travel ideas in the PNW, anyone local?

Chris Finch

Chris Finch

Well-known member
our vacation is a little less than a month away.

we are flying into portland then we will drive down the coast possibly to the red woods in CA. I'm hoping to hook up with a local spearo to get a dive or two in (Nikki just got her spear gear so now we can both enjoy the underwater scenery). we also found a nice house outside of Coquille so we will meet up with a realtor to check that out too. the rogue brewery is out there somewhere too.

i was wondering if there is anything we should stop to check out?

If anyone local wants to grab a beer let me know, we can make a detour.
 
I got out to Portland once back in the late 90's, met up with a couple of guys who are no longer regulars on the DHBP (Pete Markantas (sp?). & sorry to say, cant remember the other guy's name).
Downtown Portland is great, lots of cool restaurants, the river walk park, brew pubs, etc... Great view of Mt Hood on a clear day.
We took a ride to one of the refuges to the east, easy driving distance, lots of birds and beautiful scenery. Worth the drive.
 
Some neat spots in so. Or are Crater lake, the Rogue river gorge by prospect is interesting.

There is a place over by the legendary Klamath lake where you can find mares eggs.

The Coquille river area used
to have solid runs of steelhead.

Unfortunately, the 1980s timber crash destroyed the industry, and they started having a lot of methamphetamine issues ever since.


The oregon caves are pretty popular, and a drive to the top of my Ashland is Awesome. You could park at the ski lodge !nd hike /o the top and then come down the ski hill back to the lodge. It takes about 3 hours and gives you a commanding view of my Shasta to the south and my mcgloughlin and the whole area.


I grew up here.


We have a thriving brewery and winery climate, and lots of weed farms too.

Look out for deer and turkeys and cougar and mountain quail.

We even have wolves in the Grizzley peak area up dead Indian rd out of ashland.


If you are going to be near Ashland before Sept 2 let me know.
 
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If you go all the way into CA, when you head back north take US199 up the Smith River to Cave Junction, OR. Very scenic with the big trees and river pools.

Coastal OR has hundreds of small state parks. Most are beach access and day parking only. Most are scenic.

My OR list of things to experience some day are:
Smith Rock State Park
Tamolitch blue pool on the McKenzie River near Eugene
Abiqua falls near Salem, and Toketee Falls near Roseburg
 
Chris

When I'm down on the Oregon coast, a must stop for me is Cape Kiwanda/Pacific City. It's home to a dory fleet that launches and recovers in the surf. They will go out in less than ideal conditions and put on quite a show.

There are charters available for salmon and bottom fish trips too. Search U Tube and check out the vids.

Gibbs
 
Todd unfortunately we will be out there a little later. I don't think we will have to much time to get too inland this trip, but if We do I would love to do that hike

I have heard there are drug problems there, just another reason for a couple German shepherds in addition to a duck dog.

I also heard that the south slough on coos can be little territorial.

Your brewery scene is unreal out there.

I still want to tag along with you on one of your dirt bike rides.
 
Carl I'm not a city person. All I really want to do in Portland is go to voodoo donuts.

I saw it on a food tv show and have been craving a maple bacon donut from them ever since.
 
Ray the amount of small parks that are at the shore is one of the reasons I liked Oregon over Washington. There are way more shore access spots for diving. Life is much easier and cheaper when no boat is needed. Also marine regulations are way more lax.
 
Gary we are going to stop at pacific city to take a beach walk so Nikki can Look for glass floats from Japan.

If I remember correctly September is when crabbing starts heating up. After eating dungeness, blue crab is both lacking in flavor and a waste of time to pick.

I don't know if I will have time for a charterthis trip but a bucket list charter for me is going out for humbolt squid. 70lb crab stuffed squid sounds amazing to me!
 
Same here, but if you were gonna be stuck in a city for a day or two, that would be one city i would pick!
 
Chris,
check out the Grove of the Titans, near Crescent City if you are going for red woods. Finding them is half the fun.
RD
 
Chris, if your travels take you to Astoria (at the terminus of the Columbia river) you have got to check out the Maritime museum. Really a great stop. Has all kinds of Boat stuff and interesting exhibits about the lower river.

Some duck related stuff, and lots of fishing stuff too.

The last 40 miles or so of the Columbia are the West Coast's version of Chesapeake bay.



It is a great drive down hwy 1 along the coastline, although, the traffic can be pretty slow on the weekends.


If you do happen down hwy 1 along the marge of the coast, there is a place called Bayocean spit. A good Hike (albeit flat) that takes you along the bay on the Garabaldi side and along the ocean on a long walk back. If you decide to go there, drive to the gate at the end of bayocean spit, and park. Then walk due west until you reach the pacific, then go north until you hit the Jetty at the bay. Lots of shorebirds, and Brant in the early winter. Scoters and other neat birds too.


It is right near the town of Tillamook, has the legenday Tillamook Cheese factory and it is right along the hwy. They have a great self guided tour where you can see the cheese people doing their work. Best of all, they have dozens of ice cream flavors and BIG scoops to try. They also have killer beef jerkey and pepperoni (the end of the road for the milkers I suppose).


It brings back memories.


I once ate about a pound of cheese curds and a t least a pound of beef jerky from there at the beach.
Watched the dogs do heroic splashdowns and fetch dummies for the afternoon at bayocean spit.


I brought a couple of quarts of beer with me in case I got thirsty (and I did.)


After the dogs got tired out, we found a shady spot to sleep. I think we slept for about 8 hours.


Something happened during that 8 hours in my gut.


I woke up feeling full and vigorous.


While I was asleep. My hounds dispatched the remaining bag of beef jerky and cheese curds.



Had to leave the windows down the whole ride home.
 
I have heard it's a funky city, Seattle was cool. The market was awesome and wicked expensive but it was well worth the time I spent there.

I've seen a few episodes of portlandia, I wonder if it is an accurate depiction? Lol
 
Todd we spent some time in Astoria last year for our honeymoon. The maritime looked cool but we didn't stop. We ate at the rogue ale house out on the pier. That was really cool.

We also did that hike you mentioned that was unbelievable!

The mouth of the big C blew my mind, I saw more birds there in June than I do the entire season in CT. The bridge to Astoria was awesome too. I was looking at a little farm in Cathlemet but to do any spear fishing it would be a long drive. It would be unreal for ducking though.

We stopped in garibaldi last time too. We drove by the cheese factory too. We ate at the oyster house. It was unreal so cheap for so many oysters. I think on Wednesday night it's all you can eat grilled, fried, steamed oysters for 12$!

I can only imagine the smell with a couple of pups that downed some curds, lol

I was just talking about poutin the other day.....
 
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