Mia and I opted to ignore the whole “Black Friday” b.s. and head out for a hike. It was my third time in three weekends heading out to Reheers Camp. The last two were for bike rides, this time it was for a nice hike.

The overall trail conditions were decent but way wetter than the past two weekends. The first part of the Gales Creek Trail out of the parking lot was more or less a stream as water was coming down off Cochran Rd across (or more aptly down) the trail and then into the Nehalem River. I think mountain biking out that way may be out of the question for a little while.

We only saw one other car in the parking lot and never crossed paths with anyone else out there until the last 3/4 mile headed back to the car at the end of the hike. The couple we saw hiking into the woods joins a long list of mushroom hunters Mia and I have run into out that way. I am pretty sure that every time I have gone out there we’ve bumped into mushroom hunters. All the power to them, I wouldn’t know a safe mushroom from a deadly one.

The other common user out there this time of years is hunters. We made sure to dress Codi up with an orange bandana for a bit of added security. I’ve never run into a hunter on the trails, but they could be tromping through the woods for all we know. Plus there are a decent number of them driving around the old logging roads…..hopefully not looking to shoot directly from their vehicles.

I think after heading out three times now that I am definitely making it a point to get out there for a weekend of camping and riding next summer. There are some connections between Browns Camp, Reheers Camp and some other stuff that I really want to make happen. It will make for a long day of riding, but that will surely be a lot of fun.

Well, that’s about it for now. Thanks for reading,
-Pete