Head For The Hills

Most of  my summer trip to Oregon was shrouded in smoke from the fires burning all around the town and down into California. Air quality advisories strongly suggested staying indoors, and a fine layer of ash covered everything that saw any time outside.

On August 12th, though, there was a break. The sky cleared and the sun shone down on a town that had almost forgotten what a blue sky looked like. I took advantage of the day to see Grants Pass from an angle I had had yet to explore: Cathedral Hills Park.

There are plenty of trails in the park, most of which are suitable for mountain biking or horseback. I headed in and aimed for whichever branch would take me "up".  From the top, you have a fantastic view of the southside of the town, but the coolest thing I noticed was the trees:

First of all, they're red.
Secondly, the bark does this weird curly thing, and it makes for some really neat effects!

Moving on...

 
A treehouse!
There were slats nailed to the trunk to serve as stairs, but I dared not climb.
Instead, I got a bit artsy with a pen I found in my bag.

Another side trail. Which way to go?

 Turns out it was a loop, so that works.

By evening it looked like the smoke was rolling back in, and it made for some pretty dramatic skies.

These were taken from someone's driveway.

Someone's DRIVEWAY!!!!

I enjoy Oregon summers, though it breaks my heart to be stuck inside due to the smoke every year. It was great to be able to escape, even if it was just for one afternoon - to make a break for it and head to the hills.