It was time to get out of the house for a while and we decided on a portion of the North Umpqua Trail that we had not yet been to. It was the Panther section, supposedly a fairly easy section and possibly a good trail for horses. So I really wanted to check it out in case I ever got my horse over that way.
You can click on the map to enlarge it and you can see the "Panther" section highlighted.
So off we went to check it out. As you can see on this sign at the start of the trail it shows the trail is suitable for horsebackriding.
It became quickly evident that though the trail was not too bad for the most part, especially for people on foot, it was not something I would want to ride my horse on. It was very narrow with a steep downside, rocky, and with roots to navigate around. Of course I didn't get any pictures of the bad part.
This part of the trail wasn't too bad, as you can see.
Next to the trail was this giant sugar pine.
It's very tall and straight.
You can kind of see how steep the downside is.
There weren't as many little streams crossing the path as the trails we took in the spring, but this little stream was still active.
It wasn't as hot as it has been but going through the forest it was quite humid. I had taken a selfie to show my totally sweaty face but it was just too hideous to post here. The only other bad thing was there was still a strong odor of smoke from the Cable Crossing Fire wafting through the air.
This is a shot from the trail all the way down to the Umpqua River. I had the zoom lens on and this is the furthest out I could get. This was not a great day for the photos. (The stream shot was with my phone camera.)
All in all it was not a terrible trail, just not one I would take my horse on. Maybe a very experienced trail horse would be fine but I wouldn't trust my horse or myself.
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