Well, I'm still here, Don, but I haven't had much of interest to post recently.  I haven't been doing as much hiking lately as I'd like to.   I do check this forum every day, though, to see what's new.

There is one little tidbit of information I have to offer which is probably already known to some of you, but I haven't seen it mentioned yet in this forum.  The last time I was out, around the first of November, I ran into the contractor logging the trails in the Bull of the Woods.  We were at the Collawash trailhead for the Elk Lake Creek trail.  He said that they had completed logging out all the trails in the higher elevations and were working on the lower elevation trails.  They had already completed the first two miles of the ELC trail and were going to keep working on it until they got to Battle Creek.  Then they were going to do the Dickey Creek trail.  And if they didn't get it all done they would be back in the spring to finish up.  I'll tell you what, these two guys looked like they were in really good shape.

And then I'd like to invite all of you to take a look at my Flickr site where I've posted some of my photos of trails in the Clackamas district.  Maybe you'll find something of interest there.  I've had a lot of fun being out on these trails and have tried to capture something of the character of each one for others who might be interested in checking out these trails themselves. 

Doug

Hey Doug

Thanks for the link to your pictures.  I really liked them.  I haven't taken the very north part of the Elk Lake Creek trail, but it is on my list of to-dos.  I also wanted to see Round Lake.  I've still got some more pictures to view, but the ones I saw looked really nice.  A lot of stuff that I hadn't seen before, or overlooked when I was out and about.

Good news about the BOTW trails.  It sounds like they are making GREAT progress.  Dickey Creek is one of my favorite trails, even though that part at the start is one of the worst sections of trail.

Don:

I'm still here, but I haven't been out as much this year.  I'm really hoping next year I can get back to doing an average of at least one hike a month.  As I've gotten to know some of the members here, it is an amazing group of people.  I really appreciate your hard work and devotion to the trails in this district.

Whenever I'm having a particularly tough time in life, nothing is better than getting out into the woods to help clear my head.  Just ask my wife about the transformation that has happened after a day in the woods.  It is my sanctuary.....

Doug,

Thanks for the link to your pictures. You document the features I consider important. Kinda like being there but drier and warmer is all.

Donovan