Silver and Gold

 

Last Saturday was a beautiful sunny day. After uploading the last blog post I visited three small campgrounds nearby. I came through the Mt. Hood area three years ago and have already been to all the big campgrounds. I prefer the smaller ones myself and I stumbled upon a great one.

On the western side of Mt. Hood is a tiny town called Zig Zag. Driving north on Lolo Pass Rd.for 4.5 miles and then turning right will lead to McNeil, Riley Horse, and Lost Creek campgrounds.

McNeil is the largest with 34 campsites. The sites are big and there is a good view of Mt. Hood. Water is available at Riley.

Next stop was Riley Horse Camp.

There are nice horse trails in the area and this is where to stay. Sites 1, 4, 5, 7, and 8 have 4-horse corrals. 10 has a two-horse corral and the rest have hitching posts. Make reservations as this place fills up.

The gem is Lost Creek. This tiny campground has only 10 campsites of which 7 are reservable.

The campground road and spurs are all paved and ADA accessible. There are many trails and a waterfall nearby. There are two yurts as well. The host told me that this campground is almost always full. I highly recommend a visit to this hidden treasure.

Sunday morning I left for Silver Falls State Park 30 miles east of Salem. I really wanted to spend more than one night here but it was full. It was drizzling as I headed down the mountain.

This is the largest state park in Oregon in terms of area, with over 8000 acres. There are 100 campsites with about half having water and electricity. There are group areas, lodges, and even a conference center. This is a an exquisite park. This was my campsite for the night.

It came with an inquisitive squirrel.

Green is my favorite color and my camp kitchen reflects that.

Checkout time here is 1:00pm and checkin time is 4:00pm. I arrived at 1:30pm which turned out to be perfect. I was able to whip up a bowl of soup and walk the campground while it was still almost empty.

The key to good chicken noodle soup is the addition of habanero sauce and oyster crackers. Throw in just a few crackers at a time to keep them from getting soggy.

By 5:00pm the campground was full and the sun came out.

I followed a trail over a covered bridge to the cabin area to see what they looked like.

I heard some strange animal sounds coming from one of the cabins but I figured it out.

I think this would be a great spot for a honeymoon which is probably why I am not married…

Monday morning I made breakfast and went to visit the falls.

I have problems making pancakes. The batter alternates between too thick and too thin as I keep adding water and flour. When I finally get it right I end up with a pancake like this one that hardly fits the plate.

Silver Falls State Park has an 8 mile trail that is extremely popular to hike. The Canyon Trail is a nationally recognized trail system that leads hikers along the banks of the north and south forks of Silver Creek. It takes you to 10 majestic waterfalls, ranging from the grand South Falls (177 feet), to the delicate Drake Falls (27 feet). Four of these falls have an amphitheater-like surrounding where you can walk behind the falls and feel the misty, crisp spray.

Since I was leaving shortly, I only had time to see South Falls. It doesn’t look like much from the top.

That changes as I walk down to the bottom.

I didn’t realize how much of an overhang there was when I took the photo of the top of the falls. Maybe that’s why all the warning signs were there.

The trail down passes behind the waterfall. This was cool.

See the people on the trail behind the water.

One last one.

I reluctantly left and headed to Detroit Lake State Park, stopping at Fisherman’s Bend on the way.

There are 40 sites here and I was told that the fishing is excellent on the North Santiam River.

I arrived at Detroit and immediately wished I was back at Silver Falls. The campgrounds were as different as grapes and gravel.

There are around 300 campsites crammed into a narrow spot between Highway 22 and the lake. There is no understory, meaning that there is absolutely no privacy. The spurs are short as well. I camped in this spot for three nights.

The chairs on the left are not mine. I could see at least 30 other sites swiveling my head around. I couldn’t even take pictures. It would have been an invasion of privacy like staring into someone's living room. Bottom line, reserve a waterfront site so you will have no neighbors on one side. Even then you can still hear the traffic all day and night. It does have a nice dock and boat facilities.

Thankfully on the other side of the lake are 3 wonderful Forest Service campgrounds. You head 4 miles east on the 22 and turn right on Blow Out Rd. After a couple of miles you will find them along the lake shore. All three of these campgrounds have boat ramps.

First up is Hoover with 37 campsites.

You could fit 5 Detroit campsites in that one.

Next up is Cove Creek with 63 campsites.

Lots of privacy as well.

While the previous two campgrounds are reservable, South Shore is not.

There are 32 campsites here with 8 of them being walk in ones, as well as a dock and boat launch.

My favorite site here was #4 which is a walk in. Check it out. Right on the lake.

So do yourself a favor and skip Detroit Lake State Park and try these ones instead. You get better sunsets on this side as well.

I left on Thursday morning and continued east to Bend following a scenic byway.

Along the way I passed by Big Lake and Mt. Washington.

The Pacific Crest Trail passes through this area.

So I hiked it for a little bit.

It twisted a turned through an old burn area. Here is another view looking back towards Mt. Washington.

I will be spending the next week in the Bend area, specifically Sunriver about 15 miles south. I have several day trips planned in the area.

Finally, the slugs got one last shot at me. Last Sunday I stopped in Salem to stock up on provisions. I was loading up the coolers when I noticed some pine needles sticking out from the bottom of my hiking shoe. Thinking that they were stuck there with pine resin I reached down and pulled them off. Along with a nice sized chunk of dead slug that was wedged into the tread of my shoe. They really don’t feel nice in your hand all broken and oozy. I sacrificed an old cotton towel while muttering under my breath.

Silver and gold. Silver was a reference to Silver Falls State Park. I could easily spend a week there. Gold. Not the pancakes. The sun. Yes, after that brief drizzle on Sunday morning it has been sunny every day. That is gold.

Regards,

Greg

Holiday Road

 

Big Agnes came through and shipped me a new tent in which I am happily sleeping. Actually, unhappily sleeping would be more correct. No fault with the the tent, it’s the freaking precipitation that is wearing me down. But I digress. More about the new tent later on.

I arrived back in Chehalis, WA., on Saturday night. I had stopped here 6 weeks before to escape the rain in Olympic National Park. I carefully set up my broken tent and fell asleep listening to rap music. Not mine.

Around noon on Sunday the skies darkened and the rain poured down hard for 5 hours. I tried to be positive as I yanked my bedding out of the tent and stuffed it in my car. Hmmm. The car is dirty and the water is warm. I put on my swim trunks and used a micro-fiber towel to give it a bath.

I had only one campground left to visit in this area. Monday morning I headed south 40 miles to Seaquest State Park.

Before I departed I narrowly avoided a slimy situation. I took a shower and was heading out of camp when I decided to stop at my campsite and hang up my towel. I glanced at the tent and saw an 8 inch slug about to crawl inside through the busted door. The door looks like this:

It is kind of hard to see there so let me zoom in a bit.

The slug was teetering on the edge about to fall in. I had been dealing with ants, spiders, flies and mosquitoes for the past few days but finding slug slime all over my sleeping bag and pillow would have been the last straw. I made sure that he wouldn’t bother me anymore and left.

Seaquest State Park is on the road to Mount St. Helens, as is the town of Toledo which has a really cool mural painted on the side of a building.

The park has 2 types of campsites. There are 76 either dry or with water and electric that are individual sites. They look like this:

There are also 16 full hookup sites that look like this:

It is a very popular campground as there is a lot to do in the area. The Mount St. Helens Visitor center is just across the street.

Tuesday was a good day. I picked up my new slug proof tent at the Chehalis Post Office. A big thank you goes out to Big Agnes in general and Glenn Davis in particular. I was in an awkward situation being on the road with no real tent stores around.

While in town I also picked up some taco fixings. When I came back I found I had also gained a “Camping God” carving that a neighbor left for me. We’ll see how that works out.

Big Agnes now has a sticker along with Polar Bear on the propane tank of fame. Some deer invaded the campsite across from me.

Then I witnessed a case of “Deer Flatulence” first hand.

Deer on Left - “Hey, I’m right behind you!”

Deer on Right – Giggles quietly.

I lit a big fire to keep the smelly deer away from me.

I decided not to set up the new tent at this campsite. I was leaving Wednesday morning and had spotted more slugs lurking about. I duct taped the door from the inside and hit the sack.

The slugs got me the next morning. They sent in a suicide slug for the attack. I unsealed my tent door and went to put on my flip-flops. They are black. The same color as the small slug crouching stealthily on one. It made a gross squishy sound as I stepped on it. I used some paper towels to wipe up the slug guts in between my toes and hit the road. I had 200 miles to drive to Oregon and planned to visit a few State Parks on the way.

Paradise Point is located just off Interstate 5 about 30 miles north of Vancouver, WA. There are 69 sites, some with hookups, and 10 walk in sites that were guarded by a thug who glared at me and dared me to take his photo. I walked away. Half the sites are forested, but some are nice and open.

There is a river that flows nearby and a beach area.

What you cannot see in this photo is that if you look straight up you see the underside of the interstate bridge. Noisy, but you would stay dry in the rain.

Next up was Battle Ground Lake State Park.

I would classify this park as a destination campground not a base camp. It has everything you need for fun. There are 4 cabins, 31 sites with hookups and 15 walk-in sites.

It has a large day use area and a neat little lake perfect for the kids with a dock and swim area. Must look great in the sunshine.

I set up the new tent for the first time at Memaloose State Park in Oregon. I kept singing “Memaloose Memaloose can you do the fandango”. Water on the brain. I am doing back to back one night stays while visiting 7 state parks so there is not much time for anything else. Like eating. I had prepared some sandwiches for the road. I didn’t take my reading glasses into the store. I bought “snack” instead of “sandwich” bags so I had to cut them all in half. The joys of turning 50.

I walked Memaloose on Thursday morning and then stopped at Viento and Ainsworth State Parks on the way to Milo McIver State Park where I would be staying for the night.

Memaloose and Viento are very similar campgrounds. They bookend the town of Hood River in the Columbia River Gorge. This is the windsurfing mecca and people come from all over the world to surf here. Which is why their locations between Interstate 84 and train tracks don’t seem to bother the campers. You can see the tracks in front of the river.

Even the RV crowd gets in on the action. Check out the custom board storage in the second photo.

Here is my new tent. More pictures later.

Next up was Ainsworth State Park about 30 miles farther west.

This park is geared for RV’s with 13 pull though sites and 33 others on loops and spurs.

It is located on Historic Highway 30 which was jammed packed with tourists ogling the waterfalls. There was no parking so just imagine nice waterfall pictures. Ahh.

The weather was beautiful and I started singing “Holiday Road” from one of those Chevy Chase Vacation movies. I actually believed that on July 19th summer had finally started. But Oregon is never boring.

I passed through that town on my way to my campground. I set up camp in the sunshine at Milo McIver.

Looks familiar doesn’t it?

Milo McIver is a big park located near Estacada, OR on the Clackamas River. There are two day use areas each with a boat ramp as well as equestrian facilities. Rafting is very popular on the river.

The campground has 44 sites with hookups and 9 walk in tent sites. I stayed in one of those and the walk is not far. Maybe 20 feet.

 

Still sunny. I ate a couple of small sandwiches and prepared a campfire. Just as it was starting to catch I heard a rumble in the distance followed by large raindrops dowsing my fire. There was no hail or high winds but my new tent received a thorough drenching on it’s second night of use. It poured down all night with thunder and lightning separated by seconds.

Friday morning I walked the campground and then used a towel to dry the tent and packed it away.

You can see the puddles in the picture above as well as the clouds over the river below.

I drove up to Mt. Hood for two nights with the sun finally glaring in my eyes.

Not. I am staying at a place called Mt. Hood Village. It was supposed to have Wi-Fi but it doesn’t. At least it has a dry place for me to type this while I wait for the rain to stop so that I can set up my tent. I will find somewhere to post this soon so everyone can have a chuckle. Speaking of which, I saw this sign near Seaquest State Park. This is for you, Brother Mike, your nirvana.

Fish from your room. Yeah.

Regards,

Greg