Applegater Winter 2020
Mungers Butte trail
BY EVELYN ROETHER
Greetings fellow hikers! Here’s a new
one for you. This trail is a mid-elevation
beauty that’s generally accessible into
the winter months, as long as you don’t
see snow on the ridge up there.
Now is the time to familiarize
yourself with this semi-roadless area
that straddles the watersheds of the
Applegate and Illinois valleys. It is
one of many unprotected wild lands
that are under threat by the BLM’s
800,000-acre Integrated Vegetation
Management Project that proposes,
among other things, to cut large holes
in our remaining fire resistant old
growth forests. This project is currently
in the planning phase, and the “Late
Mungers” old-growth forest is on the
cutting block. We need to defend
these places where we recreate and
find solace in nature. So please, go up
there, fall in love, and work to protect
Mungers Butte.
Mungers Butte
Difficulty: Moderate
Distance: Option 1 - 1.2 miles
round-trip
Option 2 - 2.3 miles round-trip
Elevation gain: 660 feet
Open: Almost year-round unless there’s
snow on the ridge
Map: Murphy Mountain USGS quad
Directions: From Water Gap Road
in Williams, turn onto Upper Powell
Creek Road and continue nine miles up
the Powell Creek drainage, the last 1.3 of
which are on a graveled road. Go right
at the ‘T’ (Road 38-5-15) and park at
the wide spot in the road a few hundred
yards from the intersection. Just past the
parking spot look for an old roadbed
steeply ascending on the left. This is the
unmarked trailhead.
Mungers Butte, named after Josephine
County’s first government land surveyor,
is an out-and-back trail
along old skid roads,
with some exploratory
off-trail options for more
adventurous hikers.
Intriguing boulder
outcrops dot the ridgeline,
some with perches that
open up to fabulous views.
Witness the grandeur of
the sugar pines, ponderosa
pines, knobcone pines,
incense cedars. and
tanoaks along the way.
Oregon grape, evergreen
huckleberries, bear grass,
and huckleberry oak
Map by Ann Gunter. carpet the ground.
Begin the hike with
a steep ascent up the
rocky skid road just
past the first wide spot
on the road. Note the
red peridotite and
green serpentine rock
underfoot. After 0.3
mile there is a spur
road off to the left.
Option 1: Turn left
and head southwest,
climbing to the ridge
among the knobcone
pine, then through a
bear grass-carpeted,
old-growth Douglas
fir forest. After 0.3
mile you’ll hit the ridge
and see an old camp and many boulder
outcrops. If you follow the track to the
northeast (right) and scamper along until
you get to the end of the ridgeline, you’ll
arrive at a rocky outcrop that overlooks
Grants Pass. That is the terminus of this
trek. There are great views and beautiful
rock gardens all over the place up there.
For adventurous souls: Back at the old
camp, you can hike cross-country along
the fairly open ridgeline to the southwest
and reach another knob of Mungers Butte
after another mile or so. There are more
great views over there. Or, at the Grants
Pass overlook at the north terminus of
the ridge, you can hike cross-country
down the ridge and hook up with the
Option 2 track.
Option 2: Go straight and continue 0.2
of a mile to a ‘T’ skid-road intersection
on the ridge. Turn right here. You will
soon get views of Murphy Creek and the
mouth of the Applegate River on the left
and Mt. McLoughlin and the tip of Mt.
Shasta on the right. Continue along the
ridgeline as the track heads northeast and
downhill a bit. After about a half mile, the
21
A steep ascent leads to fabulous views
from the Mungers Butte ridgeline.
Photo: Evelyn Roether.
ridge narrows. On the left, you can follow
a faint trail to a hanging rock overlook with
a view of Murphy Mountain, Round Top
Mountain, the New Hope Road area, and
Mt. Sexton in the distance. Just beyond
that you’ll reach a four-way intersection
with a graveled road on the left (Spencer
Creek Road, which goes down to Murphy)
and two other old tracks to the right and
straight. This is the terminus of this hike.
Explore on your own from here or return
the way you came.
Hiking Trails of the Lower Applegate,
a trail guide describing 20 trails in the
Lower Applegate area, is available at the
Williams General Store and Takubeh
Natural Market in Williams, Provolt
Store and Whistling Duck Farm and
Store in Provolt, Rebel Heart Books in
Jacksonville, Oregon Books and Games
in Grants Pass, and Northwest Nature
Shop and Bloomsbury Books in Ashland.
Trail guides can also be purchased directly
from the author at lowerapplegatetrails@
gmail.com.
Evelyn Roether
evelynkr@gmail.com
The future of our forests
BY ALAN JOURNET
The two primary factors determining the
distribution of our natural terrestrial ecosystems
(forests, woodlands, grasslands, deserts,
etc.) are average annual temperature and
climate (ib.bioninja.com.au/options/option-
c-ecology-and-conser/c2-communities-
and-ecosyste/ecosystem-analysis.html). If
temperature shifts just a few degrees, or
precipitation a few inches, current climate
conditions across the globe will shift such that
the viability of natural ecosystems currently
supported will be seriously threatened or
totally compromised. Not surprisingly, the
individual tree species comprising forested
ecosystems are controlled by the same two
variables and will be compromised under
similar small shifts in conditions.
Gerald Rehfeldt and Nicholas Crookston,
formerly with the U.S. Forest Service Rocky
Mountain Research Station in Idaho,
developed models depicting how western
tree species are likely to handle forthcoming
climatic conditions. The principle of their
analysis is elegantly simple. First, they input
data on the locations where each tree species
currently is found. Then they considered the
range of models projecting future climatic
conditions throughout the western United
States through this century. Finally, they
identified where in the region climate
conditions appropriate for each species are
likely to occur in 2030, 2060, and 2090
(charcoal.cnre.vt.edu/climate/species/).
The projections they produced covered
a wide array of scenarios, but the most
interesting are the projections employing
what is generally termed the ‘business as
usual’ future. This scenario assumes we
continue our current pattern of accelerating
fossil fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions
and our climate adjusts accordingly.
If we look at the species found in the
Applegate Valley and SW Oregon generally,
we find that the range of climate appropriate
for Douglas fir, Ponderosa pine, white fir, and
Pacific madrone will likely be substantially
reduced. Meanwhile climatic conditions
supporting the California black oak and
Oregon white oak will probably adjust
substantially, those supporting incense cedar
and sugar pine will be reduced, and those
supporting Jeffrey pine will be non-existent.
Climatic conditions supporting the more
coastally common tanoak and the California
laurel will also likely be substantially reduced.
If we consider species found elsewhere in
Oregon, these analyses suggest conditions
appropriate for the following species will be
reduced: western hemlock, western larch,
and western red cedar. Even more troubling
are the projections suggesting Oregon’s
climate will be outside the range for Sitka
spruce, Engelmann spruce, lodgepole pine,
subalpine fir, and Western juniper.
One weakness in this analysis is
that the locations where tree species are
currently found are merely an indication
of their physiological tolerance for climatic
conditions and the range under which they
have the ability to survive. Possibly some
species are able to tolerate a wider range of
conditions but are out-competed elsewhere
by other species. In ecological terms this is
the difference between the realized niche
(where they currently occur) and their
fundamental niche (where they could occur
absent competition). It is worth noting
also that an increase in atmospheric carbon
Distribution of climatic conditions appropriate for Douglas fir through the century assuming
a business-as-usual trajectory of greenhouse gas emissions and consequent climate shifts
(charcoal.cnre.vt.edu/climate/species/). Burgundy signifies optimal conditions, while green
and yellow signify sub-optimal conditions, and grey signifies inappropriate climatic conditions.
Map data from USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station.
dioxide allows vegetation to become more
efficient at water use and thus tolerate slightly
dryer soils. However, these shortcomings
notwithstanding, the analysis provides a
valuable guide for potential problems our
forests will face in the future absent our
concerted efforts to solve the climate crisis
by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and
sequestering carbon dioxide in our forests
and farms.
While our dry forests are certainly
fire adapted and fire dependent, these
projections provide a warning that we cannot
assume that future climatic conditions will
be appropriate for the current combination
of forest species. This suggests that as
we pass through the century, recovery
from fire or logging may not result in the
same mix of species. Additionally, these
projections suggest that forest management
and reforestation plans should acknowledge
that current species may not be appropriate
for our region in the future.
All Oregonians, whether rural or urban,
should be alarmed at the impact our current
pattern of greenhouse gas emissions will
impose on our forests, whether we value
them for wildlife, recreation, or timber.
Meanwhile, those of us in the Applegate
owning woodlot or forest land will need to
incorporate these concerns into our planning
for the future.
Alan Journet Ph.D.
Co-facilitator, Southern Oregon Climate
Action Now
Board member, Applegate Partnership
and Watershed Council
alanjournet@gmail.com