VeganBikeChick, could you try it once, with pepper spray at hand, just to see what the traffic on the trail is like? I understand your concerns. I did meet a guy on the Sammamish River Trail a month or so ago who does a super-early morning commute all year round (that includes the BG part you're talking about), and he was telling me about seeing owls often at that time. My point isn't so much the owls--although wouldn't that be great??--but that I think there ARE other early commuters and you might feel safer if you tested out that possibility just once.