New Year’s Eve Hike with the Dog

Mia had to go to work for a couple hours and I had the day off. What better way to spend the morning than hiking with Codibob.

CB and I didn’t have all day to travel to a hike since Mia and I had afternoon plans. So we decided to stay fairly local and head out to Reheers Camp to hike the Step Creek Trail and Triple C Loop for a little extra mileage.

46560454951_c48be5754a_b — Somebody is pumped to get hiking

The parking lot was totally empty when I got there. This is pretty much the case almost everytime I come out here. It’s seldom busy and I think the most cars I have ever seen in the parking lot at any given time is about four.

46560450331_90eb0e7214_b — Still pretty wet in spots

The first part of the hike paralleling Cochran Rd is almost always a small stream in parts. It’s on the downhill side of the road and everything tends to drain right into the trail. I’m not sure I have ever been out here when it is dry.

46560445671_d15644e24c_b — The Nehalem River was moving at a decent clip

46560444201_3915a6d8a9_b — The elusive Tillamook Forest dog

One of the more popular pastimes out in this part of the forest appears to be the shooting of guns and I’m okay with that most of the time. I did opt to dress Codi up in his hunter orange for this hike though. We did not hear any gunshots during the whole hike which quite literally has to be a first for all the times I have been out here.

32686955348_4ff9b27e76_b — Shades of green are the primary color this time of year

45836487594_d840373b1d_b — Most of the bridges where CRAZY slick with ice this morning

The trail varied from tacky and firm to a couple soupy muddy sections. There must have been some people out here with horses recently because not only was there horse poop everywhere but they did a pretty good job of beating up the trail too. It’s funny how mountain bikes get a lot of the blame for “trashing” trails but whomever was out here with their horses did a number on several sections. (pardon my soapbox preaching)

45836486584_a19664cb63_b — Oh that face!

The primary goal of this morning’s hike was to tire out CB so that Mia and I could have a date afternoon. I’d say the goal was accomplished since he was asleep in the car not ten minutes after we left the parking lot to head home.

32686929208_533c746ebe_b — Add an extra 1.7 miles to ensure a tired dog

Triple C was in decent shape. There are a couple small trees down across the trail that had me wishing I had brought my trail saw. If I head out here mountain biking in the next few weeks I will have to remember to bring it in order to give the trails some TLC.

It was a nice way to spend the last day of 2018. I had set a goal of hiking 100 miles with Codi for the year and we fell about 18 miles short of that goal. So here is to 2019 and some new goals/challenges. It’s going to be a good year!

Thanks for reading,

Pete