Oregon Coast Range (2012)

**Demitri** · 04-09-2013, 14:15

After spending roughly 3-4 days/week last season (Apr - Oct 2012) in the Oregon coast range hanging with my wife and a friend of ours (and his small dog), I only just found out there's a whole community of hangers!

The way we camp is off-road, and very off-trail. We hike thru the bush and make our own way. As I hope you can see in the picture (this is my first time trying to post a pic, hope it works), we went the entire season without an UQ due to not knowing about them. The tarps aren't strung out because we didn't want to have lines everywhere.

This was typical of our trips, and we camped at this same site probably 20+ times over the season. It was one of our favorites. When the weather got too cold (I designed an UQ over the winter, and planned to use it this season - all still before knowing it had been done before - not surprisingly, the design is almost exactly like a combination of DIY and manufacturer designs).

Now, with all the DIY tips and tricks to go thru, I'll be able to streamline things, and move on to developing more stuff. (Current project is developing a hangers road-trip biking set up - we plan to bike up to Portland for the Annual Oregon Summer Hang this year!

)

The picture here is a panoramic shot of our camp, composed of 57 individual pictures (thus, it gets kinda blurry at full size). In the pic is our friend Cody chillin' out in his hammock with his black, toy poodle Var, (that goes on all the trips with us).

**Loki** · 04-09-2013, 14:33

Welcome to HF! That is one beautiful slice of forest ya got there...

**Demitri** · 04-09-2013, 16:30

Thanks Loki!

The entire Oregon coastal range looks like that. It's simply gorgeous. I've traveled all over the US (and 13 other countries) and so far, the northwest is my favorite. There's plenty of places competing for 2nd place of course!

Some of the things I love most are going to new places, meeting new people, and having awesome adventures. I've thought about starting a blog about the adventures, but I often have little clue what I would actually say in one.

"Here's yet another awesome place. Tomorrow, we explore more <insert positive adjective here> places, so stay tuned!"

Glad you like it.

So what do you guys think: Should I make smaller composite pictures of the panorama above that would be clearer, or just leave it the way it is above?

I look forward to comments!

**MAD777** · 04-09-2013, 16:37

It looks great to me! LUSH!

**turtlelady** · 04-09-2013, 20:49

HI, and welcome to HF from Kentucky.

My daughter lives in Corvalis, having moved there last fall from Portland when her husband went back to school at OSU. I am heading out to visit her next week. My hammock stand is already there, awaiting me. My hammock and UQ, a repurposed WM sleeping bag, is packed in a carry on, ready to roll!

Your composite photo is stunning. I can't wait to explore the Corvalis area during the day while my daughter is at work. I plan to borrow her car : ) If you have some suggestions of nice day hike areas I could enjoy, I would love to hear 'em.

Turtlelady

**TallPaul** · 04-09-2013, 21:01

Nice pic Demitri - just makes me miss the PNW. Used to live in Oregon.

One of my favorite places for a quick overnight on Hood followed the PCT, then I veered off trail, following a route I cross country skied in the winter. I'd pop out on top of a viewpoint & have the place to myself. Nothing like a little off trail adventure, eh?

**Hiker Philly** · 04-10-2013, 11:39

Nice panoramic composition! Looks like a great camp!

**Demitri** · 04-11-2013, 08:32

Thanks all!

Turtlelady: My small group and I kinda specialize in off-trail camping and hiking. This is mainly due to the fact that I am generally teaching survival skills, and try to make the environment as disconnected from the familiar as I can (while still making it enjoyable)!

As a result, my best advice for where to go is this: Look on Google maps for the area you'd like to go (I suggest the coast range, as it's generally closer and less gas-intensive to get to some awesome spots). I like to pick some BLM access road (This usually ensures the surrounding areas are BLM land, and thus, no concerns about trespassing since it is public domain) that borders a creek, or leads near some body of water.

After that, I drive (or this season, we'll be biking) there, find a place to park the vehicle, and then start hiking in the direction that looks interesting. When I find a spot that seems good to camp, I set up camp.

Our average trips are not generally any more structured then that. I do like to go up to the PCT from time to time, but that's a bit more out of the way.

TallPaul: You got that right! Love going off-trail. Always being as respectful as I can to the environment of course.

Hiker Philly: We spent quite some time working on building that camp into what it is actually. The rocks for the fire ring were hauled in from about 1.5 miles away. You can't see it, but that camp sits right next to the joining of a small stream (which comes down from a spring about 250 yards up hill from the camp) and a creek. We did extensive testing of the spring water (with a bit of help from some friends at U of O) and found it to be good for drinking directly from the stream with only minor filtering for particulates.

The trail that leads to that camp is well hidden by all the sword ferns, and if you don't know where it is you're likely to find yourself knee deep in large (otherwise hidden) patches of stinging nettle. Makes for a nice secluded camp site where we could really relax.

**bgraybackpacker** · 04-12-2013, 19:55

Originally Posted by turtlelady

HI, and welcome to HF from Kentucky.

My daughter lives in Corvalis, having moved there last fall from Portland when her husband went back to school at OSU. I am heading out to visit her next week. My hammock stand is already there, awaiting me. My hammock and UQ, a repurposed WM sleeping bag, is packed in a carry on, ready to roll!

Your composite photo is stunning. I can't wait to explore the Corvalis area during the day while my daughter is at work. I plan to borrow her car : ) If you have some suggestions of nice day hike areas I could enjoy, I would love to hear 'em.

Turtlelady

Honestly almost anywhere on the coast is fantastic lots of day hiking opportunities out there. Cape Perpetua is a favorite of mine and it is about an hour and a half away from Corvallis. Oh and don't forget to take a look at the sea lions on the bay front in Newport Oregon.