chubby bicycle tires easily weathering the transition from gravel to sand. The nearly 5-inch-wide tires act like snowshoes on the soft sand, dispersing her weight. “See how stable this is? ” says Kessler, 33. “I’m just floating over the sand. ”Kessler pops a wheelie that drops her into the soft surf and down Battle Rock Beach she goes, the latest to reveal how being fat on the beach definitely can be a good thing.

Petition seeks wild steelhead ban

Sport-anglers are at odds on whether to keep or ban one of the last bastions of winter steelhead fishing in Southwest Oregon — the legal keeping of wild winter steelhead on some of the healthiest steelhead rivers in the Pacific Northwest.

A successful return to Glass Mountain

In June we drove to Glass Mountain in Northern California, and an unexpected snowstorm mostly obliterated our hiking views, so we made plans to return, which we did recently.This time around, sunny skies allowed our small hiking group to wander about the t

Get Out: Friday, Sept. 7

To have an event listed in Get Out!, email the information to adventure@rosebudmedia.comHike & Learn: Geology of Grizzly PeakFriday-Saturday, Sept. 7-8: Explore the geology of Grizzly Peak with geologist Jad D’Allura. From 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Friday, D’Allur

VIDEO: Hidden gems of the south coast, part 3

Make sure you bring a kite the next time you find yourself at Harris Beach. Oregon Outdoors host Mark Freeman joins kite enthusiast Gary MacEachern to get some basics on the classic pastime. Watch the video below. Beach 3 Watch part 1 her

VIDEO: Hidden gems of the south coast, part 2

Whether you're going to Oregon's south coast to beat the heat or flee the smoke, you might as well come to Port Orford and get fat on the beach.We're talking fat bikes, of course.Watch the video below. Beach 2 Watch part 1 here.Watch part

VIDEO: Hidden gems of the south coast, part 1

Going to Oregon's south coast to beat the heat or run from the smoke has been a very popular thing this summer for people in the Rogue Valley. But you don't *all* have to go to Harris Beach.Watch below.  Beach 1 - FINAL See part 2 here.Se

VIDEO: Playing nice together in the woods, part 3

The City of Ashland, the U.S. Forest Service and different user groups have done a great job of rerouting and repurposing trails to keep different user groups hikers, bikers, runners, equestrians from conflicting with each other.But there are still a few

My Adventure: Ferns, fog, and our feet in the ocean

When I came to the State of Jefferson a few months ago, I expected a change of pace from the smothering heat of Austin, Texas, which I’d endured some four or five summers. I pictured hiking through deep, cool forests, leaping off waterfalls into icy pools,

Playing nice together in the woods

ASHLAND For years, bombing down trails in the Ashland Watershed made mountain biker Marcus McNeil a threat to himself and others.McNeil had to keep his bike under enough control that he didn’t hit a tree, wipe out or send an unsuspecting hiker scurrying f

Youth pheasant hunt won't go up in smokes

WHITE CITY Young guns going afield during next month’s youth pheasant hunt may have to wear an all-too-familiar safety item at the Denman Wildlife Area.On top of eye protection and a hunter-orange hat and vest, youth hunters may need a N95 face mask capab

Fishing report, Aug. 31, 2018

Get Out: Friday, Aug. 31

To have an event listed in Get Out!, email the information to adventure@rosebudmedia.comRogue Valley Audubon SocietyWednesday, Sept. 5: RVAS holds first-Wednesday bird walks at Denman Wildlife Area. The walks begin at 8:30 a.m. and end before noon. Species

Get Out: Friday, Aug. 31

To have an event listed in Get Out!, email the information to adventure@rosebudmedia.comRogue Valley Audubon SocietyWednesday, Sept. 5: RVAS holds first-Wednesday bird walks at Denman Wildlife Area. The walks begin at 8:30 a.m. and end before noon. Species

VIDEO: Playing nice together in the woods, part 2

Three years ago, the popular Caterpillar Trail was literally an accident waiting to happen. Then forestry officials and other groups got together and made some changes. Additional footage by  Kevin Kushima and Ryan Marquez. Watch below:  Wat

VIDEO: Playing nice together in the woods, part 1

For years, bombing down trails in the Ashland Watershed made mountain bikers a threat to themselves and others as they encountered hikers, runners and horse riders. Then a coalition of trail users came up with a solution.Additional footage by Matt Townsend

Volunteers help restore wilderness trails

For Bill Van Moorhem, the reason he and others volunteered to spend days using crosscut saws, shovels, Pulaskis, hoes and other tools to improve trails in the Sky Lakes Wilderness Area was simple.“We hike or ski close to 50 times year,” he said during a lu

Screech owl doesn’t like gopher snakes

What, if anything, frightens you in nature? Spiders, snakes, bears, something else?I recently learned what frightens screech owls.For seven years now, I’ve had an unusual arrangement with a western screech owl. As soon as the breeding season ends in June a

Bowhunters face woods closures

Bowhunters heading to the woods this weekend for the start of the big-game archery season will be met with wildfire smoke, vast swaths of closed forestland and campfire restrictions in two popular wilderness areas.Several wildfires are burning in the Rogue

Fishing report, Aug. 24, 2018

The Rim Drive you've never taken

It’s definitely the road less traveled.Before there was a Rim Drive circling Crater Lake, there was a rim road, a crude, unpaved route that was built over a six-year period from 1913 to 1918 by the Army Corps of Engineers.It was eventually abandoned when a

Get Out: Friday, Aug. 24

To have an event listed in Get Out!, email the information to adventure@rosebudmedia.comHow to Lose Your Age on the Trail with Dami RoelseThursday, Aug. 30: Dami Roelse, a 71-year-strong long-distance hiker, will share research about walking and hiking as

VIDEO: Fishing the Rogue Bay, part 3

For more than 40 years, biologists at Huntley Park have been surveying fall chinook salmon coming up the Rogue River. The magic number this year: 130,000.Watch below: Bay fishing 3 Watch part 1 here.Watch part 2 here. 

VIDEO: Fishing the Rogue Bay, part 2

Want to have a successful fishing excursion to the Rogue Bay? The secret's in the spin.Watch part 2 of our latest Oregon Outdoors video series here.  Bay fishing 2 Watch part 1 here.Watch part 3 here. 

VIDEO: Fishing the Rogue Bay, part 1

For the past 20 years, fishing the Rogue Bay for chinook salmon has been a popular destination. It gets crowded, but there's a reason for that.It's because of the fish.Check out part 1 of our latest three-part Oregon Outdoors series here: Ba

70 percent of Oregon in 'severe drought'; local lakes dropping fast

Drought, hot summer weather and continued draw-down for irrigation needs have Emigrant, Hyatt and Howard Prairie lakes headed toward their lowest levels since 2014, leading to recreation closures and threatening to inflict future water headaches.Emigrant a

The slowest 3-miler, and other Mount Lassen hikes

Call it the slooooowest 3-mile hike ever.Yes, it takes time because it climbs uphill. But even more, the hike that includes Kings Creek Falls and the spectacular Kings Creek cascades takes more time than might be expected because it is so dazzlingly beauti

'Lollipops' sweeten ambitious trail from Jville to Ashland

Hope Robertson walks deftly down a deer trail through large swaths of madrones along the steep slopes of a forested ridge outside Jacksonville, looking up occasionally at a vast panorama that draws into view Woodrat Mountain, Dutchman Peak and everything i

King of the Rogue smoked out

Even the King has to bow to wildfires sometimes.The sixth annual King of the Rogue whitewater racing event set for Saturday at the Rogue River’s Ti’lomikh Falls has been canceled due to heavy smoke from area wildfires.“Our raft teams are bailing out, so we

Finding magic on Hart Mountain

Bill Crowell was studying the shortest way to drive from Boise, Idaho, to Interstate 5.He was surprised but intrigued and delighted when, “quite by chance,” that shortest route took him across Eastern Oregon and through the Hart Mountain National Antelop

Podcast: Fishing the Rogue Bay for chinook

Here's my podcast on chinook fishing in the Rogue Bay.Enjoy. It's free.

How to beat the crowds on the Oregon Coast

The only other people on the miles-long stretch of beach aren’t even on it, technically speaking.They are two kitesurfers, who launched at quaint Floras Lake, hopped the sand dunes, and are now skimming across the ocean, beyond the breakers, like flying fi

VIDEO: Oregon Outdoors — On the Jack-Ash Trail

Oregon Outdoors writer Mark Freeman hits what could soon be a new section of the Jack-Ash Trail, an ambitious trail project that connects Jacksonville to Ashland. Building trails is a multi-step process with plenty of oversight. But even though that oversi

Searching for Oregon diamonds

PLUSH It’s like searching for a diamond in the rough.Looking for “Plush diamonds,” or Oregon sunstones, isn’t done easily. The “diamonds” are feldspar crystals formed thousands of years ago in basaltic lava flows. They’re found in many areas of the world,

Fire hinders access to area lakes, Rogue River

Stewart State Park and Lost Creek Lake Marina remained open this week, but all U.S. Army Corps of Engineers lands around Lost Creek Lake are closed to make way for firefighters battling nearby wildland blazes.Casey State Park on the upper Rogue River remai

Mixed flocks of the cloud forest

The forest dripped steadily following the morning’s light rain. Luxuriant mosses, bromeliads and orchids decorated the branches. Ferns and other understory plants reached into the muddy trail straining for a little more light. I was in the cloud forest of

Fishing report, Aug. 10, 2018

OCEAN OUTLOOKCOASTWIDE: Forecasts call for a calm ocean with 5-knot winds and 2-foot wind waves today, followed Saturday with winds to 10 knots and 2-foot seas. Sunday calls for winds up to 30 knots and wind waves to 8 feet.The marine aggregate rockfish da

Siskiyou Mountain Club keeps forest ‘arteries’ open

Working on a $46,000 grant from the Oregon Community Foundation, crews from the Ashland-based Siskiyou Mountain Club are repairing 60 miles of trails damaged in 2017 by the 191,000-acre Chetco Bar fire in the Kalmiopsis Wilderness.Huge, hot-burning conflag

Rogue steelhead coming early, often

SHADY COVE Triple-digit temperatures and shrouds of smoke have been choking the life out of anglers plying the upper Rogue River for one last shot at spring chinook salmon, but help finally is on the way.A pod of summer steelhead appear to be making their

VIDEO: Oregon Outdoors — Searching for bumblebees

Oregon Outdoors writer Mark Freeman goes on the hunt for one of the rarest bumblebees in the Pacific Northwest -- the Franklin's, which hasn't been seen in Southern Oregon since 2006.U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service biologists spent four days on the backside o

OUTDOOR NOTEBOOK: ODFW hunter mentor contest returns

State wildlife managers will again hold the “Take a Friend Hunting” contest this fall to urge more hunters to bring new faces to the woods or reintroduce the fields to lapsed hunters.The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s second annual contest uses p

Fishing Report Aug. 3, 2018

Varney Creek Trail offers cool respite

On a hot, sunny day, the ultimate reward of a hike on the Varney Creek Trail is a swim in Lake Como, floating lazily on the back while taking in views of Whiteface Peak and Aspen Butte.The Varney Creek Trail is the most popular route that accesses the Moun

Podcast: When fear is legit in the outdoors

Here's my podcast on times when we're legitimately scared while reporting outdoor stories.Enjoy. It's free.

My Adventure: A stunning dip in Crater Lake

We set off on a bright, cool morning laced with birdsong. The night before, we’d camped near Toketee Lake in the Umpqua National Forest, where we visited the famous (and satisfyingly hot, but somewhat begrimed) Umpqua Hot Springs. Now, we were bound for cl

Get Out: Friday, July 27

To have an event listed in Get Out!, email the information to adventure@rosebudmedia.comNative Plant Society outingSaturday, July 28: Katelyn Detweiler, project coordinator of the Freshwater Trust, will lead a tour at 5 p.m. of riparian revegetation along

Southern Oregon leads state in boating under the influence

SHADY COVE From Jason Denton’s position atop the Rogue River boat ramp at Shady Cove, the Jackson County sheriff’s marine deputy could tell one of the paddlers in an open raft clearly wasn’t sober.Denton approached the man, who turned out to be a South Da

Fishing Report July 27, 2018

‘Operation Ship Shape’ targets unlicensed powerboats

Oregon boaters who have let their boat registrations lapse sometimes for years while still using their crafts on Oregon waterways better get into compliance fast or face big fines.Marine deputies in Southern Oregon and across the state will be cracking d

Coast parks fire restrictions eased

Campers at Oregon’s coastal state parks can have campfires again, but beach-goers must remain mostly flameless under eased fire restrictions announced Wednesday by the Oregon State Parks and Recreation Department.Campers visiting places such as Harris Beac

Hendrix fire closes PCT just as thru-hikers hit Oregon

COLESTIN Hikers on a summerlong trek along the length of the Pacific Crest Trail saw their 2,650-mile adventure halted indefinitely Friday just inside the Oregon border because of the Hendrix fire burning less than 2 miles from the trail.The closure of 13

Helicopter rescues woman treed by wolves in Washington

Two gray wolves forced a seasonal U.S. Forest Service employee into a tree in the Washington Cascades last Thursday.The employee was doing a research survey in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, according to a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service news relea

Volunteers sought to help clear wilderness trails this summer

Willing to put in some long, hard hours working as a volunteer in some of Southern Oregon’s most beautiful wilderness areas?Anthony Benedetti, wilderness technician for the Fremont-Winema National Forest, is seeking people to help on upcoming work parties

GET OUT: Friday, July 20

To have an event listed in Get Out!, email the information to adventure@rosebudmedia.comRogue Valley WalkersSaturday, July 21: 10K walk in Jacksonville. Meet at 7:45 a.m. in the parking lot on D Street, across the bridge from the Jacksonville library. For

55-mile Greensprings bike ride smoked out

Heavy smoke casting its grimy pall on the Rogue Valley has prompted the Jackson County Parks Department to cancel Saturday’s Up and Down cycling event on the Cascade-Siskiyiou Scenic Bikeway out of Emigrant Lake County Park.Park officials said they were co

ODFW turning to smartphones for licenses, tags

The days of long lines of hunters buying licenses and tags in sporting-goods stores on the eve of deer-hunting season will be a thing of the past under Oregon’s new plan to make its licensing system virtually paperless.Unless, of course, you want to get a

ODFW shifts to smartphones for licenses

The days of long lines of hunters buying licenses and tags in sporting-goods stores on the eve of deer-hunting season will be a thing of the past under Oregon’s new plan to make its licensing system virtually paperless.Unless, of course, you want to get a

Fishing report for July 20, 2018

OCEAN OUTLOOKCOASTWIDE: A gale warning is in effect through today, with 25-knot winds and 9-foot swells, easing Friday night to 15-knot winds and swells holding at 9 feet. Saturday sees winds backing down to 20 knots and wind waves hitting 7 feet. Sunday’s

Get Out: Friday, July 13

To have an event listed in Get Out!, email the information to adventure@rosebudmedia.comNative Plant Society outingsSaturday, July 14: Crater Lake National Park botanist Jenifer Hooke will lead a hike to Garfield Peak. Meet at Rim Village at 10 a.m. for a

Three Sisters offer scents and sense of place

Streams of light shimmered, slowly but ever-so gradually changing color and tone.For a brief time the evolving light show, like a gently turned kaleidoscope, was slightly filtered by the mesh covering the tent flap I’d intentionally left open the night bef

Podcast: Meet the tiger trout

Here's my latest podcast on tiger trout at Fish and Diamond lakes.Enjoy. It's free.

Medford cyclist conquers cross-country bike race

After leaving last year’s race due to injury in the first third of the 4,300-mile Trans Am Bike Race, Medford cyclist Tony Lopez flew home to the Rogue Valley last week, this time victorious after completing the 10-state, coast-to-coast trek. He placed 17t

Get Out: Friday, Aug. 6

To have an event listed in Get Out!, email the information to adventure@rosebudmedia.com.Wildflower showWednesday, July 4: The Irene Hollenbeck Memorial Wildflower Show features more than 300 species of native flowers from the Cascades, Siskiyous and the v

My Adventure: Backpacking the Rogue Wolf Loop

This year the Siskiyou Mountain Club announced the rehabilitation of a trail loop in the Sky Lakes Wilderness, around the headwaters of the Middle Fork of the Rogue River.With a lot of help from the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest, the Fremont-Winema

Wakesurfers could get new statewide restrictions

State boating managers are coming to Southern Oregon next week to test the waters on how newly proposed statewide rules could help wakesurfers, boarders and relatively new wakeskaters play nice around others.The Oregon State Marine Board is taking comments

Fire restrictions return to Wild Rogue River

Increasingly dry and hot weather has prompted the Forest Service and federal Bureau of Land Management to increase campfire restrictions within the Wild Section of the Rogue River.Those who float or hike the Lower Rogue Canyon can build and maintain fires

Fishing Report for July 6, 2018

Marine Board seeks new, higher boat fees

Powerboat operators would see registration fees rise by one third and nonmotorized boaters would pay new fees earmarked for better water access under the Oregon State Marine Board’s planned budget request in the upcoming Oregon legislative session.The Mari

Marine Board to see new, higher fees

Photography in the outdoors Podcast

Here's a podcast about outdoor photography with Mail Tribune photographer Jamie Lusch and two-time Oregon Outdoors Wild Bird Photo Contest winner Cri Solo.Enjoy. It's free.

Surprises on the hike to Little Hyatt Lake

Excuse my language, but the trek along the Pacific Crest Trail to Little Hyatt Lake is a dam good hike.That’s because the hike, which begins from either the PCT trailhead off the Greensprings Highway or from a parking area a short drive north, ends near th

Beat the bad-air days

The famous blue of Crater Lake became a bit more muted than usual this past weekend in an all-too-familiar sign of summer.A shroud of smoke circled Wizard Island in the lake’s caldera, blown in from wildfires in the Bend area, including the 100,000-acre Bo

CAST for Kids needs boats

An organization that helps special-needs kids and their caretakers partake in a day of fishing is in need of volunteer anglers with boats to help make this special day happen.The CAST for Kids Foundation is planning its second annual event July 14 at Emigr

Fishing Report for June 29, 2018

OCEAN OUTLOOKCOASTWIDE: Forecasts call for 10-knot winds and 5-foot wind waves outside of Brookings today, followed Saturday by winds up to 15 knots and 8-foot wind waves. Sunday looks pretty hairy with 25-knot winds and 8-foot wind waves.The marine aggreg

Rockfish limit drops Sunday

Record bottomfishing effort along the Oregon Coast has led state fish managers to drop the daily general marine fish limit from five to four in an effort to avoid an in-season shutdown like last year.After a very busy May at coastal ports, anglers caught e

My Adventure: Creating 'wild' new memories

Halfway through last weekend’s Wild Rogue Relay, a 218-mile running relay from Applegate Lake to Brookings, teammates were asking each other, “Why did we pay to do this?”The relay includes 12-person teams or 6-person ultra-teams.A year ago, I was asked to

Get Out!

To have an event listed in Get Out!, email the information to adventure@rosebudmedia.comRogue Valley WalkersSaturday, June 23: 10K walk in the city of Rogue River on the day of the annual Rogue River Rooster Crow. Meet at 7:45 at Palmerton Park on West Eva

My Adventure: I fell down a cliff on the Rogue River Trail

The Rogue River Trail, a 40-mile path that parallels the north bank of the lower river, provides hikers with spectacular views while introducing them to the area’s history, plants and wildlife.My wife Peggy and I recently chose to backpack the trail. It ha

Home birds are brainier than travelers

First, let me clear up an issue from my column last month. Due to a production error, my recommended measurement for the opening of a house sparrow-resistant bird box was erroneously changed from 1-1/8 inches to 1-1/2 inches. I suspect a house sparrow is w

Snowy times at Glass Mountain — in June

The calendar said June, but it was snowing like it was January.“It looks like the sun is trying to break through,” Bernie said hopefully.Hmmm, wasn’t that the same thing Anita had said a half-hour earlier.We were sitting in Anita Matys’ car watching as gus

MY ADVENTURE: A different climb up Eagle Mountain

Editor’s Note: In July 2017, Amalie Dieter wrote a My Adventure column about her first trip into the Kalmiopsis Wilderness as an intern with the Siskiyou Mountain Club (http://mailtribune.com/lifestyle/learning-lessons-from-the-trail). That trip didn’t end

Get Out: Friday, June 15

To have an event listed in Get Out!, email the information to adventure@rosebudmedia.comDeer Creek wildflower hikeSunday, June 17: This moderately difficult, family-friendly hike will start at 9:30 a.m. on Deer Creek Road at the edge of the Kalmiopsis Wild

What Rainbow $5,000 derby participants need to know

Anyone fishing Diamond Lake or for any stocked trout will learn from this podcast.

Wild and Scenic quest

When Zach Collier paddled down the cool and clear upper Chetco River last week, he couldn’t help but think back to events five decades ago that helped put him there.Men in suits on the East Coast who were worried about the river-damming era of their time p

Swimming hole water tests begin

The Ashland-based Rogue Riverkeeper program this week launched its annual water-quality monitoring program to track bacteria levels in many of the Rogue Valley’s more popular swimming and fishing holes.Volunteers and a Rogue Riverkeeper intern will collect

June 15 Fishing Report

Stoned trout

TRAIL As a die-hard steelhead angler, Ri Konetski of Grants Pass is well schooled in the ways of underwater flies, but for a few weeks each late spring he tries his best to be a top-water guy.Konetski ties a fat stonefly imitation onto his line hoping it

Botanizing with Bob in The Devil's Garden

Flowers of all varieties colored the ground as we meandered through the brush on our short walk from our car to Devil’s Garden. Although our main goal was locating and measuring a large Ponderosa pine that Bob Bastian thought might be among the largest in

10-minute free-parking spots at Gorge, Natural Bridge to offset new fees

Those taking a quick peek at the Rogue Gorge or a quick pee at the Union Creek Wayside can continue to do so for free, despite new and increased fees adopted this week for the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest day-use and camping sites.Beginning next ye

Get Out: Friday, June 8

To have an event listed in Get Out!, email the information to adventure@rosebudmedia.comLet’s Pull TogetherSaturday, June 9: The Southern Oregon Land Conservancy, Jackson County Weed Management Area and other local organizations are holding a weed-pulling