Once a week, I get to hang out with my new buddy George.

He’s an Australian shepherd with an incredible amount of energy. His owner told me he loves hikes, but since we’re still getting used to each other, I didn’t want to take him too far.

We headed to the Tioga Segment of the North Umpqua Trail for an early afternoon stroll through the forest.

Recent rains caused the forest to flourish. Ferns covered most of the forest floor, while fungi clung to trees.

Every so often, there were signs of wildlife: chirps from the trees, half-eaten fungi and rustling of leaves.

Deadline Falls are part of the North Umpqua River and are visible approximately a quarter-mile from the trailhead. Salmon and steelhead can sometimes be seen jumping the falls between May and October.

I looked for fish in the hopes that some may be running behind schedule, but couldn’t see any. George, and my dog Dixie, looked for any other animal or food, but couldn’t find anything interesting either.

After our small detour to see the falls, we got back on the trail and continued to Fern Creek Falls.

The North Umpqua Trail ran right along the river, and at one point goes through a section of forest that has been touched by wildfire. New growth is sprouting up and the area is recovering.

The black marks left behind are still visible, and the barren trees combined with a bit of fog would have made the perfect backdrop for a scary movie or book.

Although the rolling fog can probably make even the most serene places seem ominous.

But the fog only stayed in the lower section of the trail, and as the trail started moving into the surrounding hills the fog subsided.

The trail got narrower and the river now ran several feet below.

At one point, a tree blocked the trail and a decision had to be made whether I was going to go up or down the hillside to go around.

About a mile-and-a-half from Deadline Falls, we came to the second, and for us final, waterfall of our trip.

Fern Creek Falls are a tributary of the North Umpqua River. The waterfall tumbled over rocks, through ferns and logs.

The waterfall was most visible from a bridge built over the lower part of the falls.

When he got to the middle of the bridge, George stopped.

He didn’t look at the waterfall, but instead looked at me.

Fern Creek Falls was our turnaround spot, but the trail keeps on going for many more miles.

After the dogs got a snack for making it to the waterfalls, they were ready to return to the car.

Anytime the trail crosses over water, the “bridge” is numbered, making it a countdown to the end.

All in all, our hike was about 4 miles and although the dogs were more than happy to take a catnap in the car, they still had some energy left to chase each other through the backyard.

Maybe next time, we’ll get to go on a long hike.