We camped last night in a forest service campground on the western side of the Cascade Range in Oregon. A grand night’s purchase for $6. Nestled among the tall cedar and Douglas fir trees of the temperate rain forest, the separation of camping sites, the quiet, and the stillness made for wonderful sleeping. The contrast to the last two nights can’t be starker… One night in Wally’s World (Wal-Mart) in suburban Portland (the price was right… the setting left much to be desired) and one night nestled among the mega RV’s in a city campground in Oregon City. I much prefer the Douglas fir to the RV giants for neighbors.
Yesterday we drove from Oregon City up the Clakamas River Valley into the Mt Hood National Forest and then on to the Willamette National Forest. Stopped at a pass to find out why so much congestion of cars and tents and trucks in an otherwise unpopulated area. Had an interesting conversation with the Information Officer for two major fire fighting efforts in the forests. Over 800 people on the fire lines. We had stumbled into Incident Command, with all its facilities to feed, house, transport, plan, manage, equip, and care for the fire fighters who had come from all parts of the Pacific Northwest. Just cooking enough food for all those hungry people was huge, as was safety, equipment management, finance, and information management. The effort had been underway at least two weeks and had cost over $5 million federal dollars. Interestingly the plan was to let parts of the fire go to burn the underbrush and leave the tall trees standing. That is a significant change from past practice.
Back to campgrounds – People are far more friendly when there is separation between the sites. No contact with other campers during the two nights spent in the parking lots of Wally’s World; very minimal contact in RV Parks; and pleasant conversations in forest service sites.
Woke this morning at 6:00 to see the half moon over my shoulder between the black silhouettes of fir trees. For an hour I watched the tops of grey ghost trees, wrapped in morning fog, emerge behind the black campsite ones, and then saw all ease from flat silhouettes into dark green shapes and finally distinct cathedrals of trees. I have been taken by the interface between the trees and ferns on the forest floor… green skirts that wrap the solid trunks. “Ghost trees” was the name for the shards of tree trunks left standing in the ash fields of Mt St Helens eruption… and ‘ghost trees’ is the image of the living trees in this forest – each its own beauty.
Today we continue south thru the Breitenbush River Watershed in the Willamentic National Forest and the middle Sanitern Wilderness.
We are blessed!
Yesterday we drove from Oregon City up the Clakamas River Valley into the Mt Hood National Forest and then on to the Willamette National Forest. Stopped at a pass to find out why so much congestion of cars and tents and trucks in an otherwise unpopulated area. Had an interesting conversation with the Information Officer for two major fire fighting efforts in the forests. Over 800 people on the fire lines. We had stumbled into Incident Command, with all its facilities to feed, house, transport, plan, manage, equip, and care for the fire fighters who had come from all parts of the Pacific Northwest. Just cooking enough food for all those hungry people was huge, as was safety, equipment management, finance, and information management. The effort had been underway at least two weeks and had cost over $5 million federal dollars. Interestingly the plan was to let parts of the fire go to burn the underbrush and leave the tall trees standing. That is a significant change from past practice.
Back to campgrounds – People are far more friendly when there is separation between the sites. No contact with other campers during the two nights spent in the parking lots of Wally’s World; very minimal contact in RV Parks; and pleasant conversations in forest service sites.
Woke this morning at 6:00 to see the half moon over my shoulder between the black silhouettes of fir trees. For an hour I watched the tops of grey ghost trees, wrapped in morning fog, emerge behind the black campsite ones, and then saw all ease from flat silhouettes into dark green shapes and finally distinct cathedrals of trees. I have been taken by the interface between the trees and ferns on the forest floor… green skirts that wrap the solid trunks. “Ghost trees” was the name for the shards of tree trunks left standing in the ash fields of Mt St Helens eruption… and ‘ghost trees’ is the image of the living trees in this forest – each its own beauty.
Today we continue south thru the Breitenbush River Watershed in the Willamentic National Forest and the middle Sanitern Wilderness.
We are blessed!
That half moon over your sholder was the out houst
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