Driving to Mt. Hood was easy and scenic. Having the mountain directly in front of me while I drove allowed me to stare at is as I was cruising through the central Oregon farm lands. Lots of sod growing operation in that corner of the country made for miles of lush green pastures under the shadow of Mt. Hood. I began passing many, many signs for the Republic of Jefferson. Along with these signs were billboard things with large X’s through USFS, BLM, and a number of other federal agency acronyms. I had to look up what the State of Jefferson was… Basically the redneck areas of northern California and southern Oregon want to make up their own state, separate from their more progressive halves. Apparently the movement started in 1941, and has expanded over the years to encompass a pretty large area. Seems similar to a Florida movement “FLexit” where the lower half of the peninsula wanted to break free from all the rednecks north of Orlando. Probably not gonna happen but fun to think about.
Looking on a map of the mountain, I wanted to see how far up I could drive Mt. Hood. I found the Timberline Lodge, a huge facility pretty high up Mt. Hood that had a ski resort with chair lifts. When I got there, I was struck by how large the parking lot was, and how many damn people were there! Like, hundreds of cars, and hundreds of people milling about the parking lot drinking beer, smoking weed, and sun bathing. It was cold and windy as hell. I do not understand why or how anyone here is laying out in a lawn chair with a swimsuit on in a damn parking lot. I later found out that the lift was temporarily closed due to a wind advisory. That explains all the people just hanging around. But that still didn’t explain how 200, 20 somethings could be free on a Thursday at noon to fuck around the ski slopes. Oregon is weird.
I left the slopes after some cold and windy pics, and headed to an area with a popular hiking trail, Mirror Lake. My friend that lives in Portland (Brittney) had mentioned it was a solid, easy hike. I wanted to get some steps in, but I also was wanting to kill time until the Mt. Hood brewery had happy hour. $3 drafts? In this area? Yeah I’m in… The hike ended up being a little difficult due to slabs of ice covering the trail, but overall it was as expected. I’m again struck by how many young people are out and about, not working on a normal work day. I only see this many folks on the weekends or holidays…
After the hike, I head to Mt. Hood brewing. It was quiet, and perfect to grab and beer and figure out where I’m camping for the night. It also has this fun strip of cooled metal to keep your drinks cold. I love this….. I’ve found a secluded camp spot with tons of reviews right down the road, some boondocking areas off a USFS path. I pull up, and realize it’s just what I need, even if it is a stone throw away from a Christian retreat center. I’m not the only person with this idea, as the entire road is littered with random cars pulled off to camping spots. Good thing there’s tons of room and lots of tree cover. I would have no idea anyone else was here unless I looked down the road at cars.
After a successful camping night, I get one short hike in around my camping area (Zig Zag falls), then head northwest to Brittney and Diana’s house in Portland. Brittney and I go way back… I think she’s the only friend I still have from high school? We dated back in the day, but remained friends over the years. Her and her wife moved to Portland a little over 6 years ago, and have graciously offered for me to stay at their adorable house for a few days and show me around town. Once I got into town, I had to ask about the droves of people I’ve been seeing out and about. Britt tells me that this weather is unseasonably warm and sunny, and everyone in Portland is losing their shit. Taking time off to soak in as much nice weather as possible before the clouds and rain and cold returns. This finally makes sense…
Keelo, the dog that never dies 
Front porch resident
The first day I’m in Portland, Britt takes me on the train near her house to the quintessential downtown Portland. We check out a brewery, and sports pub, then eventually land at the Portland location of 10 Barrel. The same place I visited in Bend. It was good as shit there, so I had no problem going back! The plan was to just hang out long enough for Diana to get off work, meet us out, that way we don’t have to take the train home…
The next day, we decided that Britt and Diana would be my official tour guides to the Oregon coast. I’m hesitant, as I don’t really know how different California beaches are from Oregon beaches, and I feel bad for making them go so out of their way just for me. But they insist, and I’m game for anything, so we head to “the coast.” Britt and I both grew up in Pensacola, and our version of what a “beach” is happens to be much different than what folks on the west coast call a beach. A beach day is warm, sunny, and consists of swimming or floating in the ocean while drinking a beverage. Maybe you lay out, maybe you surf a bit, but it always entails being in the water and spending a good amount of time there. Now “the coast” is a rugged place with cold ass water and sneaker waves that could come snatch your ass up at any moment and carry you away to a certain death. That… does not sound like fun at all… But it’s beautiful and stoic, and offers beautiful hikes with amazing scenery. As long as you don’t get the coast and the beach confused, you’re all good.
The coast was amazing, and full of cool shit. Vernal pools with starfish and sea anemones, offshore rocks with shorebird nesting, and tons of surfers. I did notice that the beaches out there are pretty lawless. Everywhere had dogs off leash, fires going every 100 yards or so, and just a crap load of people hopping over jagged rocks in search of cool sea creatures. Pretty hectic. I’m assuming the saving grace is that only a small amount of coastline is actually accessible to folks. So, fuck up this 5% to allow all the rest of the areas to be natural and rugged. I guess I’m ok with that.
One of the best parts of the day (besides that amazing scenery) was a restaurant with the most amazing fish and chips I’ve ever had. If you’re in the Cannon Beach area, go to Ecola Seafoods. You will not be disappointed. As the day began to wind down, we grabbed some hydro flasks with beers and headed out to watch sunset. It was way too cloudy to see anything, but, there were bunnies freaking everywhere! Like, someone had let pet bunnies go, and they somehow managed to make it in the wild and reproduce like crazy. They are freaking adorable…
Tomorrow, we’re going to watch the USA vs South Africa women’s soccer game. I’m hoping to make everyone some of my signature carnitas… But we shall see.