Couchsurfing in Oregon to National Forests of Washington and into Canada

Surprise! We are back in Canada! Last night we took the ferry from Port Angeles, WA to Victoria! So, what have we been up to for the past week? Well, let us fill you in!

We had our first couch surfing experience in Eugene, OR with a cool dude named Kaz. He made us and, a fellow surfer from Montreal, a great dinner. He took us on a walking tour of the up-and-coming area of Eugene. We went into a cool little pub with live music and tried some local suds. It was a great experience; Kaz had lots of recommendations for us to check out in Oregon. He was also a backyard gardener which we of course love. The season on the west coast has been very damp and cold so the growing season has been stunted. Despite the wet season, we have had nothing but sun. During our whole stay in the great USA we had only 3 days with rain. We seem to be delivering summer instead of chasing it ;)

We left Eugene and headed to the Willamette (pronounced Wil-AM-it) National Forest for some free camping. Here we stayed along the McKenzie river. The river was the clearest, fastest coldest river we’d ever seen. We walked out across the river on a huge fallen tree (which by Ontario standards might as well have been a bridge) but quickly decided that a fall into this river would likely be the end of one’s life.  We felt much safer back on dry land. The water was an unbelievable colour of blue and the river was radiating cold air. We found our campsite by driving down an unmarked single track dirt road until we reached a clearing with a fire pit next to the river; it was a beautiful find. We drank beers next to the river and practiced fly fishing in the fast waters. 

It was a drizzly day when we continued into the forest northeast towards the summit of the Cascade Mountains. We spotted a sign for hot springs. We followed the road to a ‘by-appointment-only resort’. We asked a lady camping along the river if there were free hot springs. She happily gave us directions, saying “listen close to Mamma Spencer, now”. We parked along the road and took a subtle trail into the forest. The trail led to a flood-ruined building next to the river. There were remanents of tile flooring and bathtub-like depressions. There were a variety of hoses coming out of a spring and filling the tubs. The water was scorching and it took a long time to adjust. The hot bath was just what we needed on the cold drizzly day. Unlike sulfur hot springs, these ones were odour free, a decided bonus. We relaxed with a Russian couple in the hot baths until a crowd of people crashed our serine party, then we headed out.

We carried on into the mountains and as we climbed in elevation the snow depth increased greatly. There was four feet of snow covering the roads where we wanted to go, so we had to turn around and detour our route. Thwarted again by snow, this time in late June. Who knew?

We drove towards Portland to avoid the snow and cut back east into the Columbia river gorge. Since we were now out of the National Forest and a few days out from our last shower we stayed at Ainsworth State Park. This was a decent park, at $20 for a full hook-up we were sold. We charged everything that charges, filled our water jug and each had 2 free hot showers. It was a good use of $20 we think. Although we are usually pretty regimented in our meal times, this night we didn’t eat dinner until 10pm. We spent the night chatting with a mid-aged couple from Colorado. They were big talkers and to be quite frank, we were both thankful to be able to talk with someone other than our spouse. After 6 weeks of 24/7 presence, new people are welcome for conversation. They shared some beer with us and we shared some snacks with them. It was a fun night by lantern light.

On the 20^th we did a hike up to the 6^th tallest falls in the US. Multnomah Falls were pretty, we walked the 11 switchbacks to the top.

As we noted in our previous posting, many of our days begin with an Aurora paw to the face. Unfortunately on the 21^st she made direct contact with a left hook to Brad’s open eye. Luckily the eyeball wasn’t cut and no permanent damage is evident. Brad spent the day in the passenger seat  involuntarily ‘crying’ and Aurora was less than apologetic.

Before crossing the border into Washington we stopped at a U-pick strawberry farm to celebrate summer solstice. We had a fest of fresh fruits and veggies for dinner (along with a couple bottles of wine). 

Riding on the running boards searching for salmonberries.

Salmon Berry Jam: While trying to find a free place to camp in  a National Forest in Washington, we came across an extensive patch of salmonberries (a relative to the raspberry) along the sides of an old logging road. While Brad drove, I rode on the outside of the truck standing on the running boards hopping on and off to collect the ripe berries. It was a hoot. We both agree that if Mom (Eva) was with us she would be riding on the driver side of the truck, likely with a berry basket around her waist fashioned from an old rice-milk jug and some rope. (Wish you could have been there, Mom!) We made the jam that night with the berries we collected along with some apple for natural pectin and about a cup of sugar. It's delish!

Next we were up in the Olympic Peninsula of Washington state. We stayed in a campground along Quinault Lake surrounded by beautiful rainforest. On the morning of the 23^rd we did a great hike through some lovely forests and along the lake. It was a great way to start the day. We broke camp around 1 and headed north into the Olympic National Forest where we were tipped off to an amazing campsite along the river. We were at the confluence of two rivers, names unknown, where we spent the next day and a half. The waters were so pristine. Our campsite was surrounded by rainforest sized ferns, tall trees and lots of bright green moss. It was a sight! Brad practiced his fly-fishing. His roll-cast and false casting are coming along swimmingly (alas, no fish for dinner).

Another beauty (&free) campsite

Our second day at this site was on again, off again rain. After about 16 hours of this we figured that we weren’t going to get the sunny day we were hoping for. And once the tarp became saturated with water, it stopped working as a tarp and started acting more like a sieve. 

Aurora wasn't a fan of all the rain. She would pout beside the truck to be let in! What a suck!

Due to the heavy rains, we made lunch and headed for Port Angeles.  Although it wasn’t our plan, we boarded the 5:30pm ferry to Victoria and said a hasty ‘goodbye’ to the States. (We rushed our last hour in this fair country by booking it to the grocery store to buy 4 packs of our new favourite brand of cookies and stock up on salsa verde and cheap American Beer.) 

We arrived in Victoria around 7pm with 3+hours of sunlight left in the day. We scouted a place to boondock for the night and drove back downtown to explore this beautiful city. 

Now we are off to visit friends and family in our new home province!

Peas and Love