Being new to Oregon means unfamiliar trails and parks. Casey and I want to explore different parts of Oregon. So, we bought a book to help us find trails. It has information that says how many miles a trail is, what to expect on the trail, and even directions to find the trailhead.
For the weekend we decided that we wanted a longer hike. We rummaged through the book, finding Old Baldy Trail. The alleged trail had an “exceptional peak climb” with “unforgettable 360 degree views.”
We followed the directions in the book to locate the trail. We soon figured that the book may have been outdated when a road was mislabeled.
As we came closer to our destination, the book claimed we should see a pullout and the trailhead would be close by. We only found a couple pullouts, and none of the trails were labeled. We eventually just choose a trail to follow. Of course, all of Oregon has beautiful forestry! The hike was easy, no steep hills to climb, which was contrary to what we were prepared for. After a few minutes of hiking we figured we had the wrong trail, but agreed that we should continue on the path.
There were no other travelers on the trail, so we decided it would be a good time to practice “off-leash” hiking with Yavanna, our dog. We left the leash on her, but let it drag on the ground. I think she enjoyed the freedom to run about the forest.
The day was slightly rainy, but the forest covered us fairly well. We did not get too wet. The ground was fairly muddy though. It was peaceful to hear the rain falling while walking in the woods.
After a decent amount of time the trail came to a dirt road. We followed the road for a while, but turned around after finding some shot-gun shells.
Overall, a short trail. Probably not the trail we had intended to hike. I think next time we pick a trail from our book we are going to do some research on it first!
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