EG: 87' 10.5miles
Saturday we took my partners mom out for a nice hike along the Tillamook
rails from Cochran pond to the Wolf Creek trestle. When we got the TH,
I was attempting to get my bearings and ended up with my first official
meeting of a fellow PH'ers, Rustygoat and Melinda
We chatted for a bit and then hit the rail, or I mean trail
It was a crisp 37 out in the shade.
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| On Frozen Pond |
There were a few other people out on the rail, including a rather large group that was getting organized when we left the TH.
There was a lot of litter around (we collected a garbage bag full on the way out). Some of it is becoming part of the landscape.
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| Have you seen this bear? |
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| old mill remnants reflecting on Cochran pond |
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| trees on the tracks |
There was a lot of graffiti in random spots on this hike.
There are a lot of areas where there have been washouts or partial washouts along the tracks, but you can either safely walk on the tracks still, or walk around.
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| exposed fiber optic cables |
After about 2 miles, you come to the first tunnel. There
is a small portion of the track that the land has washed out under, but
you can easily walk around this section.
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| walking around the washout |
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| light at the end of the tunnel |
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| and we made it through |
There are a few sections along the rail, where there have
been rock slides, landslides and washouts. But there is plenty of room
to navigate around all of these.
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| rockslide |
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| Cher and mom admiring the landslide |
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| Cher climbing over a fallen tree |
|
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| Mom and Jen's turn |
Next, we came to the Big Baldwin Trestle. We discovered
that mom has a bit of a fear of heights, but she crossed the trestle
with no problem.
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| Big Baldwin Trestle |
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| Baldwin creek |
After crossing the trestle, I decided to hunt for the
memorial that I had read about. It took a bit of hunting, but I found
it. It was marked by a piece of orange ribbon tied to a branch.
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| I thought this was a memorial at first |
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| then Cher found this about 100' down |
In hunting for the memorial, I discovered how dangerous
tiny alder tress can be. I was whipped and tripped up by them a few
times.
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| there were old railroad relics everywhere |
We got back on the trail and just before the second tunnel, we found a nice area above the river to have lunch.
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| soaking up the sun |
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| We opted to walk around this section |
After lunch, we went on to the second tunnel and quickly
came to the Wolf Creek trestle. Mom decided she would not join us in
checking out the second trestle as the first one was enough for her.
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| rail art |
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| waterfalls |
We went down to the next washout area around the corner
from the trestle and decided to turn around, as not to leave mom alone
for too long
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| We only saw a few wildflowers |
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| But the amount of mushrooms/fungi made up for no flowers |
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| The snail must have found better digs |
We
headed back and the trail was a lot sunnier than on the way down. We
ran into Rustygoat and Melinda a few more times (they were doing some
off-trail exploring), as well as a few other people we enjoyed chatting
with a few times along the way.
On the way out to 26, we stopped for a few minutes and chatted with the local bison in town.
It was a great trip. I will be excited to hear what
comes of the official rails-to-trail conversion. I saw they were having
some planning meetings this month, so we shall see.
