Travel Oregon

There’s a new way to explore Oregon and this one is really for the birds! But it’s designed for people – especially folks who like to explore new destinations where half the fun is in the getting there.

The first “Willamette Valley Birding Trail” is a new partnership between varied birding groups and Travel Oregon. It offers people a chance to explore 130 legitimate birding sites in a region that is home to 70 percent of the state’s population.

Joel Geier and I recently met at William Finley National Wildlife Refuge where he told me that variety is the spice of his birding life along the new Willamette Valley Birding Trail. Geier knows his birding game well! After all, he’s a longtime member of the Oregon Field Ornithologists. His organization along with several others including Travel Oregon joined to identify 130 birding trails in the Willamette Valley.

It’s easy to locate a trail online. A click of your mouse takes you inside one of the dozen different loops where you’ll find directions to the sites plus photos of the species that you’ll see along the way.

Sallie Gentry and Molly Monroe agree that the new Homer Campbell Memorial Boardwalk at William Finley Wildlife Refuge near Corvallis is one of those special places where you can go birding. It’s an astonishing trail that is wheelchair accessible along 1700 feet of elevated boardwalk that leads to an observation blind that overlooks a small pond that attracts many different birds.

“It is a magnet for wildlife,” noted Monroe. “We’ll have thousands upon thousands of ducks and geese and swans here within the next few months.”

Gentry added, “We’re kind of a little known secret right now, but I think we’re going to become more well known because there are such excellent wildlife viewing opportunities here and you can get relatively close without disturbing the wildlife.”

Not only wintering waterfowl, but also raptor species like bald eagles make the Finley Refuge their winter homes.

“It’s one of the easiest birds for most people to identify so it’s fun for them. Often, you just look out on a tree line of snags and say, ‘Oh, there’s an eagle perched right there.’ Eagles are good because they’re well known by most people and they’re recovery from near extinction is such a success story.”

If you’re eager to learn more about birding, but you’re not sure how to get started, Gentry said that there is good news for the casual first time visitor this Fall season.

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Despite the wild and wet weather of the past few weeks October is prime time for “King Fishing.” King Chinook Salmon, that is! There is a simple reason that they are called “Kings.” – after all, the big fish can tip the scales at fifty pounds or more.

Despite downpours and sea squalls, I recently joined a fishing party on Tillamook Bay where we tried our luck for the king of the salmon. If you’re eager to catch a “King,” you arrive at the Garibaldi docks an hour before sunrise.

A longtime Oregon fishing guide, John Krauthoefer, told our huddled group of anglers: “It’s the early bird who gets the worm, men! This has become such a popular fishery that if you wait and go late, you might miss the bite.”

Krauthoefer added that it had been a long salmon fishing season. I knew exactly what he meant because we had joined John on two earlier salmon fishing trips. Our first adventure was in July – on the ocean – where the summer Coho salmon bite was awesome. We joined John again in September when the Coho and Chinook season slipped into high gear at “Buoy 10” on the Columbia River.

Now, in mid-October thousands of salmon are migrating through dozens of estuaries like Tillamook Bay and swimming into their home rivers.

As we motored out of the marina, Krauthoefer noted that it had been a wet and wild weather week and that several big storms had pumped up a huge ocean. As we approached the ocean, we watched huge swells rise and fall – sometimes fishing boats would briefly vanish as the swells passed by. The bar was closed – no one would be heading out onto the ocean today.

Birt Hansen, a longtime fishing partner, had joined John and me on Tillamook Bay where scores of other anglers had also gathered – we were excited, anxious and ready for action. After all, low tide was about to turn to flood and it might serve up the biggest of all the salmon species called “King.”

John’s a big believer that a plug-cut herring makes the best bait when fishing for Chinook. He makes a bevel cut with his razor sharp knife just behind the herring’s head to make the bait spin when it’s trolled in the water.

We dropped our lines over the side and John began a slow troll with the tide. As the tide turned to flood, signs of salmon life began to appear as nearby anglers hooked up. It happened to us too! Suddenly, I had my hands full with a hard charging king that had decided to head back to sea.

Krauthoefer put his motor in gear and followed the salmon. After a twenty-minute tug of war, the gleaming 20-pound salmon came to the net and it was scooped aboard.

It can be a he challenge to fish along the jetty – where the swells and the waves and the tide can combine to change conditions in a heartbeat. We wore our inflatable PFD’s (Personal Flotation Devices) at all times.

Sport-anglers catch more than 12,000 King salmon on the bar, the bay and the five rivers that flow into the bay on their way to the sea. So, special rules are in place to protect the Kings from over harvest. An angler can keep one King per day and five per season from Tillamook Bay or its rivers. In addition, anglers can also keep a hatchery Coho salmon.

Information on purchasing an Oregon Angling License

Sport Fishing Regulations (pdf)

Locate a fishing guide here

Information on Safe Boating Practices

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This week’s Grant’s Getaway offers a unique adventure for folks searching for a place to enjoy the beauty and wonder of the fall season.

You’ll enjoy hiking trails, crimson-colored fall leaves and spawning salmon in an educational backdrop at an overlooked recreation area not far from Portland. You’ll want to bring your camera to capture the steady stream of color along the Salmon River that flows through the Wildwood Recreation Area near Welches, Oregon. Many parts of the Cascade Mountains demand a slower pace. You simply see more when you leave busy campgrounds behind and let quieter, wilder moments surround you.

Those moments are easy to come by down the many trails inside the Wildwood Recreation Site near Welches, Oregon. A site that may have you wondering, “How is it I’ve never heard of this place or visited it before?” After all, the Salmon River is born from glaciers atop Mt Hood and it is Oregon’s last undimmed river that flows unhindered from the mountains to the sea.

It cuts a beeline through more than five hundred acres of designated public recreation land at Wildwood. The trails that wind through Wildwood are marvelous opportunities to explore the parkland.

The Wildwood Wetlands Trail is a one-mile loop of gravel and paved foot- paths plus more than a thousand feet of elevated boardwalk that gives you access to the heart of a vast wetland area where many different wildlife species live.

Observation decks extend into the wetland at a number of locations and allow closer inspection. Don’t be surprised while hiking the boardwalk to see blue herons, mallards, teals, turtles, or any number of small songbirds.

Pay special attention to the many interpretive signs that describe the wetland habitat and the critters that live there.

There are more than 1,000 feet to the boardwalk on the Wildwood Wetlands Trail that was built four feet off the ground to keep hiker’s feet dry and limit access onto the sensitive wetlands. Beginning in mid-October, the boardwalk area explodes to life with a colorful show of brilliant reds, oranges and yellows from vine maple, big leaf maple trees and alder trees.

The Cascade Streamwatch Trail is a barrier-free and paved, three-quarter-mile trail adjacent to the Wild and Scenic Salmon River. Interpretive displays describe points of interest. The most remarkable highlight of this trail is a stream-profile viewing chamber where you gain an underwater “fish-eye” view of a small stream and salmon habitat.

The chamber–ten years in the making–drops twelve feet below the water surface and allows you to see through two large windows more than twelve feet across and seven feet high where ‘baby’ salmon live. I enjoy just watching the behavior of the three- to four-inch salmon fry and how they use logs, branches, and even rocks to hide. As a bug floats on the current, a fish jets out and picks it off, then retreats back to its shelter.

The park is open from 8:00 A.M. to sunset from mid-May to early November. However, during the off-season, you may park at the gate and access Wildwood and Cascade Streamwatch by foot, walking the entrance road to the trailhead or other facilities.

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Fall has arrived and for many people that signals the start of Oregon’s fall hunting seasons.

This week, I discovered that women who have always wanted to try their hands at hunting have a new way to learn about one of Oregon’s premier recreational pursuits.

When you go hunting for pheasant, be ready to put in your time and lots of energy – often you are pushing through thick, waist high grass. On the EE Wilson Wildlife Area near Corvallis, newcomer Kelly Ruboin is on her toes because the pheasant can launch themselves skyward in a heartbeat.

Kelly joined accomplished hunter Mark Steele, and his hunting dog, “Neela,” for an afternoon in the field. Mark is a volunteer guide who gave his hunting services over for a special day designed for women only. In fact, two-dozen women gathered on the wildlife area to learn what upland bird hunting’s all about.

Ruboin, like many of the other women, has never done anything like this before. But that’s okay because she’s taking a class to learn how it’s done. The EE Wilson Wildlife Area Pheasant Hunt is part of a unique Outdoor Skills program sponsored by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and it is called “Becoming An Outdoors Woman.”

The class was too good a deal for Kelly to pass up. For twenty-five dollars each woman learned hands on gun safety, hunting techniques, proper clothing, plus how to shoot and hit what they aim at.

Experienced instructors from ODFW offered lectures on firearms and led the students through a number of exercises in proper gun handling and safety. They helped to build confidence in the newcomers with an atmosphere of trust that paid off with relaxation and fun.

Tthe agency sells approximately 300,000 hunting licenses and tags each year and women make up just 16 percent of the total.

Rick Hargrave, ODFW spokesperson, said they hope to change that percentage with specific classes that encourage women to participate, “What our outdoor skills program does is plant that seed of interest – if it leads to hunting or fishing, that’s great – but if it leads to getting their families outdoors more often that’s even better too.”

EE Wilson offers nearly 1800 acres for hunters, fishers, hikers and cyclists to explore throughout the year. The area offers wetlands for wildlife, a stocked fishing pond to cast lures and a wildlife exhibit area where you can see many of Oregon’s upland birds on display.

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This week, I traveled to Polk County to discover a little piece of cycling heaven for mountain bike riders called Black Rock Mountain. Located across 500 acres of Oregon State Forest at Black Rock Mountain in Polk County, this little piece of cycling heaven that offers “free rider” a true test of the stamina, not to mention a complete adrenalin rush!

Some of the runs at Black Rock are so steep that riders can reach speeds of 40 mile per hour, so each rider covers up from head to toe with plastic and neoprene rubber protection that they call “armor.” The bikes that they ride are specially designed to take punishing workouts across the forest – aluminum framed bikes with heavy-duty front and rear air shocks and disc brakes are common and the bikes can reach $5,000 or more.

What’s unique about Black Rock Mountain is that the trail system was created by a unique partnership between local government and riders and is the first “mountain bike only” area approved by the Oregon Department of Forestry. In addition, the entire trail system is maintained and operated by a volunteer organization, the Black Rock Mountain Bike Association (BRMBA). The seven year old organization has 1500 members and started Black Rock with the dream of “…getting people off the couch and out in the forest.”

From trail design to maintenance, BRMBA members are involved in the entire process of the project. It all begins with designing the features that riders seek at Black Rock; features that include ramps, jumps and berms – that are approved by the Oregon Department of Forestry and then built by the club members. The trail designers can also name the varied projects and include such imaginative names like “Sunday Stroll,” “Grannie’s Kitchen” and “Bonzai Downhill.”

The runs and the stunts have been designed and built with the approval of Oregon Department of Forestry under the “Adopt A Trail” program and volunteers make sure that the impact on the forest is minimal.

Whether catching big air or enjoying the freedom that comes from speeding down a forest trail on two wheels, the riders agree that there’s something for every level of experience at Black Rock Mountain.

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Is it time for you to escape the hustle and bustle of everyday city life? Perhaps to unwind on a backcountry byway that will take you into a chapter of Oregon history?

I am a big fan of Oregon’s little roads; you know, the ones without numbers. Linn County has a few and sometimes these roadways let you set your clock back too – on a journey into unexpected bliss!

It feels like a Huck Finn sort-of -world at Shimanek Covered Bridge – a gorgeous beauty decked out in “Navajo Red” colored paint and it spans Thomas Creek.

Safety is important these days because traffic roars past at a shattering pace – a far cry from slower days of the past century. Still, there are other covered bridges that are off the beaten path and hint of bygone times. For example, Hannah Covered Bridge is picture-postcard perfect!

This stunning whitewashed covered bridge was built in 1936 and offers a bit of a Norman Rockwell kind of American moment. As you will see, there is plenty of water running under the Covered Bridges of Linn County, so don’t be surprised if you end up at Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Roaring River Hatchery. This is a place that raises really whoppers – the kind with fins. Seventy percent of Oregon’s catchable hatchery trout are raised at Roaring River Hatchery.

Last winter, we showed viewers how that energy is put into action when we visited a classroom full of enthusiastic students at Banks Elementary School You see, Roaring River Hatchery donates 100,000 trout eggs to hundreds of Oregon classrooms where the youngsters raise the eggs into baby fish. It’s a successful and unique environmental education program called “Eggs to Fry.”

Not far from the Roaring River Hatchery, you’ll enjoy a chance to relax at Larwood Wayside – only site in the state where a river flows into a creek. It’s called Crabtree Creek and it is where you will find Larwood Covered Bridge and it was built seventy years ago.

Oregon has more (49 authentic) Covered Bridges than anywhere else in the country, so it is something all Oregonians should be proud of so folks should get out to see and enjoy them.

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High above the Willamette Valley in the Willamette National Forest, follow the roadway that traces a trail along Fall River, near Lowell, Oregon and you could discover adventure that’s guaranteed to take you to new heights.

I met a group of climbers along this roadway near Fall Creek Reservoir. As I discovered, they were a small corp of climbers that was a breed apart from typical rock or mountain climbers. Just like rock climbers, these folks used gear that included harnesses, ropes, mechanical ascenders and even helmets. A hearty collection of people had gathered to meet guides with the Eugene-based Pacific Tree Climbing Institute who don’t climb tall mountains; rather they ascend Oregon’s tallest trees.

Jason Seppa, co-owner of PTCI and a lead guide in my adventure, coolly showed each of us the correct way to wear the harness and how to handle the ascenders; the main mode of movement up the giant trees.

The team had gathered to climb three of the tallest giants in the forest. Trees that had been nicknamed “The Three Musketeers” because the trio of 600 year-old Doug fir had grown so closely together.

Robb Miron, Seppa’s partner in PTCI, explained the advantages of climbing these big old trees: “They are really climber-friendly with a lot of limbs and a lot of architecture. When you’re up in them, it’s the kind of a feeling that you get being inside a grove of trees.”

PTCI operates under a special use permit from the U.S. Forest Service and their climbing techniques and equipment do not damage the trees. Seppa and Miron called it “eco-friendly” climbing as they teach both newcomers and experienced how to reach for the tallest heights of the trees without hurting the trees they climb.

They employ the same equipment and skills that each had learned on their jobs as full time arborists in Eugene, Oregon. The trained arborists turned their attention to recreation climbing six years ago and agreed that the forest has much to offer people.

There was a genuine rush of energy and excitement at the doing of the thing and the unmatched view of the surrounding forest.

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Oregon offers a treasure trove of interesting places and fun activities that can reveal much about our region’s past.

In fact, one Eastern Oregon town offers fascinating lessons in “pre-history,” that – with a bit of imagination and some handiwork – can transport you to a quite different Oregon. In Fossil, Oregon all you need are some simple tools, keen eyes and curiosity to learn more about the state – as you dig into Oregon’s past.

Eastern Oregon’s gigantic landscape holds on to memories – old homestead sites – where families once worked the land and carved out their livelihoods across the high desert. Time has passed most of them by and what often remains today are small reminders in a big country that are worth a pause to consider.

Fossil, Oregon is worth more than a pause! Especially if you enjoy history, like to get your hands dirty and really dig buried treasures!

It’s a much different slice of outdoor life for the visitors who stroll through the back gates at Fossil’s Wheeler High School – pass under the goal posts of the school’s football field and then take a step back in Oregon history. It’s the only public fossil dig area in Oregon that offers surprises with each handful of dirt and rock that you turn over.

Today, the fossils that you dig reveal a much different scene in this part of Eastern Oregon. In fact, 30 million years ago the region was more akin to today’s Oregon Coast Range Forest – a temperate rain forest with ancient firs and cedars and ferns and even prehistoric insects. All were covered and trapped by ancient mudflows born of volcanic eruptions that were a common geologic feature in this part of Oregon.

All of it adds up to a stark contrast to the high desert sage and juniper country that surrounds Fossil in the 21st century. Just down the street, the new Paleo Lands Institute will teach you much about the fossils that you collect.

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This week, I head for the big, broad Columbia River in this week’s Grant’s Getaways to follow a silver rush – a silvery rush of salmon swimming up the river past a sports fishing mecca called “Buoy 10.”

It’s a trip full of tips, tactics and techniques to catch salmon safely on a stretch of river infamously called “the deadliest river bar in the world” for its number of shipwrecks, capsizes and deadly accidents.

On the Astoria dock at a coal black 4-am, it was hard to say “Good Morning” to my fellow anglers who had gathered – with their lunches, thermoses, rods and reels in hand – to enjoy a daylong fishing adventure. After all, shimmering stars and a sliver of a gleaming moon held tightly onto night. But barking sea lions and an inch of daylight squeezing just above the eastern horizon said otherwise.

So did our guide, John Krauthoefer, who told our small group, “Daylight boys – won’t be long – so let’s button things down, snap up the PFDs and get moving.” We boarded his 25-foot fishing boat and began to slowly motor across the broad-shouldered Columbia, with high hopes for a successful salmon fishing trip.

Daylight revealed that a dense fog bank had taken over the lower river. If we wished to pass through it, we had better be prepared.

“My GPS (Global Positioning System) tells me that there’s a green buoy right there – and if you peer into the fog, you can see we’re just coming up on it.”

I wondered aloud about the fishermen who didn’t have GPS on their boats. He quickly and firmly noted, “Stay on the dock until the fog clears. You’re much safer – it’s not worth a fish to risk your life – it really isn’t.” We slowly trolled and kept eye on the boat’s GPS screen, which showed our position in relation to the shipping channel and the surrounding shorelines.

This part of the Columbia River is a busy stretch for inbound and outbound ships. We certainly did not want to get caught in the middle of it on a busy morning of ship traffic. All too quickly, John’s second sense told him something was just not right.

“Ok – reel in – we’re going to move,” he ordered. He wasted little time and moved us a few hundred yards further away from the shipping lane. We heard the ship before we saw it. And what we saw was gigantic – a massive, two hundred foot long shadow of a ship that moved across the area we had just been trolling our baits.

I looked at my fishing partner, Trey Carskadon, who shared the same obvious expression of relief – then he smiled. Carskadon added, “You can just get absolutely turned around in this kind of a fog, so GPS certainly is a must, but even a compass would help. Plus, you better know how to use it. It is essential equipment and I wouldn’t come out here without it.” Carskadon is the chairman of the Oregon State Marine Board and he is a boating safety expert when it comes to the fickle Columbia River.

He told me that even in summer, the river conditions often change in a heartbeat: “Right now the danger is obviously with the fog, but when the wind comes up and you have a lot river traffic out here, it can get downright dangerous. People assume it’s like a lake out here, most days it’s anything but that.” That much was certain and we’d just experienced a good lesson of that fact – but there was another certainty on the river this fine August morning: the river is full of fish.

“Oh, it’s a big Coho,” yells John as Trey’s rod doubled down and the line screamed off the reel.

“A nice one,” noted Carskadon. “Feels all of ten or twelve pounds. A nice hatchery fish too.”

He could tell it was a hatchery Coho salmon because it was missing its adipose fin, a small half moon shaped fin that’s located behind the dorsal fin. The adipose fin is clipped off all hatchery salmon babies at the hatchery where each fish is raised.

More than a million Coho salmon are forecast to pass through the estuary over the next six to eight weeks. In fact, right now the angling daily limit is two salmon, but beginning September 1 the limit rises to three Coho salmon a day. Not all of the Coho that anglers catch from the Columbia are hatchery fish. Many are wild fish that must be released back into the river.

John said there’s a “right way” to do that. “First, don’t ever bring them in the boat and don’t ever lift them out of the water. Don’t just dump them out of your net either. If you can, try to get hold of them by the tail and let them swim out of your hand. If you just dump them out, they often die because they’re so tired from the fight, so let the fish rest in your hand and then open your hand so they swim right off.”

As the fog evaporated with the warmer morning, the flooding tide built and hundreds of anglers converged at the famous river marker called “Buoy 10.” But boat wakes, a strong push of current and a rising wind meant that it was a bit like fishing in washing machine – and you want to definitely avoid the spin cycle.

It was a day to remember – one that began on a dance with danger, and provided lasting memories and valuable lessons of exciting times in the Oregon outdoors.

Information on purchasing an Oregon Angling License

Sport Fishing Regulations (pdf)

Locate a fishing guide here

Information on Safe Boating Practices

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If mid-summer heat waves get you down, perhaps it’s time for a cool retreat!

This week’s Grant’s Getaway promises a refreshing escape as I go aboard a small boat on a huge river. It’s the sort of adventure that may leave you feeling a million miles away from the city hubbub and noise in a sea kayak on the Columbia River.

Trying something new and risky takes courage, but if you’re convinced that it’s right for you, the risk can often pay off with unique adventures.

Safety is everything when Steve Gibons, owner of Scappoose Bay Kayaking, gathers paddlers together on the dock at Scappoose Bay Marina.

The first step: we slid into the cozy confines of the small cockpits of a smooth sided 14-foot long tandem sea kayak. We listened intently as Steve explained a basic rule of kayak recreation: First, a reassuring fact: more people tip over at the dock than any other place on the water – either getting in or out.”

Many of our fellow paddlers were like us – relative newcomers to the recreation and to this stretch of Multnomah Channel at Scappoose Bay. It’s a place where tide and weather can change in a heartbeat.

But on this gentle summer’s day, the bay and the nearby Columbia River were smooth and calm, so no need for us to worry. Instead, we used our time to practice the basic forward and reverse paddle strokes that Steve taught us – paddle strokes that we would soon put to good use.

Finding a comfort zone on the glassy water came easy on a day that was filled with summer’s glory – clear skies, a gentle breeze and outgoing tide to ease our downriver journey. More importantly, our small group of paddlers seemed to have the river all to ourselves on a stretch of Columbia River backwater that’s largely overlooked by most folks.

It is certainly that – and much more – a time and place where nature’s touch restores your soul.

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