Wilson River
1/21/2022: This is a nice, peaceful, fairly easy hike through alders, Douglas firs, Sitka Spruce, and other trees. Lots of moss and several stream crossings, depending on the time of year. Pretty small waterfalls, again, depending on the time of year. Very “Oregon coast forest” hike. No long, beautiful vistas.
Marg’s Notes: Hike w/Jim Keenig Footbridge/Tillamook Forest. Left condo ~8:30 am to meet Jim at the trailhead. A bit of confusion when we got there ~10:00 because it wasn’t clear which end of the trail we were supposed to meet at! Finally met at the western end.. left Jim’s car there & drove East to the other end. Were on the trail at 10:17. A very nice hike thru the forest. Very Oregon. Lots of ferns. Doug firs, alder & moss! It has been rainy so there were lots of little runoff creeks & waterfalls. We walked along the creek occasionally. Lots of water in it! muddy in spots. Some “up and down” but not too hard. Not many vistas. When there was a view, we could see the hiway too. Wilson River also. A very pleasant hike. I got 6.5 miles on my devices. Rod got 7.5 for some reason. Took 3h 22min. At the end, Jim took us back to our car & he headed home. We had our lunch at the parking area which had nice picnic tables above the river. Nice view but chilly. We stopped at Fred Meyer in Tillamook to pick up a few things. Rod needed a cable for the computer monitor. They were a bit spendy at Freddy’s so we went to the Goodwill just across the parking lot. Rod got a cord and I found 2 cast aluminum Warner Ware pots! Paid $4.99 & $6.99. Value probably close to $200! Plus they are great for cooking in! Back to the condo for a rest! Snacks for dinner! Forgot to say we saw elk prints & poop on the trail! Sunny too! 🌞
Rod’s Ramblings from the Trail: It's hard to capture peaceful in a
picture and this is a peaceful hike although we do get road noise. Hopefully it will go away as we go up
into the canyon. This is a very “Oregon” hike.
Cross Wolf Creek and the car noise
goes away in favor of the creek which is a good thing. Trail is very nice and easy to walk and is maintained
regularly. We saw fresh maintenance cuts of downed trees. Coming this time of year (January) you get a bunch
of streams if it's been raining. They make some pretty little waterfalls along the way. Some picture
opportunities exist.
There are many wonderful examples of nursery logs. Don't expect
spectacular views. Expect trees and creeks.