I did the inaugural Royal Gorge 50k in Union Creek, Oregon on Saturday, October 17th.  It couldn't have been any more beautiful up there: fall foliage, towering trees, and nice temps (low 40s at night, 60-70 during the day).  The course was single track, out-and-back along the Rogue River, which varied from glassy smooth to rushing rapids (including a lava tube!) with a fairly deep gorge at a sharp bend in the river.  It was mostly shaded with gentle rolling hills (billed as 2300' vert, but my watch said only 1600').  And the trails were amazing soft Oregon dirt, with just a few short rooty and rocky sections.  I still managed to wipe out a couple times, as usual.     Nothing busted except for my sunglasses (I'd say my pride, too, but I gave that up a long time ago).   Covid precautions were in place, but pretty painless: the race was capped at 125 entrants (about 100 finishers), and people started in waves of 25, spaced about 2 minutes apart.  Masks were required at the S/F and A/S.  No pre- or post-race festivities, which was a little sad, just grabbed my medal and pint glass, and left.    A/S had the usual beverages but only limited pre-packaged food items. I brought my own food instead and stashed it in my drop bags. So, I took longer breaks that usual at the aid stations but I think it was worth it to make sure I had what I wanted to eat.  And a lot less trash to deal with too.  Official finish time was 6:41.

No guarantees that the conditions will be this perfect in future years (apparently the weather could include rain and/or snow this time of year).  But I'd recommend this race 100% and I'm going to look into others that Daybreak Racing puts on in Oregon.

Enough of me blathering on.  Here are some photos, including some taken the next day (the course was so nice I went back out again for a few shake-out miles).

Found these random pics on the race website.   

On the trail.

Union Creek is about 20 miles from Crater Lake, which we visited on Sunday.  The deepest lake in the US, close to 2000'.

There are a few short hike to view points around the lake.  The pic above is from the Cleetwood Trail down to the water's edge.  The next pic is the trail up to the Watchman lookout, about 8000'.  I love the old, gnarled pines.  Plus the view from the watch tower.

Beautiful!  I hope you didn't have to ford any of those creeks.

Looks great !!!!! Sounds like a really nice run too. Very jealous.  Congratulations.

Thanks.