Bite of the Rogue this weekend!

If you've got a few free hours this Saturday afternoon, Oct. 17, head on over to the Jackson County Fairgrounds for Bite of the Rogue, which benefits the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Rogue Valley. In addition to some great food from local restaurants, wine from local wineries and beer from breweries all over the great Northwest, there's an ice-carving competition (alcohol would be present at any event involving people hacking at blocks of ice with chainsaws) and the Iron Chef cook-off.

A few bucks admission gets you a snazzy commemorative tumbler (pictured) or wine glass (not pictured) and a drink, then you buy additional "tickets" for food.

The scoop on the Pita Pit in Medford

The Pita Pit isn’t what you’d call adventurous eating, but it does make for a nice departure from weekday lunch-land’s fare of a dusty can of soup in your bottom desk drawer or a McBurger Bell combo meal. Locations in downtown Ashland and on Crater Lake Highway in Medford make it a convenient spot for takeout or eating in.

The ordering setup is reminiscent of Subway: pick a pita, then your bread and toppings. Options to customize your lunch are fresh and abundant (spinach, pineapple, sprouts and mushrooms are among the less-expected choices). Lots of sauces, from ketchup and mustard to ancho chipotle to tzatziki, are available too (though the Scoop wants to know who seriously puts ketchup on a pita…yuck).

At $6.75 for a pita (“sandwich” only – not a combo) in Medford, the price is a bit steep for a fast-food lunch. Two people could probably split a pita, though it would be a light lunch. Hummus and avocado are $.50 extra.

A note about the gyro (lamb and beef) pita: the appearance of the brown lump they throw on the grill decidedly fits into the category of “mystery meat,” but the presentation is misleading. That’s not to say it’s like lamb and beef carved from a spit by a street vendor in some Lebanese city, but it tastes a whole lot better than what your eyes would have you believe. It’s definitely recommended. Try it with the hummus and feta.

Because Pita Pits are franchised, there might be a little variation between the location in Medford and the location in Ashland.

A perfect fall hike near Ashland

It's no secret that the Scoop is enamored with Southern Oregon. Though there are many wonderful aspects to living here, natural beauty is high on the list. This 5.5-mile loop is a 20-minute (or so) drive from Ashland, and about 35 from Medford (from the south freeway entrance). Here are some good directions to the Grizzly Peak Hike.

The Scoop started in the late morning, apparently after a pretty rad storm the night before. Everything was caked in snow and ice, but from the horizontal direction of the ice, it looked like the wind was blowing pretty good all night.

The trail winds up through gigantic pines about a mile and a quarter, then around a loop that offers gorgeous views of the valley to the most anti-climatic summit ever, then back down the way you came. It's a nice, clear path. A little way into the loop, you'll come to an area that was pretty well scorched by a fire a few years back. The fog mixed with patchy blue sky made this a rather surreal experience.

A few recommendations:

1. If you go after there's been weather (as they say back east) wear some water-resistant pants. There's a little trekking through wet grasses involved. Not enough to be really annoying, but enough to get your pants nice and wet.

2. Bring a snack. The hike's not very strenuous, but there are several beautiful places to take a break and enjoy the views.

3. Watch out for cow pies. And cows. It's open range up there.

4. Layers, layers, layers. It's nearly 6,000 feet, and it's a bit cooler at that elevation than down below.

5. The road isn't terrible, but if you have a car with 4/AWD, you might want it. The gravel road is kind of rutted and not great for a little compact car.