October travels

[hoyden]

craig333 I like that! I once knew a traveling homebody. There is a difference. There's a restlessness in the wanderer's heart that doesn't exist in the homebody. One can travel and adventure and still be a homebody.
It's the internal pull to have a base as a homebody, or be restless as a wanderer.

 

[hoyden]

highz - I once read that one of the problems "today" (started in the '60s? earlier?) is that instead of staying home and helping with the family business or taking care of the farm, young people want to roam and explore. This has created a dearth of settled community in the way that was more formerly known - dinner parties, weeknights out with friends, family dinners... and has more people working to create community instead of just growing up with it around. Kind of like when suburbs or cities lost sidewalks and/or front porches. There's a casual neighborly way in which we relate to each other when walking down a sidewalk, or sitting on the front porch after dinner.

 

[hoyden]

Oct 8 : Yachats, Oregon

My drive up the coast from the Oregon Dunes was mystical. I got up pre-sunrise, as usual, and the light was just peeking out when I got going.

Visiting old friends but one of their dogs doesn’t get along with Argos, so we are driveway campering. One thing about the coast is that it’s damp. Wet and dirty -which means the camper is constantly damp and dirty.

I know not to go to close to the edge, but I didn’t know the waves are called “sneaker waves” that leap up onto the rocks potentially to pull a person back into the icy waters. It makes the ocean sound devious

Did you know that this is something of which to be careful? Perhaps I have misplaced all of my bear fears!

We drove up to Cape Perpetua and took a little walk at the top near sunset time.

It's been really wonderful reconnecting with my old friend. We met in Seattle in 1993, lost touch for many years, got back in touch via Facebook and he and his family have visited me a few times over the past years. It was my turn!

Seeing how youthful friends grow and change, and how their lives change, and meeting the people they have around them currently is always fascinating to me. I have re-met past young-acquaintances and found them to have become interesting and intelligent adults. My Yachats friend has built a comfortable life for himself - and now wife and son - over the intervening years and I am so happy for him.

 

[hoyden]

Oct 9 : Still Yachats

My friend’s next door neighbor (now deceased) bought his property in order to preserve the forest there. He created an actual Preserve, and it’s phenomenal. When walking the well-kept paths, I feel like I’m in a fairy tale complete with trolls and fairies and wood nymphs. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera in the truck during our walk, so all I had was my cell phone. I was not able to do justice to this magical place.

This was actually at a huge 50 acre+ property a mile or so inland that was for sale. As usual, I had fantasies about living there. Perhaps have a goat farm and tiny house community.

We visited some friends who had some sage advice on their back porch

See! Fairyland with Ginormous mushrooms! I expected to see a hookah-smoking caterpillar.

The local farmer’s market had cherry tomatoes I couldn’t resist

Pugsly keeps pooping in the camper around 1-2am.
I am very worried about her.

I cut up one of my large USGS maps, lined the camper floor, and spent the next four nights with Pugsly sleeping on the floor, and me on the narrow and short fold-out bed closer to her. I can’t do this for three more weeks. We’ll have to find a vet if this keeps up.

She only had the intestinal issues while in Yachats, so I conclude that she is not fond of being constantly cold and damp.

I left the morning of Oct 10. On my way out, I walked down to the ocean and spent some time feeling the power of this mysterious body of water.

The tide was coming in, and was completely mesmerizing. The presence of the ocean is overwhelming. I picture myself on a small boat, without view of land, and immediately feel terrified. This little poem came to mind.

The ocean doesn’t care about your children.
The ocean doesn’t care if the pillow cases match the duvet.
The ocean doesn’t care about your political leanings.
The ocean doesn’t care about your new wide-angle lens.
The ocean doesn’t care about the tides or the moon or about its own salinity.
The ocean is sound and fury signifying nothing.
The ocean doesn’t care.

 

[hoyden]

Oct 10 : Crater Lake Area

On advice from a fellow camperer, I took small highway 138 East from the coast through Oregon. It was drizzy most of the drive, but well worth the time. The road meandered next to a river with hills on either side, and damp fall colors all around.

We went to Crater Lake today. It’s huge, and lovely, but it was a chilly and windy late afternoon by the time we arrived so I didn’t want to linger.

We camped at a “Snow Park” - a sanctioned dispersed campground called “Annie Creek”.

There was a couple in a Sportsmobile across the way, and young couple in a converted handicap van next to the pretty flowing stream deeper in the woods from where I was camped. We all chatted some, but mostly kept to ourselves. The young couple was taking four months to travel. They obviously didn't have much for funding - their van was minimal. Their pride was the Engels refrigerator behind the driver seat. It is good to have a reminder that one doesn't need a fancy camper or a ton of money to enjoy living on the road. It was nice having these neighbors.

 

[takesiteasy]

Interesting discussion in the context of a trip report! Maybe, as highz suggests, wandering and being "tethered" are aspects of being human, and we each get a measure of both to varying degrees as part of our particular DNA. I for one would fall in the "tethered" category, living now within a mile of where I grew up (my kids, of course, both left home for the west, haha). But I still get the wandering impulse and love to take off for points unknown. Of course, living in community, wherever one finds it, is one of the defining characteristics of humanity.

I'm also reminded of Wallace Stegner's "boomers and stickers" typology. While not totally on point with this thread, Wendell Berry's (another favorite writer) discussion of it in his Jefferson Lecture of 2012 takes the discussion in the direction of economics and is a worthwhile read. https://www.neh.gov/about/awards/jefferson-lecture/wendell-e-berry-lecture

 

[hoyden]

I think about this "tethered" idea often and the concept of "home". I still call the place I (mostly) grew up "home" but I wonder what is the nature of that title for me. Is it because my mom is still there? The small town has changed considerably, but I still have a number of old friends there. Would that location still be "home" if my mom wasn't there now? How often would I visit? I think my heart will always consider that place home - not the town, but the Shawnee National Forest, Giant City Park, and my friends and chosen family that are still there. But if I had no friends and family there at all? It would be home simply in memory, but not as present tense.

We are indeed communal creatures, and I definitely need people. Some friends have suggested that if I were full-time on the road that I would be terribly lonely. But this past month I found that I had more real connections than in my past two years where I currently live. That is a sobering thought. It's time to leave. Time for change.

That piece by Wendell Berry is wonderful. I do think that "affection" is a valid reason for choice. And that this piece does fit in with the discussion. I wrote about identity and how I seem to have switched at some point from my identity being what I loved ("I travel" "I explore" "I'm a motorcyclist" "I take road trips" - to being what I work "I work in IT" "I'm a massage therapist" "I sell motorcycles"
"Affection" is the former, and "boomer" is the latter.

My (maternal) grandmother grew up in Hyde Park (near Chicago) but she and grandpa moved to Southern Illinois in the '40s. (I think that is correct. She and grandpa traveled all over the U.S. in their camper, but she always contended that Southern Illinois was the prettiest place in the U.S. Like Berry's grandfather, “Well, sir, I’ve looked with all the eyes I’ve got, and I wouldn’t trade the field behind my barn for every inch I’ve seen.”

 

[hoyden]

Oct 11 : Hart Mountain

It’s easy to lose track of the day of the week out here. I wish I could lose track altogether.

I stopped at a little Sharky’s Shack in Klamath Falls, OR. Found it on Yelp as I passed through and decided to stop for a sandwich. I chatted with the woman behind the counter who turned out to be the owner. I don’t remember what all we talked about, but it was a good laughter-filled brief discussion while she made my sandwich. If you go through Klamath Falls, go have lunch here. Good people, good food!

I am in love with Hart mountain and its sparseness. I adore the lush green of the West/NW, but when I first saw these high desert plains, my heart sang. Then again, I did cry when visiting the mighty ocean, so there is that. There is a similarity to the two : vast, open, beautiful, sparse on the surface from afar but rich of life when knowledgable.

It is amazing what sunshine does to my mood. As beautiful as the coast was, the grey and damp was already getting to me after only a couple of days. I am glad I took forum folks advice – the 138 from Oregon almost coast traveling east was astonishingly beautiful.

There is a hot springs up here, part of the reason I made this trek. There are actually two springs, but I only made it to the main one. It was somewhat slimy on the sides, but still a good soak.

I met an Abbey-ish Ranger today. He’s the head guy at Hart Mountain. He’s been working for the Forest Service his whole adult life. Said he didn’t want his labor to make money for someone else and that’s why he does this work. We talked until I realized the sun was slowly disappearing and I had yet to find a campering spot for the night. I found a small grove of Fall-yellowed Aspens to park near.

Steinbeck, “One goes, not so much to see but to tell afterward.” He must have had a premonition about social media.

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

I thought you would enjoy talking to Jeff as well as seeing Hart Mountain. It's a great place!

 

[hoyden]

Oct 12 : Steens Loop

It seems I disliked this drive so much that I failed to write about it. I wanted to find the Alvord Hot Springs, but the Steens Loop drive took so long that by the time I was done, I just wanted to get out of the area and make some tracks. I was headed to visit a dear friend in Logan, Utah and was feeling my month slip by too quickly.

I stopped in Frenchglen for some expensive gas and to encounter the surliest person I met on the trip behind the payment desk.

Argos and Pugsly at the top of Steens. I don't think they liked the drive either. Unfortunately, most of the photos I took up there are very flat. It's hard to get the depth of the view with a little point and shoot camera.

The views were pretty cool tho.

It doesn't look treacherous, but this is where the sheer terror of driving down that almost 10,000 foot slope began.

I was so scared of falling off the side of the mountain, that I completely forgot my low-gear training and used too much brake on the way down. Oops.

Eep.

My bravery was rewarded by getting to see a bunch of horses after the descent.

I pushed on to Winnemucca, NV and while gassing up around 6:00pm with nowhere known to set up camp, I realized that I wasn't terribly concerned. Worse comes to worst, I can just not pop-up, move my kitchen stuff to the truck, and me n' dogs stealth camp in a parking lot somewhere. I have my house on my back and can rest anywhere.

This feeling was a big difference from how I'd felt when I started this trek. I made sure I had camping locations scouted and GPS coordinates listed in my little book. It was freeing to not worry and know that I was okay, even if I didn't find a real place to camp.

I consulted freecampsites.net and found the Water Canyon Recreation Area which happened to be about 1.5 miles from the gas station. There are little campsites set up every so often on into the canyon. I was tired and didn't much feel like exploring, so I took one of the closer ones and got a spectacular view.

Argos was glad to settle down for the night.

Pugsly wanted me to settle in so that she could cuddle with me

and we watched the sunset.
and we were content.

 

[hoyden]

I thought you would enjoy talking to Jeff as well as seeing Hart Mountain. It's a great place!

Hi! Jeff was great! We could have chatted into the night, but I had to get set up and he had to get back to work.
Oh, Hart Mountain is definitely special! Thanks for the pointers!

 

[ski3pin]

"and we watched the sunset, and we were content."

Contentment......a peaceful calming.......a connection with our earth, a worthy search.

hoyden, you have all of us in your back seat.

 

[hoyden]

Thanks, ski3pin!

Oct 13, 14 : Logan, UT

I spent two days in Logan with my friend, but only got one photo - a painting she has in her apartment.
Pugsly approved.

Since she was working the day I arrived, the dogs and I took over the guest room and I got a good shower.
There is definitely something to be said for modern plumbing.

We went out to eat a bunch, and this was outside our breakfast place

but the best and most unexpected was an Indian restaurant attached to a gas station.
It was YUM!

We took a drive up to Bear Lake, which was large, borders both Nevada and Idaho, and it really pretty.

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

"I stopped in Frenchglen for some expensive gas and to encounter the surliest person I met on the trip..."

Be thankful you found her in a good mood! M is a bit of a legend to say the least, but believe it or not... she has mellowed. About 30 years ago I asked the wrong question and thought I was going to be tarred and feathered.

 

[hoyden]

"I stopped in Frenchglen for some expensive gas and to encounter the surliest person I met on the trip..."

Be thankful you found her in a good mood! M is a bit of a legend to say the least, but believe it or not... she has mellowed. About 30 years ago I asked the wrong question and thought I was going to be tarred and feathered.

Holy cow. That's funny!
but musta been her daughter then. This was a younger woman!

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Its probably her grand daughter. M is about 70+ now.

It appears the Apple didn't fall far from the tree. Sometime over a campfire I'll regale you with a few stories about the mercantile.

 

[hoyden]

<snip> Sometime over a campfire I'll regale you with a few stories about the mercantile.

I can't wait!!!

 

[hoyden]

Oct 16 : Mystic Hot Springs

Practically every place I visit I want to stay. I’m at Mystic Hot Springs now, trying not to worry about my camper batteries, thinking about sheep-farming, hippie living, life on the road, vanlife, city benefits, middle of nowhere tiny house on a few acres….

One of the really nice things about being on the road is that if you have a bad day one day the next day is completely and totally different. As well, like yesterday when I drove far too long and had a rather discouraging day, I had no plan for place to sleep but I didn't freak out and found a wonderful spot outside Winnemucca, Nevada. It was the lack of tension that enabled me to do that. I had decided that since I have my house on my back even if I sleep in a parking lot somewhere and get crap sleep, the next day will be totally different so it doesn't really matter.

Mystic Hot Springs is on the edge of Monroe, Utah. Upon approach, I pass what looks like a hippie bus graveyard and a trailer park. The signs for the Springs look hand-painted, which are quite nice, but the funky approach isn't confidence inspiring.

I pull into the parking area and follow a sign pointing to the office.

It's $15 for use of the Springs and $15 for camping, which includes power hookup if I want, access to bathrooms and showers. Sounds good. I pay and get set up, with a nice little park on one side, and the hippie bus graveyard on the other. On second thought, the busses might be residences. They might not drive anywhere, but cool looking places to stay

When I walk up to the springs, I'm greeted by a welcoming committee.
I keep my distance.

There are two larger "group" tubs on the lower area, the smaller of the two (on the left, closer to the building) is the warmer and where I ended up spending most of my time.

A short walk up some steps reveals three bath tubs with view out over the property and out a ways.

Made for a nice sunset view. These tubs were more like bath-temperature, but still quite relaxing.

Up a little higher are two more bathtubs. I didn't get to try those because they were occupied when I was there.

I settled in, and soaked up some relaxation.

I spent most of the evening in the tubs, and ended up in the larger one down below watching the sky darken. That night a wind storm whipped up, and from inside the camper it seemed like all hell had broken loose outside. I thought I heard the wind trying to lift my solar panel, but it could also have been my abundant imagination.

The next morning proved that no destruction had happened.
I packed up and motored on.

 

[hoyden]

Oct 17 : Cathedral Valley Campground

There is no place like home. Spent some time today on my rough back road drive towards Cathedral Valley Campground wondering if I would have made better use of this time if I had gone back home instead. I would have had community and some downtime to work out the “perspective” part of this time off.

Then I realized that if I had, I’d have spent a goodly amount of time wishing I’d gone on an adventure instead, logicing that an adventure would give me perspective on full-timing and real out of my head time. I felt like Dorothy all of a sudden – “there’s no place like home” and perhaps I had to go on this adventure to find out what is important to me: community and a home base.

It's not my home-town that I want, but Home: Community. Location.

I found out later that there are three ways to access the campground. All are 4x4 recommended, high clearance vehicle required. My route was no exception. The more common route, it seems, is to cross a wash which two days later was impassable. If you cross the Cathedral Valley to come in, you face a rocky, twisty, steep uphill. The way I came in wasn't too bad, until closer to the campground. Then it got pretty rocky. Glad I have my very capable Tacoma!

Obviously nice road here, but the photo doesn't capture how steep this is!

I saw a couple of these dwellings, but I'm not sure what they are. For hunters?

When I drove into the campground I spotted another FWC! Of course, I drove up to say hello.
Turns out, they are on the Wander the West forum too!
Hi, Wallowas! :-D

I parked two spots over from them in the small barebones campground, and we did a bit of exploring down to the overlook and had some wonderful chats that evening. Just when I start to get despondent about life on the road, I meet amazing people out there!

Pugsly used to be so photogenic. You can see the other FWC camper there in the background!

Argos and I went exploring and found the cliff edge for some amazing views of Cathedral Valley

Pretty spot to camp for the night.

The dogs were not cooperating for picture-taking. Apparently, something elsewhere was far more interesting.

The view was amazing.

The rocky outcroppings out there looked rather flat when I first arrived. As the sun lowered, the shadows caught up, and gave definition to these structures. Lighting has such an amazing effect on view, perspective, appearance.

I got these photos with my little Lumix point and shoot! Not too shabby!

The dogs weren't terribly impressed, but they did seem to like it up there.

We had some nice evening clouds.

and a lovely sunrise the next morning.

 

[Stalking Light]

Very cool. I love Cathedral Valley, I have only gone in across the river and from the highway through the lower valley. Sounds (and looks) like you had a great journey.