Portland, OR
Elevation: 1,073 ft.

This weekend I had the chance to travel down the Oregon coast with my cousins Khem and Amanda. Piling into Amanda’s car Friday morning I was already envisioning the next three days of getting car sick. I had dropped off Rhyhorn at the local Toyota dealer Thursday afternoon, begrudgingly, and have yet to get him back. I will honestly admit that I have separation anxiety from my truck (and the shit ton of basic things I keep in him as I halfway live out of him). Between slow workers, parts not coming in as promised and the fact that I didn’t know what half of the expensive repairs meant I have realized that I need to learn to fix him myself. Easier said than done but then again I have never liked relying on incompetent people…That out of the way the drive was truly a beautiful experience. The last time I saw the Pacific I was a small child and didn’t appreciate it, seeing it as an adult was an entirely different thing. I had all of my east coast perceptions to compare the experience to and had two awesome wildlife guides with me!

Friday consisted of making our way northeast to Ecola State Park and Cannon Beach. Pulling into the park and walking to the first overlook I gazed out onto a pristine beach with barely any people on it and few houses and developments looming in the distance. Standing offshore where large haystack shaped rocks breaking the light blue waves as they came ashore. I had never seen this kind of beach before. I was much more accustomed to the dark green, murky waters of our overcrowded east coast beaches. Littered with trash and people and framed by towering hotels and advertising planes and ships. Compared to the zoos out east this was a sanctuary. My cousin aptly stated that it was the, “quintessential Oregon beach”.

Walking along the shore of Cannon Beach the first thing I noticed was how fine and cool the sand was. It was so fine that it made an almost squeaking sound as you dragged your feet through it. Nearly everyone was in a long sleeve because of the cool coastal air. My cousins revealed that summer granted temperatures a little warmer but not by much - I loved it. Walking in the water I was shocked at how cold it was. I didn’t see how people were able to swim in it for long. It made me miss the warmth of the east coast beaches. Littered all over the beach were the dried up remains of Velella velella that were pushed onto shore by the strong winter winds. This imparted on the beach a kind of fishy smell. Not unlike dried squid.

Travelling with my cousins was great because they knew the areas so well and knew where the best places where to stop. Driving through Tillamoook we made a stop at the famous Tillamook Cheese Factory. We only had 15 minutes but it was enough time to fill up on cheese curd samples, meat sticks and maybe the best cookies and cream shake I’ve ever had. Think Cold Stone but better.

Our last stop before out campsite was Cape Meares, cape #2 of our three cape tour. The sun was starting to set giving me another chance to play around with soft light and water.

That night we camped at Cape Lookout State Park. The campsites were clean, spacious and only a few minutes walk onto the beach. After setting up camp we hurried to the beach just in time to catch the last few minutes of the sunset - it was perfect timing. After a hearty meal of couscous and curry (a new camplife hack for me) we walked along the beach to look at the stars. It was my first time camping near a beach and I loved it. As I fell asleep I fantasized about the future beach camping trips I would have with Rhyhorn (I know it’s bad).

The next morning we hiked to the edge of Cape Lookout and gazed southward back along the coast. I strapped on my full 65L Osprey Atmos AG Pack to test out it’s handling and to make any adjustments I would need to before the field season. Once an REI employee, always and REI employee haha. Hiking through the forest up and down the switchbacks I felt the ocean breeze and smelled the pines. The forests out here are cool and wet and, along the coast, filled with fog and breeze. I loved every minute of it.

The last cape on our journey was Cape Kiwanda. Turning into Pacific City I was greeted by a much more familiar scene. Cars were parked everywhere and people were out and about enjoying restaurants, tourist stores and the beachside. We stopped for lunch at Pelican Pub and Brewery. The beer was flavorful, albeit a little mild for my taste, and the food was savory. I would definitely recommend the cream ale. The beach itself was covered in cars and tourists. Since it was a popular take-off point for boats it was a drive on beach and the sheer amount of people turned off my cousins who were used to the much more empty and serene beach of their past trips. I felt right at home. The hustle and bustle and different people reminded me of a super clean and behaved Virginia Beach and it made me miss home.

We continued our journey southward to my cousins’ old stomping ground, Newport. But first was a stop at the Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area. Amanda had done a lot of work here on the coastal birds living on and around the rocks offshore. I don’t know the first thing about birds but if one ever needs to know more about coastal birds, Khem and Amanda are the ones to ask. The natural area was beautiful to look at. The beach there was covered in black cobble stones. Formed of basalt and smoothed by the ocean, the waves created a rolling, crackling sound as it pushed and pulled the stones.

Next it was onward to Newport. Pulling into the hilly, seaside town Khem and Amanda would point out certain stores and places. It was here that they had lived and worked during their formative years as ecologists. I could tell that there was a lot of their history locked in the buildings, streets and shores.

The last stop of the day was at Ram and Dawn’s home. The two were long time friends of Khem and Amanda and recognized me from the wedding. More friends arrived for the dinner including: Becca, Chris and Eli. It was wild having met these people 4 years ago at the wedding and seeing them again 4 years later under totally unpredictable circumstances. For a moment I thought on the progress I had made. Their home was beautiful and full of colorful things they had collected over their journeys. Like Khem and Amanda, Dawn worked for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Ram was a artist that had painted most of the art for the coastal state parks we had visited. I didn’t get a chance to talk to him more about his art and photography but it was clear that he had worked on more projects to name and it was also clear that he was extremely talented. Behind their home they had a bunch of different types of chickens. I learned that Khem, Amanda, Rom, Dawn and many of their other close friends started and owned a chicken co-op for a long time. It explained the enthusiasm for chickens and gave me the chance to try some of the best eggs I’ve ever had.

The rest of the weekend was spent in Corvallis where I met up with Erin, an old friend from the SMSC semester. It was wonderful catching up with her as well as seeing the college town my cousins had studied in. Again I was met with the realization that time was always moving forward no matter what you were doing. People were constantly changing and progressing and moving on and all one could really do is hope that they are doing their best and, in general, are hurtling towards a happy and accomplished life.

I will get the rest of the week to spend in Portland, once I get my damn truck back from the incompetent dealers, and will head down to Corvallis on Friday. My gears will once again be set into motion as I begin my field season in the Klamath National Forest. I have to admit I am nervous to be the co-leader of the field team and am a little afraid of the unknown. But after my big trip and hearing advice from my cousins and their friends I have seen first hand the variety of stories and lessons people have to offer and am armed with a lot more peace of mind. Life is a crazy shit show and we are all trying to figure out how to be secure and happy (if that’s even possible). And it is a dynamic thing that can’t be controlled. But in a lot of ways it’s perfect that way. This will be the last super long post for awhile. For the most part I will be switching back to my suck-ass iPhone 4s camera and instagram but will be documenting my journey out west as full and candid as I can. Thank you all for reading and being awesome parts of this crazy life of mine.

All the best,

Chris