1st Anniversary Adventure

For our 1st anniversary, I wanted to go somewhere really special. Thinking back to all of the places we've visited since we arrived in Oregon almost 3 years ago, the place that stood out most to me was the Southern Oregon coast and California Redwoods.

And so it was. I booked our stay at the always amazing WildSpring Guest Habitat in Port Orford, OR. WildSpring makes an incredibly beautiful home base to explore this part of the Pacific NW.

After looking through my book of coastal hikes, Tom and I decided to take a day to head down to Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park in California. The hike we chose—Fern Canyon—began after a 4x4 drive down a forest road and splashing through a number of giant puddle fords. The trail tucked into the woods from the parking area next to Gold Bluffs Beach.

Tom on one of the many wood plank creek crossings in Fern Canyon.

The trail follows Home Creek up the canyon for about .5 mile. The canyon walls are covered bright green ferns that wave gently in the breeze to say hello.

Waving ferns.

Tom losin' his pant legs on the mini bench.

After leaving the box canyon, the trail loops through some amazingly tall trees—Redwoods, Sequoia, Coast Douglas Fir, Sitka Spruce and Western Hemlock.

Loving the big trees from a log-walk perch.

Smaltzie in the woods.

Kissing the tree bear.

We found some flower petals shaped like hearts—the woods said, "Happy Anniversary, Dings!"

Love.

Tom inside a hollow giant.

The 7-mile loop ended on Gold Bluff Beach. We walked out to sit for a few minutes and rub our tired tootsies in the warm sand.

Mist clings to the coastal trees.

The day after our adventure to see big trees, we decided to stay local around Port Orford. We hopped in the car and drove a few miles north of town to Cape Blanco State Park and then followed the twisty road along the Sixes River til we arrived at the end of the road and a cool stream-side campground. We spent a little while enjoying the sun and water.

Big sitting/sunning rock.

Smoochin'.

We also spent some quality time at WildSpring. The grounds are beautiful, our cabin was perfect and we spent a lot of time soaking in the hot tub that overlooks the Pacific.

Buddha guards the hot tub. Great spot for some cold beverages. :)

The main guest house is also a great place to spend some time chillin'. There are lots of books, games, teas and places to snuzzle in. This is also where our delicious breakfast was served every morning. So good.

Main guest house at WildSpring.

On the 4th of July, we went downtown for dinner at The Crazy Norwegian. People call their fish and chips the best on the Oregon coast. It was excellent. :) Afterwards, we had a beer at a local dive bar, Pitches Tavern.

We watched the fireworks show from the yard of WildSpring. The following morning, we enjoyed our last breakfast at WildSpring and hit the road. Before leaving Port Orford, we went down on the beach at Battle Rock State Park (where they shot the fireworks from the night before). There were some guys playing in a golf tournament down the beach.



Rather than fight traffic on I-5 for hundreds of miles, we cut east near Eugene and enjoyed the drive home on forest roads through Willamette National Forest. We found a cool lake and campsite and stopped a few times for a beer and to enjoy the woods.

Tom & Teddy

This trip and the drive home were very nostalgic. We spent one night at WildSpring and a day exploring the Redwoods in 2006 on our first trip to the coast over our first Thanksgiving in Oregon. Driving home towards the south side of Mount Hood, we took the exit for Hwy 35/Hood River. We reminisced about taking that exit for the first time on our moving-cross-country trip. :)

Although the California wild fires doused our wedding view with smoke last year, Hood was out in full force for our 1st Anniversary. Thanks, sir. :)

We picked up our little buddy on the way through the valley at Pet Camp. He was happy to be home and completely exhausted.

Nap time.

Backpacking the Olympic Peninsula

Labor Day weekend 2007, we hiked 22 of the most rugged, most beautiful miles of the Washington coastline—the Olympic Peninsula from Ozette Lake to Shi Shi Beach. After quite a bit of research and planning, I settled on a route that would be challenging, but enjoyable. The plan was to start hiking early each day, arriving at low tide points in time to hike with ease, and end at our campsite in time for lunch so we'd have the whole rest of the day to relax and explore.
We left Hood River bright and early on Friday morning, with our first stop being the ranger station way at the top of Washington, in Port Angeles. We needed to pick up our camping permits and bear-proof canisters. The raccoons are rampant on the trail and will even eat a hole in your tent to get a granola bar. Before the sun comes up, you can look into the bushes at your campsite and see many sets of little eyes looking back at you.

Almost ready to hit the trail after a night spent camping at Ozette Lake.

Gerry gives it up for the beach.

The first 3 miles of trail are hiked on super-slippery wooden boardwalks. This area is so rainy that you'd be knee-deep in mud without them. The woods here are LUSH and open up to the beautiful Pacific.

Low tide = fun tidal pools to explore.

Our oceanfront view.

We arrived at Cape Alava around noon and had prime choice of camping spots. After settling in, we went exploring and spend some time soaking it all in with some ice-cold Vitamin R. My pack was heavy, but not TOO heavy to leave out a few beerskis.

The sun says goodnight to the Pacific coast.

A few small friends were lounging in the grass right off the sand.

Vicki Lee, Gerry, Me & Aaron enjoying the ocean.

We perched ourselves on top of a BIG rock and enjoyed the last of the sun.

Very cool spot!

One of the reasons backpacking is so great is that you can get to places that people would pay a LOT of money to spend time, but won't put the effort in to get there on their own two feet. With our house, bed and food strapped to our back, we enjoyed some of the most beautiful coastline in the world and had it mostly all to ourselves. :)


in the distance, near the top-right part of the above photo, you can see the speck of Vicki making her way down the side of an overland crossing. There are a bunch of places on the trail that you have to hit at low tide to cross and some that have no option but to climb straight up the face of the rock face, assited by a rope for pulling yourself up. Sketch for the inexperienced or weary.

We hit our low-tide points as planned. Nice work!

Vicki making her way through the giant rocks.

One last break before our last push to Shi Shi Beach.

Pictured above, Point of the Arches is the last low-tide crossing before you reach Shi Shi. We had beautiful weather right until we crossed through the rising tide waters to the beach. We took shelter from the rain and had to decide to put up our tents and stay the rest of the day and night in the rain, or hike the last 5.5 miles to the car and spend our last night at a hotel. We opted for the latter and hiked the last, muddy, heavy 5.5 miles. It's obvious why this is one of the top trails in the U.S. Just Amazing. :)

Party in the Night, Party in the Day, Party on the Bay

A clear weekend with summer sun and warmth is a blessing on the Oregon coast. Add in the company of some really fun Hood River peeps and it's good times aplenty.

Keg stands on the mini Heiny...

...are a lot more complicated (and entertaining) than you'd think.

About 14 of us partied and camped at Saddle Mountain, about 20 miles from Cannon Beach. Polish Horseshoes, wood runs by headlamp and a well-stoked campfire were some highlights.

We kicked off a morning of crabbing in Netard's Bay with some warm sun and ice cold Vitamin R.

Jim, Sam and Erin float by. "Ay! You lik-a da pizza pie-a?"

We took turns casting and retrieving the net. Andrea's ready to deal with some crustaceans.

Gary, Jim, Erin, Andrea and Abe enjoy some shade.

Blue and green.

We caught a bunch of crabs and had them steamed on site where we rented boats. This big daddy is coming back to camp. Mmmmmmm. Dinner.

Ladies, Ladies, Ladies

We spent some time exploring Short Sands, which is the beach at Oswald West State Park. Oswald was our top choice for camping, but as we found, the ENTIRE systems of coastal parks books up quick on summer weekends.

Surfers and sunbathers soak up the sun.

Andrea and I hiked the 2-mile trail out to the tip of Cape Falcon, which leads through a wonderful coastal forest—sweeping views, birds playing in the wind, shafts of sunlight beaming through the conifer branches and trickling creeks. At the end, we enjoyed a bottle of red on the grassy, treeless cape.

Bathing beauty.

Weird in the woods.

Camping, hiking, playing and partying is always better near the ocean. A great weekend out no matter how you slice it. :)