Rebel Creek

One of the big advantages of it being a snow free winter at the lower elevations is that most of the trails are still open for hiking. After hiking French Pete Creek over Christmas break, I decided to take a hike just down the road a little way along Rebel Creek. The trailhead was vacant when I got there. The trail was an uphill hike from the beginning with lots of switchbacks right away which put me above Rebel Creek. From there it was following the forest trail which brought me uphill gradually. I was in a zone quickly and really enjoying being out and about in the cool, but moderate Oregon winter.
After a few miles of forest walking and elevation gain, the color of the trees began to change. This was of course because I was finding out where the snow was located. This was the danger of hiking in the winter that the trail would eventually lead me to a wintery wonderland that would be impossible to continue travelling through. For at least the beginning of this snowy world, the trail remained snow free for quite some time before giving way to a trace of snow which continued to be more and more until the entire trail became difficult to find in many places. I continued on because it wasn't dangerous or anything, but after a while finding the trail was just not happening. 

So when I got to a point where finding the trail was just not happening, I instead fought the brush and the trees to try to get to a viewpoint. The view was not really spectacular as it was a view of more trees just farther down below. It looked like a great place to continue hiking, but it was going to have to wait until the snow melted because finding the trail and enjoying it was a spring or summer activity here.

Turning around, I found my way back to the trail and soon enough the snow free trail. This was always such a relief and a disappointment at the same time, because while it is much easier to hike downhill than uphill, the experience of finding something new around the next corner has kind of disappeared. Still, it had been a great hike and I was glad I got out to somewhere new on this long Martin Luther King weekend. Oregon still had many different trails and opportunities to offer.