Callout to Oregonians: Where's your secret hike along the north coast?

Always wanted to check out the salmonberry river trail.

My son and I went up into the Coast Range today.   We turned off Hwy 26 in the Clatsop State Forest, but unless you are there for target practice like we were, it is not where you want to be. Like the freeking Fourth of July.

We then headed to Cannon Beach (ghost town) and down 101 to Manzanita and all the beaches and trailheads were closed off.  Oswald West parking lot was blocked with concrete barriers.   We then headed down to Tillamook and back to town on Route 6.   We stopped for a picnic at a wayside in the Tillamook State Forest and it looked like there were trailheads still open along Route 6.  I would recomend heading that way.

Problem is all employees of state / fed offices are at home, so nobody's available to do maintainance (honey take out the trash).  Everything around Corvallis is closed (Mary's Peak, McDonald Forest, Finley, etc).  I'd let you go to the mining claim above Cottage Grove but it's at 5,200 feet, and buried in snow (Virgin forest on it though).  Wonder how close you could get to valley of the giants on the Siletz River...  haven't been up there for decades, cool old growth...   

https://www.oregonhikers.org/field_guide/Valley_of_the_Giants_Loop_Hike

I have nothing to offer in the way of hikes, have a great day tomorrow!

Have a great hike!

Some great pics, thanks for sharing, and glad you had a great time...  can't go wrong w/ old growth!!!  Once the snows melt, I have a 20 acre mining claim at 5,200' up in the Bohemia mining district near Cottage Growth, old growth, camping spots, some hiking trails / springs....   you're welcome to enjoy 

Nature rocks.  Sounds like a really good day trip, the sobering ending notwithstanding.  

I currently have over 30,  The Montana claim would be fun for a jam!  

Thanks all for bringing back fond memories of happy times goofing around the OR forests.  Great area for the Hiking.  Used to have buddies that lived on the Siletz.  There was even a Siletz Brewing Company (it wasn't very big).

Anyway while you're near a clearcut,  there's Morels this time of year (if you like that sort of thing).  Look near the burn piles :)

>>>>There was even a Siletz Brewing Company 

I stopped by that place once.  Way out in the sticks and long before there was a brewery on every block.  They had a fir ale made with fir tips.  Very woodsy flavor.

I have never been to the VOG.   Will have to check that out soon.   Is there dispersed camping out that way?

^Where in Montana? 

Just north of Dillon on Camp Creek, roughly 9 miles up.  You know you're there when the road crosses the creek, that's mid claim, but we often camp just past there at "Docs Cabin."   The claim runs along the creek for roughly 1,500 feet, with roughly 300' on the north side of the creek, and 200' on the south side.  It's a lode claim (hard rock), almost all the abundant quartz on the claim carries gold, and the creek is loaded with garnets.  

Here's looking down on it from a neighboring mine;  

Valley of Giants looks awesome! Thanks for posting the info and the pics, I will need to check this hike out sometime soon. How long was the drive from Portland?

My deceased boss had taken his family to the valley of the giants when it was a logging town.  He figured it was educational for the kids, so he kept them out of school for the day.  He had long hair, as did his kids.   He told me, all the townspeople came outside to look at the hippies, & the barber offered services openly.   

After it closed, when I explored the area in the early 90's, there was a sign in the pond I was looking for, (Valsetz lake), which read "Old Valsetz lake bed contains hidden voids, unstable soils, and underground spontaneous combusion fires."  

I quoted it because I wrote it in my gazeteer, and crossed the lake off my "where to swim" list.....They had left a lot of logging debris/products behind, which I suspect had something to do with it

Too busy on the coast is too bad....the Harts cove hike is a nice one.  Often, the trail they want you on from Cascade head is closed in the winter...but there is a north entrance....

Here's another 2 local spots in the coast range for your consideration; 

Drift Creek Wilderness

https://www.oregonhikers.org/field_guide/Drift_Creek_North_Hike

Cummins Creek Wilderness

https://www.oregonhikers.org/field_guide/Cummins_Creek_Loop_Hike

Oregon Hot Springs  

https://soakoregon.com

Oregon Waterfalls 

https://www.oregonwaterfalls.net

The Row River Trail out of Cottage Grove is another cool spot to check out, an old railroad up to the mines is now a bike / hiking path.  Several covered bridges in the area, and other trails that come off of it.  

https://www.blm.gov/visit/row-river-trail

Oneonta Gorge is another cool place to check out!  It's right next to Multnomath Falls, but seems to get missed by the masses!  

https://www.oregon.com/recreation/oneonta-gorge

^^^^ but seems to get missed by the masses

The couple times I have been to Oneonta Gorge, there were plenty of people.  I don't know when that picture was taken, but the photographer sure got there at just the right time.   Like other areas in the Gorge, its closed now.

Still nothing like the cluster fuck of Multnomah Falls.  I was at Multnomah Falls once and there was a Mexican standoff between two RVs on the little bridge on historic Hwy 30 just west of the parking area.  The RVs were going in opposite directions and couldn't pass each other on the narrow bridge.   The problem was that there was so much traffic backed up behind each RV that they couldn't back up either.  They were stuck that way for about an hour.    

Very Cool! 

Unrelated, except to Oregonia, here's a decent list of Oregon farms that sell to the public, from "you pick", produce, fruit, to meats (scroll to the bottom to navigate)

https://oregonfb.org/oregonsbounty/

Not the North Coast, but just got back from a three-night camping trip with my son up in the remote Wallowa Mountains in the extreme northeast corner of the state.  I had never been there and was surprised how green everything was.  I guess I was expecting something like the high desert of central and southeast Oregon, but this area reminded me of the Rocky Mountains.

Wallowa Lake:

Wallowa Mountains:

Hells Canyon (the deepest in the US) is on my bucket list and tried to make it there by driving east into the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area from the small town of Imnaha (the easternmost town in Oregon).   The road was steep and narrow and became snowed in and impassable about 10 miles from Hells Canyon.  It was ok, because we found a great campsite nearby on Grizzly Ridge overlooking another canyon.  View from the campsite:

Wallowas are gorgeous, the Oregon Alps, especially when viewed from the South.  We've climbed to the top of Eagle Cap before, lots of granite everywhere (found some cool green crystals never got identified).  Also been down in Hells Canyon, from the Idaho side.  Took a deer trail down into the depths, found a cool camping spot.  Would swim into the river,  race downstream, then catch the eddy that would take us back to the campsite...  good times!  The cornocopia mine on the south side was the richest in Oregon (over a million ounces of gold).  Mudstone adjacent to that large pluton, perfect conditions for gold (acidic water logged granite when molten, adjecent to basic carboniferous rock).  John Fogerty use to have a place in Halfway(think that's correct), he blended right in w/ the locals.  Our mining cabin in SW OR is right next to where Steve Miller had his studio, he did NOT blend in well with the natives, LOL.   

One hike I'm looking forward to later in the summer, is hiking up to Parish Lake to collect native Sundew seeds.  As a long time fan of growing carnivorous plants, be fun to see if I can breed some native species, especially now that i've got some local nurseries willing to buy them.  All those years hiking up in the Cascades, and I didn't know until recently that the red glow on the ground at Jefferson Park were all sundews!  With all the freaking mosquitos up there, makes sense, lol....

You can get a free permit at the Sweet Home ranger station, the lake is just farther up, sort of between Detroit / Greenpeter / Marion lakes.  

Might be a fun group activity for us local Zoners to share...   

Sundews???

yep, sundews!

photos take by my buddy Isaiah 

"... I caught wild ginger and salmonberries in bloom. Anyone know what kind of mushrooms these are??? "

The ones growing out of the log look like Pleurotus sp. (Oyster Mushroom).
They are edible and tasty unless they grow on Eucalyptus,  so I'm told.

I eat them whenever I find them in the woods here 'Back East'.  Thoroughly cooked of course.

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=pleurotus+ostreatus&t=hj&iax=images&ia=images               

Cool pics, thanks for sharing! 

Llollo, we were tailgating in your last shot. Buddy cooked up some brats and we were listening to working mans dead and drinking beer. Awesome afternoon. 

A zoner camping trip reads great.  I'm game!  

Not sure they have official camping at Parish Lake (suppose can camp on any BLM land),  but there is at Quartzville nearby, and of course around Detroit Lake / Cascadia...  the latter 2 might be a bit touristy, but I love the idea of a NW Zone campout!  But i'm still hoping to daytrip to Parish lake to collect native Sundew seeds.  (Drosera angelica, Drosera obovata and Drosera rotundifolia are the native Sundews to Oregon, not sure what they have up there)

I'm ok hiking without much weight, but between the blown knees and Titanium reinforced ankle,  carrying the camp on my back not what it use to be, LOL  (aging ain't for the squeamish).   

I do have mining claims that can hold small groups.  The road to the Bohemia claim is pretty rough, but there's two small campsites next to each other in virgin old growth forest on the claim, with room to set up camps along the old road that goes thru the claim. The first pic I posted above is from there.  It's up around ~ 5,200 feet, just below the top of Bohemia Mountain and the rentable Fairview Lookout Tower;  

http://publiclands.org/Get-Books-and-Maps.php?plicstate=OR

A campout on Nooder's mining claim sounds fun.  That's outside Cottage Grove, right?

I would drive down for that.  One of the perks of working for yourself is flexibility on taking days off and now that all my summer concert plans have been canceled, the summer is generally wide open.

Don't know about electric instruments/PA unless someone brings a generator. 

It's just below Bohemia Mountain, just north of Shane Saddle (which would be a place to put a stage, generators, if one could get permits, etc).  Elevation roughly 5,200 feet.  

It's a standard lode mining claim, running 1,500' x 500' north / south.  There's 3 seasonal springs on the claim, forming the headwaters of Sharps Creek.  From Cottage Grove, head up the Row River, the main paved road goes up Sharps Creek Road for several miles, then you take the left to go up to the mines instead of crossing the creek.   That'll take you up the mountain on a rough road for several miles, before taking the right turn towards Shane Saddle (most of the road just before Shane Saddle is on the claim).   A gentler drive might be to take Brice creek, and come around from the other side. There's several ways to get up there, not current on the smoothest roads right now. 

When you get to the claim, there's a mine right on the road, and how to tell you're there.  If you make it to Shane Saddle you went too far. There's an old skid road just before the mine, that goes down to the headwaters of Sharps Creek.  That lower road goes a hundred feet or two before crossing the first creek, it had plywood on it for ATV crossing, but was pretty iffy last time I saw somebody take a car across it several years ago.  From there that road splits, upper road dead ends at my lower adit (mine), and has the larger camping area, small, but under the big trees.  There's a panning pond there on the next spring, and an antimony deposit, so can dig up some beautifully toxic Stibnite crystals as a side activity, might get lucky and find a few.  The lower road continues on down the mountain, with a smaller camping spot / wide area / fire pit, just below the main campsite.  After that a virgin tree fell and blocked the road, not sure if that's been cleaned up or not (doubt it).  Figure any of the lower roads could be campable where not steep.  I'll see if I can drum up a few pics.  My schedule is quite flexible, just not a huge amount of room on that steep hillside, but those large trees are magnificent! 

The upper mine is right on the main road.  It should be obvious, the road turns here to Shane Saddle a hundred yards or so away.  

The lower adit (mine) is hidden by that brush, the area on the left is an Antimony deposit.  There's a creek that runs down just before it, with a panning pond.  

Looking up from the upper campsite

Looking down from the upper campsite

Stibnite crystal from the lower mine on the claim (Antimony Sulfide).  There's also quartz (some small crystals), several types of sulfides (pyrite, chalcopyrite, arsenopyrite, galena, and sphalerite), so feel free to bring a rotohammer and generator, lol

Quartz / Sulfides from the upper mine

More quartz / sulfides (from the upper mine)

I love both Brice Creeks, Sharps Creek, Layng Creek, Culp Creek, lots of creeks around there - have spent many hours/days riding around back there, and up onto areas near Bohemia Saddle but not there. Many hours to the east and north... beautiful places with no other cars and almost never other people. Miles of forests, plants, birds, lovely memories of days with Greg.

LLOLLO, so many place so near. We didn't hike, so getting to places without people but still driveable was critical. We thrived individually and as a couple up there on gravel roads. As you know, the Cascades and their foothills are magical. I was just thinking the other day about Quartz Creek Rd., going south from HWY 126 around Finn Rock; on one of those trips we saw an amazing red chicken (or something) on the roadway, immediately following that was a red dragonfly that flew into the car and wanted to stay even though all of the windows were open, and then some red birds I can't remember. Just one of those days.  

Keep Portland Weird posted this on FB, thought i'd share

So many great places on that list, Noodler. Spirit Falls and Moon Falls are good, too, on a very sweet road, FS Road 1790 off of Layng Creek Road 17. So many great roads, so many great times.

LLOLLO, we called the red chicken-like bird a Red Mountain Chicken. It wasn't any of the ones you named, it seemed to be its own bird.

My guess is that I probably won't be camping on the trip y'all are planning, but might do a day trip to where you are.

Dates - too  early and we have the Covfefe-19 to deal with.

Hopefully not in the fall - we'll see -  but then we have to worry about fire season closures.

Also, wife's lungs don't like the high(ish) elevation.

Personally I'd be more into a NW Zoner beach party- maybe August?

Parish lake would be a fun day hike in August, as the sundew seeds i'd like to collect need a bit of time to get going.

Everyone's welcome to visit the mining claim any time they'd like, just let me know for specifics.  I've got COPD and asthma, and the altitude has never bothered me there (I can't camp at the ID claims anymore, too high in elevation, but they're open to others if they'd like some fun rockhounding, and being next to 9 of Idaho's 11 tallest peaks (claims at 8,200 - 9,200')

We often do rentals at the coast in the fall / winter (i've posted many pics), so have had some experiences with our gang renting many homes along many stretches of the coast.  I'd put in a plug for the big waves at Shore Acres near Coos Bay.  The 804 trail in Yachats also fun.  I'm not a fan of the N. OR coast (spendy and touristy)

Most campers like being next to water, lakes, rivers, etc, so open to those kind of more traditional spots as well.  There's also rockhounding spots in central Oregon that can host quite a few people, but harder to find shade, and no water.   

 Could we invite/include Washington Zoner‘s? Like Dave, JR, Astro and whoever else I’m forgetting?  

I'm very open about the Bohemia claim times, but I haven't gone up this year to see what the road conditions are like. The Bohemia mine owners assn does a pretty good job of keeping the fallen trees cleared come spring.  Hard to say about fire shutdowns, as a claim owner i've got easement rights.  Usually the first phase is time limitations on combustion devices (chainsaws, generators, etc), this is the most common up there.  Next phase could involve campfires / cooking devices...  Usually not as bad up there as say Jackson or Josephine Counties where we've got 500 acres of claims, but August is usually the shutdown month for the timber companies. 

This weekend there's a cut-off low pressure system that'll be riding up the california coast then into western oregon, they could get a lot of rain up there with this system, which means all three springs could be active thru June.  Never had a tick up there (too wet), there are mosquitos,  though never seen them bad up there compared to other cascade spots (it's very steep).  Now that i've said that i'm sure I just jinxed us, lol...

It's a very relaxing place in the big trees, activities up there are hiking the various roads / trails / fire lookouts / old mines / rockhounding / bird watching, etc.   You're up on the ridge, i've never explored much outside the claim to find the good views, like from the lookouts.  

I'm just limited by available camping space up there, think my BLM limit is 20 - 24 without having to get permits.  

Hmm, don't recall volunteering for that job  - was just kinda thinking out loud.

Too early to say if conditions will permit. Let's see how things go, pandemic-wise. I know, the earlier the better for reservations, etc., but not prepared to commit at this juncture.

Shore Acres State Park has it's Christmas lights between Thanksgiving and New Years, we usually go down one of the first 2 weekends in Dec.  Who know's what will happen this year though.  

Anyone ever stay at Tillicum Beach in the Siuslaw National Forest:

https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/siuslaw/recreation/camping-cabins/recare...

Made it up to the Valley of the Giants today with my son.   Hadn't been there before.  I printed out the directions from the BLM link above but couldn't make heads or tails of it once we got up in there.   None of the turns, gates, bridges, and other features on the map matched what we were finding.  Anyway, each junction had a little "VOG" sign with an arrow and we were able to follow the signs to the trailhead.  There were some big trees and we pretty much had the place to ourselves.

I wanted to go back via the coast, but had no idea which roads to take and we would probably still be up there driving around in the dark if we had tried it.

From the VOG it's easy to get to the coast. VOG is on the N. fork of the Siletz River. Just go downstream to Siletz, where you can take reg. paved roads to Newport in 15 min., or a gravel road to Lincoln city in 30 min.

Maybe not so easy in the dark, I guess.

Most of the road to Lincoln City is paved now too, I guess.

Wanted to give a shout out to my friends out at the Thyme Garden near Alsea, Oregon.  This is going to be their first weekend open, haven't been out in years, but last time they had a pretty cool setup!

https://www.facebook.com/thethymegarden/

https://www.thymegarden.com/?fbclid=IwAR2vW159A2XBZItDs5RQF6bAlP1k7jDlXy...

https://www.oregonwinecountry.org/articles/the-thyme-garden-offers-uniqu...

While I'm not the best at planning, the first two options in July look good...9-12, (10-12 if my less-flexible partner joins us).  or 16/17-20.  

I have extra tents, if people need tents.  And extra chairs, cooking gear...I usually truck-camp;  I call it the rolling hilton.  

While covfefe-19 is still ongoing, I am not too worried, given fresh air and intelligent awareness.....

I will admit, I become more concerned about fire as the years get drier, & this spring has been great in Oregon.

..

EMOTW.

According to their site Squirrel's is still closed.

Last I saw Greg he was hoping to open June 15th (Squirrel's).

Had fun at the Thyme Garden, looks like i'll miss everyone (was out there 11am - noon).  Was on a budget, otherwise was very tempted to pick up some of the medicinal herbs they had (opium poppies, ex).  But stuck with the more culinary; Chocolate Habanero pepper, Black Hungarian pepper, Biquinho pepper, and a bunch of herbs (cuban oregano, thai basil, etc)

I miss going to visit a friend who lived in Alsea. Nice trip to get there and lovely place to hang out.

>>>>>(opium poppies, ex)

We have some seeds if you would like some.

Thanks for the seed offer, but after todays trip, think i'm planted out (no room, lol).