Oregon Adventure #1: Conquering the Dunes

Conquering the Dunes

     Mission: Find a Large Sand Dune and Climb to the Top!

              One of the things I've always wanted to do is get closer to the giant sand dunes on the coast. After reaching the limit of the road I now want to go find one of these large piles of sand and climb to the top!

The Climb

Luckily, as it happens a set of dunes were right along the road heading back from the beach. I pulled over to an atv staging area. A little nervous that I might get run over by one of these ATV's flying over the dune I set out for my first real Dune experience. Standing at the bottom of twenty feet of solid sand I decided to try and scale the steepest part. The sand slides freely every time I dig my cowboy boots in to take a step up. I'm reminded of those stair exercise machines where you're staying in place but supposedly climbing flights of stairs. Pausing half way up I look at the tracks in the sand and marvel at the fact an ATV made it up this without tipping  backwards.

The View        

              I finally crest the top of the dune, after a lot of concentration and balance. The view is a little surprising, it flattens out in front of me and is strewn with ATV tracks all over. I  turn around to admire the distance covered in climbing up then glance to the West where the ocean is still churning. Finally after tromping through the sand I slide very carefully down the back to my truck. As far as adventures go this has been amazing!

       

Oregon Adventure #1: Heading West

The Storm and the Sublime

Mission: Make it as far West as possible and take in the sights and experiences along the way.

         The weather was forecasted to be thunderstorms, possible cold funnels (tornado looking clouds) and high surf and winds. A little nervous and completely stubborn to get to the ocean I set out in my truck heading West. First stop, an all weather jacket just incase and maybe a compass for good measure. As a California transplant to the pacific northwest I have survived 9 years without a rain jacket. Today I finally gave in and got one, better to be happy and dry on this adventure. Fully prepared now I start to head west, rain and sunshine pour down on me as I go through the mountains on windy roads.  

       Finally, the trees give way and a river appears next to the highway! I catch my first glimpse of the dunes and take the first right turn towards them. In my haste i failed to note the dunes were across the river and after miles of residential streets retraced my way to the main road and over the river. I then spotted a sign for Dunes National Park. Wow! How perfect a whole park of dunes, I turn down the road and follow it. 

     At the first pull off with a trail over the Dunes in the direction of the water I jump out and run up the hill. At reaching the apex i'm knocked back by the wind and the beauty of the world in front of me. I seem to be in the eye of the storm, sunshine and blue sky's above with dark grey clouds as far as the eye can see around me. The waves are pounding down on each other and they are gigantic! I've never seen so many tiers of waves coming in to shore. I pull out my camera and sketchbook to capture the feeling of pure power that is washing over me. I'm reminded of Lawrence Halprins water features like Lovejoy Plaza. Wouldn't if be incredible to bring this stormy surf into an urban setting? 


After Spending time soaking in the ocean, I set off in search of the next adventure!

Escaping Studio: Exploring Oregon

The Start to a Great Adventure

            Amazing things do come from too many hours in Studio staring at AutoCAD model space. Other than of course precise beautiful construction documents. The need to get some fresh air and get away becomes overwhelming. 


           Setting out with no real plan other than a direction and a mission: to experience a new place each weekend. I've never done this before mainly because planning a real trip takes time and money which are always devoted to school. Since purchasing a truck, I realized two things: that going anywhere I could think of was possible on a whim and large mud tires with a little bit of a lift is a great ice breaker for meeting people. Most of the experience i've had of the greater Oregon landscape comes from I-5. I use it to get home to the San Juan Islands in WA. The trip usually consists of an overly stuffed car, two chatty cats and a lot of cafine and very few stops. This was not what I wanted for my adventure this weekend, I would choose a direction and go as far as I can in a day. 


Supplies:
- 1 Toyota Tacoma with 6" lift and big mud tires.
- 1 Camera + 4GB memory card
- 2 sketchbooks
- A bottle of water and a few granola bars
- Adventures attitude and willingness to be impulsive


Mission: 
- Set out in one direction
- Go only as far as can be retraced in that day (no over nights yet)
- experience as much as possible along the way 
- have fun

 
          I choose to head West, into the on coming storm and drive as far as my truck would take me! It should be noted that Top Gear (a British tv show) proved toyota tacoma's make wonderful boats. I don't think i'll test mines aquatic abilites though.

Here's to the start of many adventures!