Central Oregon Coast in 48 Hours

After spending the month mostly by ourselves in Oregon, which was our favorite month of exploration so far, we made our way into Portland to see some friends.  I picked up my buddy CJ and we headed south down the Oregon coast for 48 hours of adventure.  Leaving Portland, we made our way down and caught sunset in Cape Kiwanda, a really beautiful spot of beach.  Lots of people on the easy side of the bay but if you take a little extra effort over the sand dune you get a beautiful stretch of rock and ocean more to yourself.  We topped if off with some dinner and drinks at the brewery right there after the sun went down.  We then headed south with the intent of seeing The Devils Punchbowl at sunrise, which was supposed to be a very rare low low tide.  

We got in late, slept in the parking lot and woke up a cool 3 hours later for a sunrise.  I had only seen Devils Punchbowl one other time at high tide from above the rock.  Walking inside this rock cathedral of sorts was so cool.  And in the dark morning light you could see things scurry all over the ground, if it wasn’t the ocean I would have assumed it was rats or something but when the light caught one you realized that there were small crabs everywhere all over the ground - pretty weird but cool at the same time.  We explored this area almost to ourselves for about 3 hours watching the tide come back in and reclaiming the small pieces of land and coast that we were inside.  

We then made our way south to catch sunset again at a place called Thors well.  I had just read a post where one photographer said it was one of the scariest and most dangerous photographs he had ever taken.  I was hoping for one of these encounters but with a record low tide all you get is a bit of splash.  Still an impressive sight to see but I hope to see it again under some harsher conditions.  Then we pointed our way back toward Portland.  We seemingly got caught in a storm with gale force winds, stopped and captured the crazy weather at the lighthouse as seagulls came by us at blazing speed in the wind.

The Oregon coast is so unique and beautiful.  At first with the gray sunsets and sunrises you can get a little bummed but the coast is so pretty even when its a little gloomy its totally worth the effort.  And when you do explore the area, don’t be afraid to stop off whenever you see something unique, you never know what you’ll find around the corner.  

California, Hwy 395

For so many years living in Los Angeles our go to getaway spots for camping, climbing and all around getaway were Joshua Tree, Big Bear, and Idyllwild.  I had left things like Lone Pine, Bishop, and even Yosemite to be more of a big mountain or big country adventure.  The last couple years we’ve made longer adventures to Bishop but its a long drive for a weekend getaway.  But as things started becoming more purposeful we began exploring the less traveled spots along the 395.  

The virtually unused Alabama Hills with some amazing sport climbing being put up.  Maybe not the next Joshua Tree but it feels awfully familiar but without the busy parking lots.  Then the small forest service roads in the Buttermilks area of Bishop.  And the $5 dirt site campgrounds near the Happy and Sad boulders.  Now I’m not a hardcore climber by any means.  Its always been a reason to get out, explore, and hang out with cool people.  Then continuing along the 395 there is the hidden caves and mine shafts that dot the hilly landscape on both sides of the road.  Exploring Death Valley and Mojave Dessert are maybe not your go to spots but seeing them in the beautiful morning light is a place like no other.  Or staying up late to see the milky way pass over head never gets old.  Then to keep going check out Mono Lake and take a left turn into Yosemite Valley.  This way in takes a little longer than maybe some of the other routes in but the views are quite amazing.

I really don’t get tired of these mountain vistas, desert sunrises, and Sierra sunsets.  It truly is God’s country.

Oregon, The Waterfall Meca

Over the course of maybe 12 days my wife and I saw 13 waterfalls, actually probably 17 waterfalls but only took pictures of 13 of them.  After a while, not sure if everyone has experienced this but like when you go to a museum and see amazing works of art, by the end of the day your just a looked fried and whether it be a Picasso or something from your little sister it all looks the same.  Now I don’t recommend checking these things out at such a pace.  Many trails I was booking past day hikers in their swim clothes looking to enjoy a dip in the river while I huffed past them with my equipment trying to get in and out too quickly.  But the ability to see some world class falls in such a short period of time is so cool.

I would recommend Abiqua Falls for sure.  I want to go back and see it in the heart of winter. Its also not too far from the Silver Falls area which was a mad house, we drove another 40 minutes and down a dirt road and found ourselves completely alone.  And you may end up pulling out a teenager who got his truck stuck in a mud puddle up to his mirrors.  

Punchbowl falls was a little busy for my taste but looked like a great swimming hole.  Ramona Falls we did as a overnight backpacking trip was really beautiful and a nice hike as well.  And last of my recommendations from our short time was the Oneonta Gorge and Falls.  Now those who know the area might think I’m crazy because its just so dang busy.  We scouted it one evening and there was probably a thousand plus people there.  It was hot and all the Portland crazies came out in all shapes and sizes, the log jam itself to get into the gorge was probably a 30 minute wait.  That’s not really our scene, so we cam back the next morning at around 7am.  We had the place to ourselves and it was awesome.  When we saw it it was pretty low water levels and I can imagine that seeing it at higher levels would be really pretty. 

SE Oregon & Hart Mountain

Stumbling across a mountain bike trail from one of my favorite Forums and weekly websites to visit, The Expedition Portal, I naturally thought, we could drive those 200+ miles in our truck.  A small GPS route and some hopes of forgotten camp sites and hot springs were all that we needed to us on the road.  From the northern California coast we set out across the state spent a few days exploring the Lava Beds NP and went across the border into SE Oregon.  Growing up in Washington we didn’t explore Oregon very much.  We spent the month of June hitting up so many amazing and beautiful places I now feel like I have barely scratched the surface.  

The SE area highway rode the border of Nevada for a bit and part of our off road trail took us into the area known as the tri-corner area as Oregon, Nevada, and California came together to form all sorts of different volcanic landscapes.  Gas stations far between (please plan accordingly) and unused land as far as the eye can see.  The Hart Mountain Reserve being most of what we encircled took us up mountains, through Canyons, fjorded small streams, and descended some scary switch back trails in the truck that once at the bottom I couldn’t believe we drove down.  But it made for some amazing quiet nights watching the stars go by all the way to some of the craziest winds I’ve ever suffered through in a tent.  It is a harsh and beautiful place.  I highly recommend it.