Signs of Summer on the Shale Ridge Trail

Hiking the Shale Ridge Trail- On May 27, 2017 Randi and I hiked what author William Sullivan calls one of the wildest trails in the Cascade foothills, the Shale Ridge trail off of Aufderheide Road 19. This trail follows the North Fork Middle Fork Willamette River all the way up to Waldo Lake. This trail is home to some of the largest spruce and fir trees that we have ever seen on a hike. We had to cross many creeks, and finally the trail dead ended us into what looked like a large flooded area with many down trees and lots of water. Ultimately we lost the trail and weren't able to cross the North Fork Middle Fork Willamette River anyway due to the water levels being so high this spring. We saw our first mosquitoes of the hiking season, and we experienced our first 80 degree hiking day. All-in-all, it was a splendid hike to start off the summer hiking season! Music: 'The Vision of Light' by Aurora B Polaris *HOW YOU CAN SUPPORT HIKE OREGON: Patreon https://www.patreon.com/HikeOregon (you can pledge as low as $1 a month and help Hike Oregon to continue to produce content) Filmed with a Sony HDR-CX405 For more fun Oregon hiking stuff, check out my website: http://www.hikeoregon.net SOCIAL MEDIA: Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hike-Oregon/499216170214509 Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Hike_Oregon Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/hikeor Google+: http://www.plus.google.com/+HikeoregonNetOR Email: HikeOregon@hikeoregon.net