Adventure: Into the Wilderness

After a long first week of classes for my roommates we wanted to do something that got our minds off of class and work for me. Friday was Chantel’s birthday so we let her decide what the weekend would look like.

Camping in Ecola State Park

Camping. This is what Chantel elected to do. She has containers of her camping gear in the garage and has camped literally around the world. So she found a hiker’s camp in the forest at Ecola that was free, besides the camp parking fee. Friday after work and classes we packed up her jeep and off we went.

As we left it was sunny and nice and we were hopeful, however after we crossed the coastal range fog and clouds rolled in killing our chance of watching the sun set over the ocean! But we still held high spirits, after a short stop in Cannon Beach we decided to just go to the camp area and hang out. By the time we made it to the park and got our parking passes it was starting to get dark and we still had to hike a mile to the camp area. We quickly gathered the essentials needed at the campsite and started our hike up.

Now this up was actually kind of miserable and hysterical. We had limited light, but that wasn’t the problem. After walking for about 10 minutes it started to rain and the hill seemed to get steeper and not to mention we had no idea how far we had gone. But we trudged on. Eventually, we found the camp area because others who had made it up there in light had a fire going and had claimed all the bunks that were available. So we had to scope out a flat place to put up the tent, a tent for 2 people. Meaning someone had to sleep outside, Chantel was excited for this until about 2 a.m. when the rain became harder and into her face.

We all survived the night, but the next morning none of us were well rested, but we got to enjoy our breakfast overlooking the ocean and listening to sea lions. Then it we took a different trail along the ocean and back to the beach, where we enjoyed sitting on a overlook and watching the early morning surfers. After sitting for a while we climbed through the rocks on the beach to get a tide pool and found crabs and starfish and over sea creatures.

Tourist Towns

Our plan to hike a mountain fell through after our long hike in the dark and rain the day before. But we decided to hit up the tourist towns along Highway 101. First it was Seaside, we found the beach and walked barefoot enjoying the warmth of the sand. Then we made a pit stop that ended up being much longer than planned at an outlet mall in Seaside, but I must say we walked away with amazing deals!

After the long pit stop we cancelled the continuance north on 101, due exhaustion starting to set in. We drove south on 101 and enjoyed random overlooks into the ocean and stopped once because we spotted blackberries in the ditch. When we finally made it to Tillamook, I had to sit in McDonalds because it was the only source of wireless internet and write a game story while Chantel and Natalie toured the Tillamook cheese factory. When I finished I joined them at the factory for cheese samples and dinner. After dinner we had to have Tillamook ice cream and let me say it was amazing. My sticky bun ice cream tasted like a fresh sticky bun. After all that we felt overly full and incredibly tired. Bed time came about 10 for me, because I had to be at a game on Sunday morning…

Hiking to Elowah Falls
Labor Day I went hiking with my uncle Doug. He had taken my parents when they were out here, but I sadly missed it because I had to work. On our drive to Columbia gorge we took a scenic byway instead of the interstate. I love just driving through the tunnels of trees, it’s beautiful. We stopped at Crown Point overlook into the Columbia River Gorge and then continued on. As we drove there are many places to pull off and hike and many different waterfalls you can see on these hikes. We even passed right next Multnomah Falls, which was incredibly busy. So that will have to be for a different day. When we finally made it we hiked to Elowah falls and then just sat and enjoyed the calmness of the area.

After our hike we headed to over the Bridge of the Gods to Washington, where we went to Skamania Lodge. The Lodge is back off the main route and surrounded by trees and has an amazing view into the gorge. It has a patio and chairs that are set-up just to let you sit, so we did for a while before having dinner on the patio.