By Nathan Frechen
On Saturday November 9th, 2024, 23 volunteers came out to Reehers Camp in the Tillamook State Forest to clear downed limbs and re-establish tread on Gales Creek Trail north of Bell Camp Road. This section of trail is a glorious 1,500-foot descent and was impacted by a timber harvest in early 2024, resulting in portions of the trail being buried under several feet of limbs and other organic debris. Using chainsaws and a variety of hand tools, the group was able to remove the majority of limbs and logs on the 1.5 miles of impacted trail, and make impressive progress on treadwork.
NWTA’s NW Trail Sisters joined the fun. Janelle Bickford said, “It was a beautiful day to be digging in the Tillamook State Forest! We had a great showing of Trail Sisters and put our energies toward cutting out parts of new trail on Gales Creek. A big crew overall making way for wheels and feet to continue enjoying a gem of a trail.”
Afterward, a few folks got to enjoy the descent back to Reehers Camp where everyone snacked on hot dogs from our friends at Cyclepath, and beverages around a fire to warm everyone up.
There is still plenty of work to be done out there throughout the winter. The next work party is planned for Saturday December 14. Sign up here!
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Many thanks to Oregon Department of Forestry, NWTA and Crew Lead Nathan Frechen, NW Trail Sisters, Cyclepath PDX, Hopworks, and Pelican Brewing to help make all of this happen!