Camper trip to Oregon and back, 2014 – PetrifiedWood.ROCKS and Paperweightstore.com

Near Twin Falls, ID. First night. I was solo this trip.

**My first camping on the coast was at Cape Lookout State Park.**

I made my way to the largest remaining Sitka Spruce in Oregon. I was deeply disappointed because I visited several times what was the former largest Sitka Spruce in Oregon, which died a few years before, and this tree is tiny in comparison. Less than half the size. Sad. Oregon didn’t save much old growth forest, about 4% and mostly hard to access.

From Netarts looking toward Cape Lookout. When we decided to buy a house on the coast the following year, this is one of the places we looked. The bay is one of the few remaining pristine estuaries in the US. Great clamming. The downside is it’s proximity to Portland.

The Schooner. in Netarts. Very nice for lunch.

Netarts from the tip of the Split. We looked at a house right on the water where we could keep a boat and jump in to go clamming and fishing, however, Martelle didn’t like it. It was old and in danger from the rising seas of global warming.

I discovered a great place for fresh seafood in Garibaldi. Oyster stew – best ever.

They raise and collect and shuck the oysters right there and send them all over the country. I watched one guy shuck eleven in one minute. It would take me twenty minutes and I’d probably cut myself.

ground squall – that’s sand being carried by the wind. The ocean beach is incredibly dynamic.

*These last pictures are in Washington at Cape Disappointment.* The Columbia River is the most dangerous ocean entry in the US. We also looked for a place in this area – the razor clamming is the best here. But again, too close to big cites. It’s a zoo in the summer.

This is the kind of amazing camping spots one can find all over the American West once you are away for cities. Near Wallace, Idaho. I didn’t hear a peep that wasn’t Mother Nature all night.

Suddenly I’m in Montana and my first visit to Glacier National Park.

I wanted to see a glacier so I hiked to Grinnell Lake. Lot’s of grizzly bears. I met a guy who warned me if I took the lower trail, I’d get between a mother and her cubs – something to avoid. I didn’t even have bear spray. By the way, there’s nothing left of the glacier thanks to global warming. It wasn’t lost on me that I drove a truck that gets 15 miles a gallon all the way there. I’m as guilty as anyone.

I was fortunate to get one of the last camping spots in Many Glacier Campground. This was only because the highway was closed before I arrived (just about). Very nice, on a creek, and a short walk to food and clean showers. It’s a classic old time National Park village. My camp spot cost five dollars a night because I’m a senior citizen. My camper bed is more comfortable than any hotel room in the world. But I ‘m not that crazy about cooking in there if I don’t have to. So I drove over to the huge old lodge on the lake. This place is super cool. Old school all the way. I went to the finest dining room (I’d showered , shaved, and changed my clothes), was directed to a table with a view of the lake, and ordered a German beer and a trout dinner. Can I have a few more rolls, please? I was starved. Another of these, I said, pointing to my near empty beer glass. The server was a nice young man from an Eastern European country. He’d seen a lot of the American West.