Скачать или смотреть N.O.W. @ Gales Creek Trail in the Tillamook State Forest in Oregon

N.O.W. @ Gales Creek Trail in the Tillamook State Forest in Oregon

A intentional walk through the sloped terrain covered in native ferns, moss and lichen that sat underneath the towering Douglas Firs and long fingered Vine Maples amidst the occasional call of a red tailed hawk soaring high above and the relatively frequent calls on the forest floor via the ground foraging Robins. This was truly a magnificent experience for my first ever backpacking trip!

This time you’ll be joining me in the Tillamook State Forest on the Western side of Oregon in a strip of older and second grow forest filled with an abundance of hiking, backpacking and mountain biking trails. There are a couple of campsites located in the area.

The walk video taped here is my return trip on quite a long backpacking adventure heading Southbound.

Walk with me on this Natural Observation Walk as I try to savor the moment while immersed within my surroundings. You may hear the occasion metal ‘ding.’ That would be my steel water bottle banging against my as I walked. I find it helps make a decent amount of noise to warn any fauna of my presence. As much as I enjoy seeing mile deer, snakes, rabbits, etc. I grew up in the forest and know the value of not surprising any larger mammals (I.e. bears and cougars). I tried to keep it to a minimum for this video, but it still makes no use occasionally. Hope that doesn’t distract anyone too much from all the surrounding beauty and sounds.

Gales Creek Trail Stats - Info Taken from AllTrails app
Difficult: Hard
Distance: 11.9mo
Elevation Gain: 1,978ft (one way)
Avg. Time: 5hr43min

My Trip Stats - (Extra time and distance accrued while looking for a suitable campsite, stopping to photograph and taking little exploratory side paths.
Distance: 31.3mi
Elevation Gain: 4,750ft
Total Time: 15:47:12hrs
Avg. Pace: 2.2mph

Image: (left to right; Mount Rainer, Mount Saint Helens, Mount Adams and Mount Hood on the horizon)
…. at about mile 9/10 heading Northbound, you will come across a rather large clearing of where the forest has been clear cut. This was my least favorite section of the hike, it was at least 30min (going downhill, longer on the return trip) of full sun exposure with limited small breaks behind some tiny patches of forest they had left. While it was no fun and kind of ugly walking through clear cut, it did afford a rare opportunity for a 275º vista view a couple times. In doing so, I was able to see 4 mountain tops from the trail. This was a particularly tough section on the way back going up the hill, I definitely took my time and rested a few times along the way and took an extended victory break at the top.