Travel Oregon

You’ll want to take binoculars, camera and a thermos of hot coffee when you join my thrilling getaway this week. It’s the ‘early birder who catches the most spectacular wildlife show’ on a dawn patrol to see the largest gathering of bald eagles in the country at the Klamath Wildlife Refuge in Southern Oregon.

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Jerry Scdoris has twelve of the most faithful friends one mountain of a man could ever hope to have in a lifetime. Consider what they do for him: Whenever Jerry hollers “Hey,” these dedicated buddies of his rise to their feet and go. Actually they run and run and run anywhere he tells them to go. They will pull hundreds of pounds while enduring deep snow or slippery ice and a biting wind that would send most of us indoors for rest and relaxation beside the nearest toasty warm wood stove. And get this: They never, ever complain. In fact, they live to be outdoors when winter is its roughest: downright mean and nasty.

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Steelhead are ocean-going rainbow trout that can reach twenty pounds or more! Anglers prize them for strength, stamina and endurance – there’s simply no finer fish on hook and line.Many devotees call them the “Street fighters” of the anadromous fish world because they often travel the furthest and endure the harshest environmental conditions in order to reach their spawning areas that are located high in the watershed.

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“Bring your toes all the way forward, Grant, up to the clip of this binding, and then pull the strap across the top of your foot as tight as you can.”

So advised my guide, Jack Newkirk. But when it’s twenty degrees with a wind chill making it much colder, and the snowflakes are buzzing circles around your head like an angry hive of hornets, stepping into and strapping on a pair of two-foot-long snowshoes isn’t the easiest of winter activities.

Yet with Newkirk’s patient tone and simple instructions, it was but a matter of minutes before I and my companions were set and ready to follow his lead into the snow-covered hills of the Deschutes National Forest in Central Oregon.

Newkirk is a guide who works for Wanderlust Tours in Bend, and leads varied year-round recreational outings across the region, but in wintertime when the snow is waist deep, the specialty is snowshoe hiking.

It’s the powder that folks live to play in near central Oregon’s Mt Bachelor – high cascade powder that is lighter and fluffier than the snow that falls across most of western Oregon. It draws folks from all over who yearn to ski or board the mountain’s slopes.

There is a blissful feeling of nearly floating across the snow on the broad, lightweight shoes. It isn’t anything like the desperate plodding you often see in movies, or read about in Jack London’s tales of the far north.

Rather, despite the six-foot snow depth, there’s a certain rhythm to the walking, and it takes only minutes to get the hang of it. Then you begin to look up, take stock of your surroundings and the magnificence of the snow on the trees, burdened with the heavy overcoat of fresh snowfall.

And then there is the quiet of the forest. It seems to whisper to you, “This is Mother Nature at her finest.”

Editor’s Note: Grant’s Getaways is a production of Travel Oregon brought to you in association with Oregon State Parks, Oregon Dept. of Fish & Wildlife and Oregon State Marine Board. Episodes air Fridays and Saturdays on KGW Newschannel 8 and Saturdays on Northwest Cable News Network.

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This week’s Grant’s Getaway puts you face to face with a winter survival story that’s two hundred years old when a group of explorers found themselves stranded in Oregon.

It’s the story of survival that is alive and well at Fort Clatsop National Historic Park. In winter, if you travel the lower Columbia River near Astoria, you must slow down and savor the season at a place where Oregon history comes to life.

Chances are you will spy retired schoolteacher, Tom Wilson, covered head to toe in buckskins and history. He relishes the role of Capt William Clark – one of the co-leaders of the famous Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery – and is on duty this time of year at Fort Clatsop.

He explained to nearby visitors – “This fort wasn’t really in their plans – they had hoped to get downriver, see a ship, get re-provisioned, get back over the mountains before winter and home – Well, it is winter so things didn’t go as planned.”

Wilson is part of a small group of volunteers who bring the Lewis and Clark story to life through living history experiences that you can enjoy on your visit.   “Oh, it was a miserable, cold, wet winter. They were low on provisions, their clothes had rotted, military uniforms had rotted away and so the ship was going to re-provision them – Unfortunately, they arrived much later than they thought – the trading season was over.”

So, they were forced to stay – and the chose a small area on the Oregon side of the river to built a log fort – when you visit at this time of year, you get a feel for what the explorers experienced in December, 1805.

The Corps also stayed in Oregon because abundant deer and elk made the hunting easier – especially for the elk.

“Yes,” added Wilson – “The reason this fort is here is because of more word of elk and deer than anywhere else and so they were out hunting the entire time.”

Elk provided the explorers with many things: food, hides for clothing, elk fat for tallow candles and antlers could be made into buttons. Nothing was wasted.

Indoors – at the nearby Fort Clatsop Museum, you can learn more about the Corp of Discovery’s remarkable journey across America through exhibits, drawings and equipment that also put you in touch with history.  You can also do the same on the recently completed “Fort to Sea Trail” that stretches from Fort Clatsop nearly seven miles to the ocean.   And it can be joined at many locations along the way.

If you travel this way, you may also consider a longer stay at nearby Ft Steven’s State Park. The trails and campgrounds at Ft Steven’s are quiet at this time of year.  The summer crowds have disappeared and the beaches, Coffenbury Lake and the wetland areas are all yours to explore.

Ft Steven’s Park Manager, Mike Stein, explained: “People are looking to get away from the larger crowds and we specialize in that at this time of year. We’ve got over 4,000 acres to spread across, plus miles of beachfront and 9 miles of paved trail, plus another 7 miles of nature trail.”

If you lack a trailer or an RV, no need to worry, Ft Steven’s boasts 15 yurts that make the camping easy: “Yurts are wonderful camping opportunities,” explained Stein. “They offer a domed platform with canvas sides and top. They have furniture in them: a futon sofa and a bunk bed. They’ve proven to be very popular because they reach out to the visiting public that’s unable or lacks the time to invest in a tent or RV.”

Back at Fort Clatsop, Superintendent David Szymanski said that folks should consider Fort Clatsop a launching point to make their own trail of discovery in the region:  “It is a way to give a lot of people the experience of what the expedition would have faced. It’s a place where you can spend a day or two exploring and get to know more about our national history. “

Tom Wilson agreed – and for the next couple of weeks, he will be on hand to help you understand how important a place Fort Clatsop – the place where Lewis and Clark slept – meant to Oregon and the shaping of America.

“What they endured and how they persevered to make this place their temporary home for nearly four months – and the story behind it – it wasn’t just a camping trip – this wasn’t just a bunch of guys looking for an adventure – this had so many purposes and was well laid out and executed. It truly was the best of any expedition ever.”

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Winter has certainly arrived in Oregon with a one-two punch of colder, wetter weather this month. That’s okay because winter time is the only time you can enjoy this “Grant’s Getaway.”

You’ll want to bundle up against the cold when you go aboard the Jewell Wildlife Area Hay Wagon to feed the herd of Roosevelt elk. On a recent December daybreak, cold and crisp and quiet conditions greeted the visitor across the 700-acre Jewell Meadows (this is one part of the expansive Jewell Wildlife Area,) but the otherwise silent morning came to life when the hay wagon came into view.

Despite the mercury holding steady at just seven degrees, the morning hay wagon shows up on and the 200 elk that live quickly respond. Refuge manager, Brian Swearingen says the morning feeding is a regular winter event across Jewell Meadows – the feeding keeps the elk here rather than foraging across nearby private agricultural lands.

We were on the western fringe of the refuge; an area where approximately 25 bull elk spend their time together. Brian noted that this group is referred to as the “Bachelor herd.” Some of the bulls in the Jewell herd are massive animals that tip the scales at more than 800 pounds – with antler spans of five or even six feet.

On this particular day, there was another sound on board the feeding wagon – as Dean Crouser’s camera made the tell-tale ‘click-click-click” of auto mode as he snapped shots with his digital camera that had a 200mm zoom lens attached to it. Crouser is a wildlife artist who searches for Oregon wildlife in “everyday moments” – the times that many of us take for granted.

This day marked his first wintertime trip to Jewell Wildlife Area and he was a bit like a kid in a candy store – so many photo opportunities were presented in front of him from the cozy confines of the feeding wagon – because the elk were feeding just 20 yards away.

Crouser travels across Oregon – often corner to corner – and his work reflects the adventure and inspiration and wild moments that he has seen.

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In winter, except for surf and wind – the coast slows down – few distractions, fewer folks around and many people like it that way. At the rocky headland called “Heceta,” – named for 18th century Spanish explorer Bruno Heceta, the landscape is marked a gleaming sentinel – a whitewashed wonder with a powerful light atop that can be seen for miles.

If you stop in at Heceta Head Lighthouse State Scenic Viewpoint, be sure to spend some time with the state park volunteers – people like Ruth Philippson – who can tell you much about the area:

“Oh, it’s a jewel to work here as a volunteer because there are so many people here from just down the way: Reedsport, Florence, Newport – people come here to visit their lighthouse. They have such a sense of pride and want to share their own stories about the light, the headland and the park. They play right in their own backyard and that’s very cool.”

After you enjoyed the stunning views, be sure to join one of the volunteers or perhaps park ranger like Clay Courtright who can guide you deep inside Heceta Head Lighthouse.

Construction on Heceta Head Lighthouse began in 1892 and it was officially lit two years later. But there were few roads and horse and wagons transported all of the supplies, equipment and bricks – that was a two day journey from Florence; the nearest port that’s but 5 miles away. Three men crews were stationed at the remote site – but they were not alone, noted Courtright – for families accompanied the crews for a life of work and serious responsibility.

The fresnel (fre-nel) glass lens was shipped from England around the Horn and it needed constant care and cleaning – but it was the brightest, most powerful beam in its day and could be seen 21 miles out to sea.

Nearby, Carl Washburne State Park offers visitors plenty of elbowroom to stretch out and play in a quiet and out of the way parkland. It offers 58 sites for RV’s or trailers, plus two yurts for folks who like to camp, but don’t own the gear.

Heceta Head Lighthouse is one of nine lighthouses managed by Oregon Department of State Parks, but it is the only site where a keeper’s cottage is still standing. The keeper’s cottage is a private bed and breakfast where you can enjoy a longer stay. Michelle Bursey is the co-owner of the Heceta Head Lighthouse Bed and Breakfast that offers 6 rooms – each one of the rooms offers wonderful views to the ocean, the forest or the nearby lighthouse.

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The Oregon coast is a many splendored place boasting unique sights and sounds that will amaze you anytime of the year. In this week’s “Grant’s Getaways,” we go to Shore Acres State Park along the southern Oregon coast for a unique holiday light extravaganza.

The park’s “Holiday Lights” offers the very best in community service and a wonderful holiday gift for you to enjoy. It’s safe to say that most holiday lights don’t hold a candle to the ones the Friends of Shore Acres State Park put up each year. The folks who show up each weekend beginning before Halloween and go the extra mile to light Oregon’s only botanical garden state park.

The Holiday Lights continue through New Year’s Eve, the park is open daily and closes each night at 10pm. There is no entry fee, but there is a three-dollar state park parking permit required.

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Oregon’s rivers and streams are home to some of the finest outdoor adventures in the country and there is unique history in a watercraft design that some call the “All Oregon Boat.” When you sit between the oars of an Oregon classic called the “Driftboat,” you slide across rapids, slip past boulders and leave all of your troubles behind.

For local boat builder Ray Heater, you also touch Oregon history.

“Oh, the drift boat is really a special type of boat the represents the state of Oregon. That has always attracted me – why don’t I build something else? Because I’m a fisherman and I love to float rivers and I’ve never seen a craft that can perform as well as this simple boat.”

Heater builds wooden drift boats in his Welches, Oregon shop; a business called Ray’s River Dories. He’s the last to make a living by cutting, drilling and hammering doug fir and cedar into boats that take people down rivers. Heater’s career spans more than four decades and it has been built upon a boat design that’s all Oregon. Drift boats were spawned on the McKenzie and Rogue Rivers in the early 20th century and at first, the boats hauled supplies. By the 1940’s anglers paid big money to fishing guides like Woodie Hindman who would take fishermen, called “Dudes,” down rivers to catch fish.

Heater noted, “It’s really a floating platform for your camping and fishing gear – that’s really what it’s all about.” Headded that the all Oregon boat was distinct because it safely rode atop the waves.

“Oh man, they can provide a piece of ballet – water ballet! Those guys between the oars would just dance across those waves with the oars – it’s a rush – a real rush…I mean I like to fish, but I like to run that whitewater.”

Ray Heater is not alone in his quest to protect and preserve the “All Oregon Boat.”

He explained: “People will say, ‘you should write something down about this.’ And I say, ‘Oh boy, that’s going to be a tough one for me, I’d rather build a boat than write about one. Well, then along came Roger Fletcher, who walks into my shop one day and says, ‘I’m writing a book about the river boat. I thought, ‘You are the man.”

Roger Fletcher never thought of himself as the man to save a chapter of Oregon history – he just likes the shape and feel and history of wooden drift boats. He builds them too – models - that are scaled down versions.

“They basically require the same technique of a person building a traditional drift boat – just smaller. There isn’t anything fancy about it, but when you look at the lines of a Mckenzie River drift boat, there isn’t a prettier set of lines

Fletcher has had a love affair with drift boats since a boy. Today, he is the author of a new book called “Drift Boats and River Dories,” that tells the story of the earliest boats that were developed for Oregon rivers. He calls the drift boat design a “unique contribution to the boating world” and adds that few people know about them although they’ve likely seen them and perhaps been lucky enough to even fish in one.

“It’s the crescent shape and a fellows like Hindman, Veltie Pruitt and Prince Helfrich who designed and originally built them. They all fell in love with the design because it assumed the crescent shape of the waves. Plus, people fell in love with the ride.”

And who wouldn’t? Today, drift boating’s popularity has spread across the country. The “All Oregon Boat” can be seen on rivers across the country, wherever there are rivers waiting for adventure. Now, thanks to Roger Fletcher, more people will know of the boat’s important past.

“My hope,” he added, “is that more people will see more of these traditional and highly functional and beautiful boats out on the rivers. It’s tough not to fall in love with this boat. If a person hasn’t been in one – gets in one, has a day’s experience in one – he’ll be back.”

Each spring, there is an annual gathering of wooden drift boats and their builders on the banks of the McKenzie River. It is held at Eagle Rock Lodge and offers newcomers a chance to learn more about the boats and their lasting place in Oregon boating history.

Editor’s Note: Grant’s Getaways is a production of Travel Oregon brought to you in association with Oregon State Parks, Oregon Dept. of Fish & Wildlife and Oregon State Marine Board. Episodes air Fridays and Saturdays on KGW Newschannel 8 and Saturdays on Northwest Cable News Network.

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Once you travel the Cape Arago Highway that skirts a lonesome and lovely section of the Southern Oregon coast, it may become a road once taken that you’ll never want to leave! It leads you past so many intriguing sights that you may well wonder, “Why have I never come this way before.”

Fourteen miles southwest of Coos Bay, drop in at Sunset Bay State Park and meet Oregon State Park’s Manager, Preson Phillips, who told me: “It’s one of those trails that just keeps beckoning you on – it’s just a matter of how much you want to hike or do at the time.” Make time to wander Sunset Bay State Park, a jewel of a campground that offers 139 sites for tent, trailer or R.V. – plus eight yurts. People who come to camp enjoy a spectacular beachfront that seems framed for the movies – it has been a special destination park since 1942.

If you own a spirit of adventure, you’ll no doubt relish the hiking trail that leads little more than a mile to nearby Cape Arago State Park. Many visitors are surprised to find a front row seat of sorts – a wooden balcony that overlooks Shell Island. Marty Giles, who owns an eco-tourism business called, Wavecrest Discoveries is often on hand to explain the behavior of hundreds of seals and seal lions that just plain loaf across the rocky island and Simpson Reef.

You will want to make time to travel five miles further up the Seven Devils Road to visit a piece of Oregon coastal paradise that’s been preserved since 1974. The South Slough Estuarine Research Preserve offers a visitor center that introduces you to the area with varied multi-media and hands on exhibits. There’s more than 5,000 acres in South Slough Preserve – approximately 1,000 of that is the slough itself, then the rest is protected upland forest or marshland. There is plenty of elbowroom to explore at South Slough Preserve and there are lots of trails that take you out and about.

One of my favorites is called the Hidden Creek Trail - a little over a mile in length that offers a wonderful wooden boardwalk that takes you out over a wetland area where the freshwater creek meets the sea. In addition, there are many stunning views along the trail, including those from atop a two level deck that looks across a marsh area to the Winchester Arm of the slough.

The preserve is open throughout the calendar year, but South Slough Preserve Education Director, Tom Gaskill, says some seasons offer unique surprises for the hearty traveler.

“I’m a birder, so for me this time of year in fall is the beginning of the most exciting part of the season. We have flocks of waterfowl that pass through here and a lot of the over wintering forest birds too – there are many species that we never see here during the summer, so it’s exciting in the winter months to see some of these migratory species that spend summers in Alaska and Canada but they’re here for the winter.”

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