Hello all,
Checked out the Gale Creek Trail Sunday. Incidentally, Thursday night, I heard the most awesome sounds that I can ever remember. I deliver dry and frozen groceries, for Fred Meyer, to the Tillamook store, three times a week. And I take my lunch and breaks, on the way back, at the Summit Coast Range off of Hwy 6. Well, Thursday night, about 10:30 pm, as I was sitting there in my Fred Meyer semi, chomping down Cliff Bars, peaches and a turkey sandwich, a single coyote pup walks in front of my tractor. So, instinctively, I flick on the headlights. That poor little pup stopped dead in his tracks, turned his little head my way, then his mouth dropped open and he dashed to the woods near the Summit TH. I tried to coax him back out by putting some turkey sandwich tidbits near the mouth of the Summit Trail, but he never reemerged. But about 20 minutes later, a coyote that was about 40 yards NW of my location, let out a wonderful call, followed by two barks. Then, seconds later, another coyote that was maybe a mile or so to the east, let out a faint howl. The two talked to each other with their howls and barking for a good 45 minutes. Being that close and hearing the howls and barking gave me a remarkable feeling of being in the wild.
I arrived at the Gale Creek TH around 7:30am and the weather was still dry but a bit chilly. It was cloudy and rain was forecasted so I dunned by rain coat in case it got wet. This was the first time I have been on this trail. But I wanted to check it out to see if I could spot any wildlife, ie. bears, coyotes, elk, oh my.
The trail was a little steep at first with a couple of switchbacks, but it quickly leveled off to an easy uphill grade to the summit. A modest couple of miles but the trail was awesome. Overgrown in a few spots, but with all the rich colors of green, it gave you a sense of walking through a lush jungle. Here's a small coyote den just a few feet from the trail.
The trees are majestic and appear untouched. After doing most of my hiking and trail work in the Clackamas River District, it was like hiking through a Land of the Lost. I could have imagined hear the sound of dinosaurs in the distance.
Even the Oregon Grape is big and lush here in the Tillamook Forest.
This was across the Low Divide Creek. What a setting! If I were only 25 years younger. Appears to be an awesome place to be romantic. Have a picnic on one of those red and white checkered picnic sheets. Have one of the old fashioned wicker picnic baskets filled with Cliff Bars. Wow!
Encountered this very fresh "something" poop. Maybe Crusak, Mayhem or others can identify it. Too runny to be bear scat, cougars bury their poop, coyote and wolves look similar to domestic dog doo doo. Maybe a chipmunk ate too many nuts and had the runs. Well, it was just a few minutes old. Still steaming and had a lot of flies getting their feet dirty.
Not sure what this is either. Pretty big red berry though. This trail was really nice to hike on. It is a bike and hike trail and there were a few bike tire ruts throughout. But if you want solitude, this is a nice trail to hike.
FK
