Blog – Page 46 – Occidentalist

Columbia River Gorge, 2021

Post author:Occidental
Post published:2021-03-25
Post category:Hiking Truck Camping
Post comments:2 Comments

In our continued spring tour of Oregon our next stop after Sunset Bay was the Columbia River Gorge. The wildflowers are usually out early and reliably in the Gorge and this year did not disappoint. For this trip we stayed on the eastern end of the Gorge and camped out of Memaloose State Park. It served as a good base when higher elevation camps further out were still mostly under snow. From there, we were up Saturday morning and off to find a trail to hike. Our first planned stop had an already overflowing parking lot at 9 a.m. Further up the road we found space at the Lyle Cherry Orchard Trail and started up the hill. I still don’t know where the cherry orchard was, but we were successful in our search for flowers.

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Spring on the Oregon Coast, 2021

Post author:Occidental
Post published:2021-03-15
Post category:Coast Rockhounding
Post comments:0 Comments

With the start of spring on March 1st it was time to go in search of proof. It seemed like the Oregon coast was a likely destination, and we were right. Flowers were blooming once we hit the Willamette Valley, trees were in full bloom, and even the beautiful gorse plants were lit up with flowers when we reached the coast. Sure signs of spring.

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Steelheading and Stargazing

Post author:Occidental
Post published:2021-03-02
Post category:Fishing River
Post comments:0 Comments

We headed out late on a snowy Friday in February with plans for steelhead and stars, and neither was looking too promising. Brand new telescope packed away in the back seat, we hoped to get a chance to see what it would do, but obviously you need clear skies to see the stars. Steelhead, well, who knows. It is getting late in the season, but we were headed a ways up river, and I figure you can’t win if you don’t play!

We arrived after dark at Priest Hole and settled in for the night. We had the place nearly to ourselves, with one other camp a bit downriver that left the next morning. The river had a jump in flows in the day or two before our arrival, but was on the fall. Maybe a good sign? I haven’t ever targeted steelhead on the John Day and have always been on it in the warmer months chasing the plentiful bass. I think I still have a bit to figure out, but what a beautiful place to spend the weekend!

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