Spring in the Northwest

The gap between sunny days shortened.  Daylights savings came and passed without incident as spring finally a rived in the Pacific North West.   Passing the time before summer,  I bounced between the coast and mountains. Here are a collection of photos shot from March to the end of May in Washington and Oregon.

Hollowing out a Doug Fir.

BZZZ

Howling at the moon.

Cherry Blossoms in South East Portland.

A double rainbow at The Cinder Cone.

Volvo 240's kick ass.

Manzanita.

Slicing up a home grown turkey.

Nick Dirks, Scotty Wittlake and Alex Burton lounging at Pacific City.

Early spring in the Gorge.

Waking up by covered in dew.

Parked on the 101.

Frying up some potatoes.

Showing Tucker Cape Horn

Downing a Doug Fir by hand.

Dean and Marie's bacon pigs.

Lucy look out towards Manzanita.

Ned trimming the beams for the decking of the tub.

Ned and Alex tending to the wood burning tub's fires.

Scotty Witlake's 4x4 Chinook Camper on the Oregon Coast.

Looking up the mouth of the Klickitat River from Mosier, Oregon.

The tried and true Toyota truck and a canopy. 

For more photos from this time check out, thecindercone.com, a tumblr I started to document the building of two tree houses and a skatepark on a hill top in the Columbia River Gorge.

Here are some more links,

The Cinder Cone (Tumblr),

Rained Out In February

The forecast called for rain beginning Thursday and lasting through the weekend.  California was in the midst of the worst drought in decades and I took the forecast with little more than glimmer of consideration.  Trevor, Maddie, Chelsea and I caravanned up from Santa Barbara to Big Sur on Wednesday morning.  The weather was stereotypical of Central California; mid sixties and the typical north wind.   The stars shined bright and uninhibited by clouds as we circled the wagons a few hours after dark.  Light tapping started on the aluminum roof of my camper late Wednesday night and by morning, the dishes from the night before were over flowing with the first rain the area had seen in months.

With the exception of few hour long breaks in the storm, it rained sideways for the next 72 hours.  Searching for shelter,  we parked in the lee of trees and under the cover of red woods.   Instead of hiking around the hills and surfing point breaks,  we hunkered down in our campers and schemed plans for spring and summer.

Chopping tomatos.

Slippery when wet.

Chelsea and Maddie taking a dip.

Frying up some veggies.

Misting.

Target practice.

Check out the Woody and The Blue Ox shorts here.

Sand Dollar Beach.

A soggy campfire.

Rain for days.

A break in the storm.

Chelsea blasting.

Trevor cooking up an afternoon snack.

"I'm ready for spring and summer."

"No shit."

"Weather like this makes it better when it comes though."

Here are some more links,

Escape from Bigfoot Country (Vimeo).

Fall into Winter in the Pacific Northwest

For the first time since moving away from Portland in 2006,  I spent the fall and early winter in the Pacific Northwest.  Typically,  I'd headed south when the days shortened and the rain came.  Short, wet days aren't conducive to living in your car.  This autumn the rain held off, and I hung around, exploring the area that I grew up in.

One of my old stomping grounds.

A timber framed cabin my mom and her partner in crime built in the Columbia River Gorge.

Heating with wood during the cold snaps.

Chelsea at Point Disappointment.

Erosion a few hundred yards from the ocean in a dense forest on the Olympic Peninsula.

Dean stoking the fire on his outdoor wood stove.

Morning in my Four Wheel Camper in Central Oregon.

A cold streak in the Columbia River Gorge.

Everything you need,  nothing you don't.

36° and misting in  Eastern Oregon.

My dad checking out an abounded house in eastern Oregon.

Looking east from the Cape Horn Trail on the Washington side of the Columbia River Gorge.  For more photos, check out this album, Early January (Adobe Revel).  

Sarah during a break in the storm.

Breakfast nook.

It's almost February now and  ever so slowly, the days are getting longer.  Tonight it's supposed to get down toe the teens, I'm in the eastern Sierra.  Living in your car and waking up with sunrise and falling asleep shortly after sunset makes you attentively aware of the seasons and weather.  Maybe its the first snow, or the holidays, but this period of early winter is one of my favorites.

Here are some more links,

Ships of the Open Road (Pinterest),

Toyota Tacoma with a Four Wheel Camper Ute (Pinterest).

Lot Lizards at Mt. Bachelor

The forced air furnace kicked on with a whir, blasting hot air into my camper. It was still dark.  Another hour or two until sunrise.  Laying back down I grabbed a pillow and covered my eyes.  Predawn light lit the camper and I pulled my upper body out of my mummy bag.  The high pitched chug of  two stroke engines bounced off a distant hillside as a crew of snowmobilers headed out into the backcountry.  Rolling over,  I opened the Velcro window and peered out.  It was clear, and probably in the low 20's.  Turning up the thermostat,  I slid into a sitting position on my bed and reached for my rubber boots.

Cracking the side door, I poked my head out and looked around.  Swinging the door the rest of the way open, I stepped down on to the hard packed combination of snow and ice.  A line of campers in various forms parked north to south against the snowbank.  Walking around the back of my camper,  I noticed a layer of ice underneath the curtain. "Must have been cold.. I haven't seen ice there before," I thought to myself.  In a few hours,  the Mt. Bachelor parking lot would be full of its fair share of Subarus and Volvos, but for now, it was empty.

Looking over at the back of Tim Eddy's camper, a Ford ranger wearing a Four Wheel Camper parked next to mine, I noticed the same ice on his windows. Tim is a professional snowboarder that lives in a 200 square foot cabin he made with his girlfriend in Truckee, California and often snowboards with crazy fleece hats.  Here's a photo of him in action.  Pulling my ungloved hand from my pocket, I rapped on the gold glass window.

"Tim,  you awake man?"

"Carpe CARVE Brother!  Carpe CARVE," Tim bellowed with his signature exuberance.

I broke in to laughs. "I'm going to get some hot water going in a few.  Want some coffee?

"I'm already working on my matte. Thanks though, I'll come over in a few."

Suited and booted.

Bryan Box and Austin Smith chewing the fat.  Check out their Drink Water project here.

Scotty warming up in the front seat.

Whitney built this camper out her self and has spent the better part of three years living in it.  It has a marine stove, bed for one and a 4x4 conversion.

The way to Mt. Bachelor.

For mote photos,  checkout Start of Winter on Adobe Revel.

Defrosting.

Shred sleds.

Kyle Shwartz and his Toyota Tundra with a Four Wheel Camper.

Alex Yoder and his Toyota Tundra with a Hallmark Camper.

Tim Eddy and his Ford Ranger with a Four Wheel Camper.

Scotty Wittlake and his Toyota Tacoma camper with an ARE top.

Whitney Bell and her converted Ford Camper Van.

The propane stove hissed on and with a flick of the lighter, the small blue flame illuminating the still dark camper.  Reaching for faucet, I filled the kettle and placed it on the burner.  The heat from the stove warmed the air.  Looking down at my watch to check the time, I noticed the date,  December 14th.  Today was my 750th morning on the road since August of 2011.  Time Flies. I thought to myself as I sifted through the a cabinet looking for my Aeropress.

"Rap rap rap,"  The side door of my camper vibrated.

"You in there Foster?"  Scotty asked.

"Yah man.  Come in and grab some coffee."

Here are some more links,

Start of Winter (Adobe Revel).