Won’t this be great when it is done? It looks like this section of trails with be 12.5 miles, however the overall plan is great! Right now, all they need added is a trail between the Cloverdale Trailhead up to the Oak Knoll Trailhead on Muletown Road or the Placer Connector Trail in that same area. If that connection is made you can go from the Clear Creek Trails all the way to Whiskeytown. Although I imagine they will have issues when it comes to crossing Clear Creek on Placer at the Veteran’s Memorial Bridge, it’s not really built for pedestrians.
If you go out hiking/walking/running in the rain or snow you really should get a slicker (its also nice for potty time too). My pink one was purchased from Petco a few years back so we don’t remember the price and we just can’t remember where Trey got his yellow Dickens brand slicker. Both are pretty much the same quality wise the only difference is that Trey’s has a pocket on back. Here are my thoughts, overall it accomplishes what it was made for, keeping me mostly dry during rainy day hikes and mostly dry during potty time on rainy days.
I feel I should explain what I meant by “mostly dry during rainy day hikes”. Perhaps it is because I am very fit with a big chest and small waist (I would be a hot human!) but this coat slips sideways on my constantly while hiking. I have to admit on hikes I am running all over, up and down hills and jumping every which way so I really test the fit of anything I wear. The chest strap on this will not stay in place, it slips back towards my waist area so Mom just straps it back by my waist while hiking. However if I am just going outside for a quick potty or a walk on the leash the coat doesn’t slip as far to the side or as often as it does when I am running like a mad women.
The design does have some strong points, it’s nice that it doesn’t hug the body so rain just rolls off the coat instead of rolling down the side and onto my belly, but that is where the good design stops. First on the down sides is the rear strap that is supposed to keep the coat down on windy days, this is the biggest downfall. First the strap on Trey’s broke after a few uses, mine lasted long but was well stretched and useless before it broke. Trey also has a complaint about the rear strap, he says it is very close to his manly bits so on some males that may be an issue if you choose to use the strap.
As far as additional useless features there is a hole on the base of the neck for a leash to go through, perhaps this would work with a short neck dog, but for my neck, it is no where near my collar and putting the leash through would cause the slicker to ride up. If you are built like me and need to wear a leash with this it just has to go through the front with your face so it might cause the neck part of your slicker to not fully protect your neck. The second useless thing is the pocket on Trey’s slicker. Putting anything in the pocket (if you had something that small) with weight would cause the slicker to shift side to side unless you have a wide back or put something like paper in there.
For wear and tear the chest strap on Trey’s appears to be detaching from the coat itself near the pocket, which means it may be dead by the end of this winter if we ever get rain. Also both Trey and I have torn a small hole in our slickers, however the size of the holes hasn’t changed and probably wont unless it snags and could easily be repaired with duct tape (you could probably even find a matching duct tape color now).
Pros:
Keeps my back and neck dry mostly dry
Cheap
Cons:
Cheap construction
Useless back strap
Rides sideways I am really active
Suggestions:
Would be nice they could redesign the back leg straps. Perhaps individual leg straps made similar to the chest strap otherwise don’t bother unless it is really windy.
Would I recommend?
Yes… No… Maybe, it’s cheap and it mostly works, if you are just looking to cover yourself during potty breaks or walks on the leash the go for it. If you are really active like me then you might try one, see how it works for your body type. Mom may continue to buy when the previous one is beyond repair but she might consider making me a custom one combining the good features of this raincoat and some of the other types of blankets (she’ll post that if it works out).
A few more notes are that our winters here are not cold, so if you need something that also provides warmth then I would look at other options or you could wear a blanket under this. I am also not sure how well these would work on thick or short necked dogs like rotties or bullies, the neck hole fit me fine, however I have a thinner long neck, so I would strongly suggest short or thick necked dogs go to the store to try it one before buying.
Trey and I in our slickers
Trey and I in our slickers
Rain Slickers
Rain Slickers
My Rain Slicker
Trey Rain Slicker
Rain Slickers
Slicker slides sideways if you don’t snug up the chest strap
I spend a lot of time out on these trails so I thought I would share some sites you can’t see from the road.
This is a waterfall found on the Piety Hill Loop. It can only be seen after we have had a really good rainfall when all the seasonal creeks are flowing, so you probably won’t be able to see it this year. To see this fall you would want to park at the Horsetown trailhead, head across the street. The entrance to trail is right at the end of the bridge next to the Horsetown Clear Creek Preserve sign. You head up the steep hill until you come to an intersection. If you go left you will head clockwise on the Piety Hill Loop, however go straight (counter-clockwise). When you head straight it will take you down a hill, when you start heading down just look straight and slightly to the left out across the gully, you should see this waterfall if it is flowing.
If you continue down the trail, you will go up another hill, then when you start heading down again you will come to that seasonal creek that makes up the falls. If the water is really flowing you may need to get wet to cross it, otherwise if it is barely flowing you can usually step on rocks to keep dry (Hey BLM how about you put in really big rocks, a culvert or bridge? Pretty Please!). Continuing on if you go straight at the next intersection you can follow the seasonal creek all the way up and see little falls along the way.
Here is a little secret about the Clear Creek Trails (at least I can’t find any info on it). If you go to the “Clear Creek Gorge Overlook” trail head and go north on the trail (left from the parking lot) you will hit a series of fitness stations spread out over approx 2 miles. These stations are labeled World Trail and they all are for getting you humans fit. Although up pups can’t use the stations it sure is fun watching you humans try. But honestly us pups just enjoy getting out and the bonus is the trail has lots of access to Clear Creek for taking a dip in the summer.
List of the stations
Warm Up/Cool Down
Isometric Squat
Balance Beam
Step Up Routine
Climbing Wall (not like a rock climbing wall you see in a gym)
Leg Lift
Vault Bar
Inclined Body Curl
Chin Up
Parallel Bars
Jump N Touch
Beam Jump
Push Up
Horizontal Ladder
Hip Rotation
Sit Up
This map was done by my mom back in 2010 it show the different stops, some of the point indicate different turnoffs to the creek or trail heads however you can get an idea of how far apart they are.
World Trail Intro Sign
World Trail Warmup Directions
World Trail Cooldown Directions
The 1st station, the others have obstacles or sorts in them
Beautiful Clear Creek Gorge Picnic Area
Clear Creek Gorge, the overlook for the salmon spawning area
You humans are so SLOW! Mom let me carry the cell phone in my backpack and turned on the GPS. You won’t see much of a difference in the map when you compare it to my human Mom’s GPS track because it’s a 4 mile track and I am good about staying on the trail, but check out the amount of time I have to spend stopped waiting for my Mom! Come on now humans, you really need to learn to use those front lets you call “arms” maybe it will help you move faster!
Take in mind these are 2 different days but same route, also on Mom’s track we had to stop for horses and other dogs but on my track we only had to stop for water.
Let’s start off with showing my favorite trails here in Shasta County (California). I LOVE the Clear Creek trails, these trails are on BLM land and since they aren’t in the city limits they allow off-leash. Here is a link to the BLM page if you scroll down to “Clear Creek Greenway” you can get information including maps. If you have ever been these trails, share your barks with me!
If dirt trails are not your thing or these are too far, Shasta County has a bark-load of trails. You can find most of these trails listed here on Healthy Shasta’s Website. I will try to review more of these trails in the future.
Here are some screen shots of one of our recent hike. This particular hike was on the Piety Hill Loop, but we started at the Horsetown trailhead and did a modified loop. Doing the trail this particular way has so many hills it turns into a bum-barker, you will be feeling this hike if you are not used to hills.
Elevation and speed chart of our hike, it shows a couple times we had to stop for fellow hikers and riders.
Map of our hike
Stats on our hike
Hiking the Piety Hill Loop
Excuse the poor photo quality, the camera on the phone is having issues.
