Oregon

Roughing it — with an iPad

uniquelytheo2 Comments

On Monday, August 3, I hopped into Lady Spitfire, once again packed as though I were permanently moving into the wilderness, and headed through Central Oregon toward Lava Lake, which would be my base for exploring the Three Sisters area. I had first become aware of this unique volcanic landscape while reading my son’s Pacific Crest Trail hiking journal and now eager to see some of it myself. My plan was to day hike a couple of sections of the PCT that winds through this area.

The drive was pleasantly uneventful along two lane forested roads.  Fortunately, there were enough passing lanes that I did not have to become the crazy woman driver trying to pass everyone who wasn’t traveling at what I deemed the acceptable speed.  There are things about camping I am willing to endure but driving behind someone going 20  miles under the seed limit it definitely not one of them.

I had deliberately chosen this National Forest Campground because of its location —- and because I have learned the best way to avoid the RV-and-generator  crowd is to seek out campgrounds without electricity.  This one was essentially a tent only campground along the shore of beautiful Lava Lake with a view of South Sister rising across the water.

Arriving in the early afternoon, I was quite pleased with my spacious.  campsite. Camp set-up was remarkably smooth since I had the good sense to practice setting up the tent before I left home.  The campground was still relatively empty but as the afternoon wore on, a couple of other camping parties arrived and naturally selected sites right next to mine. I have to wonder why it is such a great idea to leave the comfort of my home, rummage around in the dirt, and then listen to somebody else’s  conversation while smelling and watching them preparing a delicious meal with a plethora of cooking equipment and later enter their three room two story tent that makes my own supplies look positively primitive. Still my tent was set back enough that I didn’t feel particularly exposed.

The there was the matter of electricity. Or, more accurately the lack of it. It had seemed like a good idea when booking. Almost immediately I began what would be a recurring obsession through the entire trip: How am I going to keep all my electronics charged?

My iPhone. My iPad.  My AirPods, My Portable Power Station.

At least I wisely left my computer at home. The portable batter pack did a decent job of keeping things going but eventually the battery pack needed to be recharged. That mean plugging it in to “cigarette” lighter in Lady Spitfire. The the inevitable question: If I’m not actually driving anywhere, am I really going to leave the car running just to charge my electronics with the exhaust spewing into the campsite? I will leave you wondering. I hate to admit but almost everything I do for entertainment is on that iPad: games, books, and news— all siting inside that glowing rectangle. Why did I think a non electricity campground was a great idea?

One settled, I took a lovely walk around the area.  I found the camp store for essentials like ice, groceries, maps etc. I did a two mile walk to Little Lava Lake. By then it was time to commence cooking a meal and there would be no elaborate camp cooking for me. The evening’s gourmet creation consisted of boil-in-a- bag instant cooked rice, some already prepared ground turkey mixed with taco seasoning with a bit of cheese as a topper! DONE! 

The darkness settled over Lava Lake and all felt right with my world. As the sun dipped below the horizon, the lake turned to liquid gold. The silhouette of South Sister faint in the distance, the landscape softened by the haze of wildfire smoke, and a duck family drifting through the sunset glow captured everything that made the day of driving, hiking and camping feel worth it.

But reality then set in. Now for the hopefully final challenge and hardest part of this entire experiment: getting myself in and out of the tent and then figuring out how to get  myself comfortably situated on my cot, settle in with my iPad, and convince my self that this is actually a relaxing way to spend the rest of the evening

I had staked a ground cloth in front of my tent to minimize the amount of the fine silty dirt that seemed to blanket this site and puff up with every I step took. The dirt was not content to stay outside either. It began sneaking out from beneath the tent and onto the ground cloth at the entrance, intent of finding its way inside. I quickly discovered there were couple of techniques for entering my tent. One option was to remove my Crocs, kneel on the ground sheet, assume something resembling the yoga table pose, and crawl forward into the tent. Another involved standing, bending at the waist until I was essentially at a right angle, stick my head through the tent opening, lifting one leg behind me and shaking off the Croc, stepping the foot into the tent, grabbing hold of the cot for support and balance , and then repeating this maneuver for the other foot. This I assume would need to be repeated to exit. I am sure there were other possibilities but at this point I had not discovered them.

 It was only the first night.  I was wondering if I was having fun yet?




Apparently I still Think This Is a Good Idea! @82

uniquelytheo3 Comments

It had been over two years since I had packed up my camping gear and headed into the wilderness. As someone who loves camping, I was feeling the pull to head out again but had no specific impetus or goal to prompt me to make a specific plan.  Then a close friend mentioned that she would be camping with her daughter near Mt. Hood.  That was all the encouragement I needed. I would take a camping trip in Oregon of my own, meet up with her for some day hikes and then spend a night with her up at  the historic Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood.

Getting ready for the trip brought with it a surprising amount of trepidation. My plan was to spend time in two areas of Oregon — the Three Sisters area near Bend, Oregon and the forests surrounding Mt. Hood. But, there was another question lurking in the back of my mind! At 82, could I still actually enjoy doing this. It wasn’t backpacking and hauling a forty-pound pack around and I would have my car and thus could bring a few “luxuries” which one has to forgo when backpacking. But camping involves a significant amount of physical activity even when my car, Lady Spitfire, is sitting 20 feet away: the tent to put up, gear to haul around, sleeping arrangement to assemble, meals to prepare, and perhaps most notably, the undignified challenges of getting in and out of the tent all the while trying to prevent any flying critters from attempting to become tent-mates. Did I still have the agility to crawl through that little opening without getting stuck somehow half-in and half-out. Would getting out in the chill of the morning be an adventure in itself in order to obtain a hot cup of coffee to jump start my day or a excruciating undertaking. Would camping still be fun?

Then came the time to open the storage bins and then discovering and sorting all the family equipment: re-introducing myself  to my own outdoor equipment; and, wondering if the forests would still be there when I arrived. It was Oregon’s fire season.  Wildfires were raging throughout the state with a major fire burning 12 miles east of Mt. Hood and not wanting my planned adventure interrupted by a wall of flames.

Then came the plot twist.  My friend’s family camping trip was cancelled.  Do I cancel or go anyway. With all the preparation work done I decided to go with one simple rule:. I was going unless conditions reached a Level 3 evacuation for my intended destinations. 

What started out as a trip built partly around meeting a friend suddenly became something entirely different: a six night solo adventure through the mountains and forests of Oregon, with wildfires nearby, an assortment of camping gear I was assuming still worked, and absolutely no guarantee that my original plans would survive the first day. 

To Tent or not to Tent, a Conga Line Hike and a Non-Creek

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It is now July 13th and I left Ashland Oregon on June 28th on a mega journey to the coast of Maine and back.. But first a stop on my way to the  Columbia River Gorge in Salem OR to visit with my daughter and my grandkids, Kira and Connor.  After 2 fun filled days of pool swimming, good eats, grand dog walking and  an afternoon at the World Beat Celebration in the Riverfront Park in Salem, I bade good-bye to family at around 1:00 pm on Sunday the 30th.  I was headed off on  the “real” beginning of  an ambitious journey to visit the last six of the continental USA National Parks I had not yet been to. I would be out 63 days  with 36 of them tent camping  and of course no RV-ing for this former Girl Scout, Outward Bound graduate, and backpacker. I am hoping I don’t regret this stalwart attitude.  Given that I am staying in both USA and Canadian National Parks with no access to wi-fi and minimal if any cell coverage, posting blogs will be quite intermittent.

Since I would be traveling along the Columbia River Gorge, I wanted to visit Multnomah Falls, a very popular site along this corridor.  I was forewarned that there was quite  limited parking available.  So I secured a time entry permit that gives a specific hour you can enter the parking lot (though space availability was not guaranteed).   Driving the narrow highway heading east to reach the  falls,  I began to see cars parked along the road at all kinds of jaunty angles and pedestrians risking their life by walking along this squished road. I began to worry about parking. Just opposite the  entrance to the falls was a sign for parking and I didn’t know if this was the place I had reserved but when the  attendant said there was space and the parking fee was 20 dollars (this was a private lot). I figured  for $20.00 and a whole lot of convenience,  I would pony up the fee.

Being mid-summer and the week-end before July 4th,  I think half the population of Oregon decided to visit this falls and many taking the hike to the top of the falls. A very diverse cadre of people were all vying for a spot on the railing for a perfect photo op. I would join the mob but I knew realistically it was impossible to get the full height of the falls in a photo so even though I asked an individual to take a photo of me, it was awful but decided it was not necessary to prove that I indeed had been there.   There were hiking options and the hike up to the bridge was . 2 mile and then to the top 1 mile.  I was game…not really anticipating that not only people but signs often lie ( a national pastime at this point in history) and my rational brain did not engage enough to consider that perhaps hiking to the top of the falls was not the sanest of plans.

But not to be daunted, I trudged on up and up and up around the 11 switchbacks at the hottest part of the day with numerous hikers inquiring how old I was and was I really planning to hike to the top! It still didn’t register that perhaps I was probably taxing my body to its limits. Glad this wasn’t a 5K race as this 5K hike took 2 hours 17 minutes and a pace of 44’28” per mile The finish line would have been removed and the venue deserted.Once back at the trail head, i was exultant that I had the made a very wise decision of parking close. My legs were aching and spent.

 I headed down the historic Columbia River highway, made  a quick stop at Horsetail Falls, and on to The Dalles and a night in the Columbia River Hotel. I was patting myself on the back for cancelling my camping reservation along the gorge since the site description warned of the high noise volume there from the highway next door. The loud highway rumble was the background music  hiking to the top of the gorge. So I was glad for a comfy and nice quiet hotel room until I discovered the air conditioner did not work. Since I did not want to pack up and move to another room I decided to tough it out since I needed to “practice” dealing with the hot and cold temperature options I would encounter in my tent. Besides I was not sure I could walk one more step. The next morning I eased into the day by walking the grounds, observing  the Dalles and marveling at the clarity of the 11,217 feet Mt. Hood in the distance before I headed out to  travel  along this canyon that “houses” the Columbia River. 

The western gorge eco system of lush green forests gave way to a semi arid eco system — a mosaic of mostly treeless hills\ peppered with sagebrush, sporting an array of tans, golds, browns and rusts. There was a certain beauty to this National Scenic Area if you can reconcile the hydroelectric power plants serviced by the 4 dams (Bonnevile, The Dalles, John Day , McNary ) of this section of the gorge with the concomitant high voltage transmission lines. Additionally in the last few years the proliferation of wind power as a source electricity has resulted in this area of the grassy savannah of the Columbia Plateau being dotted with windmills. I often lament the price our planet pays for our relentless need not only to survive but to increase and multiply and grow the domestic product index the huge need to consume, consume, consume ad nauseam.

The destination on July 1st was Beauty Creek Campground in Coeur d’ Aline. So far the drive on this trip has been nerve racking. For expediency it was necessary to take the Interstates which were abuzz with every assortment of cars, regular semi-trucks, semi’s with two or three trailers, wide-loads, self contained RV’s, RV’s pulling boats, 4 wheelers and an array of other conveyance. All were very much in a hurry to get some where or to start their vacation now. I, who promised myself to follow the speed limit on this trip, was the “little old lady” driving the Model-T surpassed by almost all but a very few other Model-T drivers. When I hit Kennewick heading up into Washington I was forever grateful that I did not have a Model T but an SUV with a screen upon which my iPhone displays the iMap route I selected and Siri tells me step by step the distance and which lane to be in…I have no idea how I would have negotiated the lanes and interchange that i would encounter to head up to Spokane. I have no desire to drive through the maze of horribly designed interchanges in Kennewick WA. ever again. I recall the AAA Triptiks of days of yore but one really needs a navigator who can understand maps and has a good sense of direction…but i guess back then there were less travelers and less complicate interchanges – mostly stop and go lights!!!! Once I neared Spokane the traffic was less frenetic and I was entering mountainous terrain and gaining a bit in elevation and arrived at Coeur d’Aline Beauty Creek Campground around 5:45.

I was pleasantly surprise to find #19 at the end of the line, with plenty of distance between campsites and nature’s “privacy screens” of thick vegetation and trees.  Reserving a campsite online is a crapshoot.  What you hope you are getting and what you actually get are often two different things.   I won at craps this time since many of the sites were in an open field. Though I reserved a creekside site, Beauty Creek was no beauty and no creek but a dry bed of stones and decaying logs,   This was to be my first go at setting up my campsite – new tent, new cot etc. and I was racing against an ominous looking sky ready to dump. I fumbled about but eventually managed while encountering only a few spatters of rain.  My weary body said enough.  Tonight is not the night to cook a hot meal.  So began the challenge of how to organize all of my necessary and not so necessary stuff in the tent and what stuff would rest better in the car. It began by tossing everything in all direction all over the car  which I had so meticulously organized prior to departures. The upside was I was able to select only the necessary items for this one night stand and not have to drown inside the tent in my piles of stuff. I’d like to report that I slept well in my new digs with my traveling Squishmallow., Banks the Badger. Banks loves to camp.

A Whale’s Tail/Tale and Just Another Coastal Rock

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Feeling thoroughly diminutive admidst the Redwood behemoths (of course at 4’11” it is hard not to feel minuscule most places), I was ready to head up the coast of Oregon to hopefully reclaim a feeling of altitude. I have always found the Oregon Coast a spectacular place to experience. The massive sea cliffs overlooking the ocean waters are both picturesque and impressive but this image becomes significantly enhanced by the large, unique sea stacks, those insane rock formations that are jutting out from the sea. The sheer size and shape of them is quite impressive to witness. In fact, I yet again felt pretty small and insignificant with this array of “rocky beasts” sitting in front of me. Sea stacks are amazing vertical rock formations standing in the sea that were formed entirely by wind and water. The sea creates cracks in the headland, which later collapse, and thus forms free-standing stacks.

There were many scenic viewpoints overlooking Oregon’s free public coastline and my first pullout was at Harris Beach State Park just north of Brookings, a mere 27 miles up the coast. from Crescent City. Harris Beach offered a splendid seascape of a sea stacked coast and a driftwood dotted expansive beach. After soaking in the “serenescape” with the lapping of the waves on this beachy shore, I began to realize that if I stopped at each vista it would be way past nightfall before we made it up to the next stop of Depoe Bay OR (187 miles total).

So I drove gently (well maybe not so gently)  up the coast until our lunch stop 3.5 hours later at Gardiner and its overlook of the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area. This is  a 40-mile-long playground for sand-boarders, dune buggies and off-highway vehicles so if you are into climbing up sliding sands or roaring about in a noise emitting buggy this is the place for you. .  Not being a fan of noise-enhanced recreation,  unless it is a product of the earth’s natural forces, I made note to not put this area on the top of my bucket list of things to do in Oregon.  To each his own!

Yet again,  its hard for Lady Spitfire (my car’s name) to not just veer off into a random scenic pullout so I found myself at the Tokatee Klootchman State Natural Site on a bend that is dangerous to pull into when  traveling northbound between Florence and  Yachats. .  The  big vista  from this  elevated wayside is pleasing but not flashing dramatically plunging cliffs nor vast dunes. I viewed  cobbled pockets of beach between dark bedrock formations and thought it perhaps would be a good whale watching vantage point but the steep overgrown trail down to the beach  did not call out to me. Soon we were safely back on the road and finally arrived  at  the Lincoln Beach/Depoe Bay area, and our bed-siting-room  for the next two nights. Our hotel,  definitely weathered beaten by the offshore winds and perching perilously  close to the eroded bluff, was a great spot to  for a land lubber to scan the horizon for whales. Though weather worn on the outside we were in lovely refurbished room overlooking the ocean. 

Why Depoe Bay?  A seawall  protected town,  Depoe  Bay’s  harbor is noteworthy for being the smallest natural active navigable harbor in the WORLD.    But that can’t surely be the reason for choosing Depot Bay you might surmise as I have never been on a tear to search out  navigable harbors (US National Parks for sure but not harbors). 

Voila! Depoe Bay is also known as the “whale watching capital of the Oregon Coast”. The ocean currents near Depoe Bay seem to draw whales to its horizon and the town, anticipating whale migrations, has a Whale Watch Center (which was closed the day I was there), shore observation decks, and charter boats for up-close viewing. Since 20,000 whales migrate south and then back north yearly, I anticipated catching the end of the northward migration which occurs between March and end of first week of June. Since it was the last week of May I was eager but also resigned to settle for observing a few of the stragglers carving their way north.


So the next morning we made our way down to Depoe Bay and hopped aboard a zodiac RHIB (Ridged Hull Inflatable Boats) for what I hoped would be a thrilling whale watching tour. First some caveats. I was not exactly thrilled when the skies let loose with a downpour as we were readying to board our inflatable. I was even more rattled and less than thrilled as I had to negotiate the hypotenuse of a right triangled gangway ramp to reach this “rubber duck”. At this point I had a flashback to the last time I was in a rubber boat …a white water rafting adventure where everyone ended in the drink, so I didn’t exactly try to hop aboard this dinghy. So it was even a less thrilling challenge getting from the dock into this rubber dinghy which meant getting my body onto and over the flexible tubing to the bench seat in the aft of the raft. But with assistance of our “Salty Dog Sailor “ who would be piloting our craft, I deftly plopped myself onto the bench seat in the stern, ready for our “Whale’s Tails” excursion as we navigated through the world’s smallest navigable harbor. Wow! Well, to be honest, I wasn’t exactly wowed by the harbor!

The brochures advertising this excursion touted these boats as low-to-the-water, comfortable, quiet, speedy, maneuverable, and stable allowing one to spend more time around the whales and have an up closer and more personal perspective of whales and other marine life. Of course this premise assumes that there is going to lovely weather and there will be whales with whom we can have this very personal relationship. I am sure theses massive aquatic mammals were gliding gracefully through the deep blue blending into the underwater world, disappearing into the depths of the vast ocean, but on this day they did not have the courtesy to indulge me by dramatically emerging from the depths, surging upward, and majestically leaping skyward and descending with a thunderous smash… or to even spout a gentle mist from a blowhole. I am surmising that their echolocation capability sensed the somewhat tumultuous waters above generated by the wind and rain and wisely had no desire to emerge from the calmer seas below. Approximately 200 gray whales are “residents” and hang out between from June to October in the area but chose not to grace our whale watch expedition.

This was definitely an adventure but not of the kind I anticipated. I do not even have to tell a tall tale about having a thoroughly immersive encounter with the elements of nature, experiencing the untamed energy of a steely gray ocean, the hiss of the raindrops on the water, and my cold rain drenched attire. Oh, and lest I forget, the pleasure of being choked by the bulky orange “buoyancy aids. ” Our total wildlife sightings: one flock of birds feeding on a school of fish, 4 harbor seals on a channel marker, and 5 harbor seals on the harbor embankment. My gratitude list: I was not seated in the bow with the wind and rain pushing against me and I was somewhat protected from a total direct hit of the piercing drops by the pilot’s console and windshield.

After stripping off the drenched outerwear it was time to do the other touristy thing. Depoe Bay is clearly a tourists’ town, evidence by the large number of tourist tchotchke shops and eating establishments advertising clam chowder. So, who am I to try and swim upstream, so I had a nice hot bowl of clam chowder at the Chowder Bowl of Depoe Bay. Afterwards I decided to have a bit of a personal chat with Sasquatch as it seemed every tourist shop, retail clothing store, sock shop etc. had a picture of this large, hairy, humanlike creature emblazoned upon just about anything. I was hoping to get a bit of insight into this phenom but he/she was quite mute. A visit to the whale watching center was thwarted due to the fact it was closed.

The day naturally turned sunny late afternoon and I was motivated to walk the beach of Fogerty Creek State Recreation area near our hotel.  The erosion is significant but it is definitely a fascinating peek into the geology of some of the coastal area.

One of the best night-caps ever was a brilliant sunset at the end of a wonderful day of adventure.

The following day was a travel day and I was headed up to the Kalaloch Lodge in Olympic National Park WA. Enroute, my intent was to stop in Cannon Beach, renown for its sea stacks and the iconic Haystack Rock. Cannon Beach appeared quite trendy and a stop at the Driftwood Restaurant was a wise choice before venturing towards the beach and stacks. Parking was limited so wanting to get up close to the rock required parking on a side street and walking about 1/3 mile to the staircase which was the ingress to the beach.

This 235 foot monolith(3rd in the world in size)  is impressive and the “marine garden” surrounding it is vibrant.  The tide pools are teeming with green sea anemones, sea stars , barnacles, and rocks elegantly draped in brilliant lacy mats of green algae. A poor rating of one star on Trip Advisor stated” it is just a rock…we didn’t bother getting out of the car.”  They have no idea what they truly were missing out on. 

I could have stayed longer, mesmerized by the tide pools and this seaside sanctuary but I still had minimally a three and one-half hour drive to the Kalaloch Lodge so I bade farewell to this breathtaking seaside landmark. We were no longer hugging the coast but the drive to Kalaloch was low traffic winding rural road and we arrived at the Lodge by the dinner hour.