Oregon Hikers

Hi All! I am a brand new member and came hoping to find a nice easy day hike to get started. I wanted to go to the coast so looked through the list and picked Cape Falcon as my first hike after a long period of inactivity. The guide said it was an easy 2.5 mile hike, both dog and kid friendly. I saw other places that I should expect a lot of mud so we brought appropriate shoes. What I experienced when we got there was not what i would consider an "easy" hike. Much of the trail has been eroded to the point where there are exposed roots and rocks everywhere and it's less walking than climbing up and down an uneven staircase. There is a lot of water on the trail with several creek crossings. The combination of uneven ground and mud slowed us down and we ended up realizing we didn't want to be trying to traverse either in the dark even with flashlights so we turned around about 2/3 of the way to the cape and headed back. I'm sure for anyone in good shape and this is still a nice fun trail but warning that if you are not in good shape or if you are at all unsteady on your feet this trail will be trying. Dogs would probably be OK but I think it could be very dangerous for small kids. Can't fault the scenery though as it was very beautiful!

Welcome, MineLikeaGirl! Thanks for the report on trail conditions - they sort of confirm what that section has always been like in the soggy season. I'll add a few more details to the Field Guide description as fair warning.

Roots and rocks are kind of what a trail is, so if finding a trail surface with smooth stable footing is a priority, you're going to have to really up your research game. Unfortunately it won't be easy--I've found from experience that the least likely thing to be mentioned in trip reports, guide books, blogs, etc is the trail surface. They might name every plant you can expect to see along the way, but never mention if it's packed dirt and soft duff or nothing but miles of ankle-twisters.

Some suggestions:

• YouTube can be a really good source to actually see what a trail is like. There's hardly a trail that doesn't have a dozen videos--of varying quality and usefulness, but if you watch a few you can put a pretty good picture together
• Alltrails can be good for current conditions, once you learn to weed out the people who are reviewing the completely wrong trail and so forth. Assume that any closure info on that site is completely wrong, as well
• The library has a ton of hiking ebooks for download, some specifically geared towards short/easy/beginner hikes. Take a Walk: Portland might be one to look at if you're easing your way into things. The Creaky Knees guides might have suggestions that suit you, as well.
• Hiking poles. They add confidence as much as they do stability. Love my poles. As we get closer to spring Costco should have theirs in stock again, and those are a fantastic bargain

squidvicious wrote: ↑

January 17th, 2021, 3:37 pm

Roots and rocks are kind of what a trail is, so if finding a trail surface with smooth stable footing is a priority, you're going to have to really up your research game. Unfortunately it won't be easy--I've found from experience that the least likely thing to be mentioned in trip reports, guide books, blogs, etc is the trail surface. They might name every plant you can expect to see along the way, but never mention if it's packed dirt and soft duff or nothing but miles of ankle-twisters.

Some suggestions:

• YouTube can be a really good source to actually see what a trail is like. There's hardly a trail that doesn't have a dozen videos--of varying quality and usefulness, but if you watch a few you can put a pretty good picture together
• Alltrails can be good for current conditions, once you learn to weed out the people who are reviewing the completely wrong trail and so forth. Assume that any closure info on that site is completely wrong, as well
• The library has a ton of hiking ebooks for download, free spins no deposit https://freespins-canada.com some specifically geared towards short/easy/beginner hikes. Take a Walk: Portland might be one to look at if you're easing your way into things. The Creaky Knees guides might have suggestions that suit you, as well.
• Hiking poles. They add confidence as much as they do stability. Love my poles. As we get closer to spring Costco should have theirs in stock again, and those are a fantastic bargain

Thanks for suggestions. It's gonna be useful for me too.