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Published: September 11th 2006
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During August we enjoyed another month of living on the coast and giving tours at Heceta Head lighthouse. However, we discovered the summer months on the Oregon coast consist mostly of black kelp flies (millions of them) and frequent fog. At times we were so covered in flies it seemed we were in a dirty stable with low visibility. So, if you plan on going, stick to the spring and fall. On 1 September we hitched up the beast once again and headed toward our next volunteer assignment. The coast was a great place to live for 2 months but we started craving some warmth and sunshine. The campground we stayed at was beautiful but the trees were so thick we started feeling like a mushroom and our trailer never really warmed up. Our new location is the exact opposite in weather. Smith Rock State Park, our new home located in Central Oregon, is in the high desert with lots of sun, blue skies and beautiful rock cliffs just outside our window. Smith Rock is an internationally popular destination for rock climbers, both professional and amateur. We have over 2000 different mapped climbs with over 1000 of those climbs with permanent
bolts in the cliff face. There are lots of hiking trails, horse trails and mountain biking.
We put in a few more hours of labor here than at the lighthouse. We check the bathrooms twice a day and clean them twice a week (the ranger cleans them usually and we take care of them on the ranger’s day off). Mike gets to mow once in a while and we both sell annual park passes a few hours on the weekends. This is a great park to work in as the visitors are a different type from what we experienced before. Climbers and hikers tend to be in their 20s & 30s, rarely any children, and they are very ecology minded so the litter and mess is a minimum. This is predominantly a day use only park. The only overnight camping we have is a walk in tenting area with no open fires or charcoal allowed anywhere. The fire danger is very high in our desert area so the only place the tenters can cook is in a designated cooking area which has a firebreak around it. For us this means no messes in the tent areas, but for Mike
Learning a new skill
You never know when this skill will come in handy! it means no more Bar-B-Q for awhile.
Where we park our trailer is perfect. We have a large lawn with picnic tables, a mulberry tree (which we watch the deer snack on) and a kumquat bush. The mule deer come out to graze in our yard every morning and evening and there are blackberry bushes to pick. The view from our windows is of the cliffs and rock formations which make this park famous. Every weekend there are interpretive programs offered. Last weekend was about astronomy. Some people from the locals star gazers club came out and set up there equipment; Mike spent 4 hours with them and saw more then he could ever imagine. The stargazing here is great because there are no large nearby cities and the elevation here is 2,700 feet. This entire month is about archeology with a different program offered each weekend. Tomorrow night is a program about the Kennewick man.
I have learned something about rock climbers since I’ve been here. Watching rock climbers is similar to watching a snail cross a sidewalk. If you keep your eyes on them they tend to move very slowly, inching their way up the wall.
You get bored and shift your attention to something else then look back and suddenly they are half way up. How do they do that? The same thing happens when I watch snails (well, we are retired, we have time to watch snails) I was fortunate enough to try rock climbing with some of the rangers one sunny afternoon. I still can’t believe I did it. These weren’t those sissy artificial walls you see in the gym. This was a real rock face where I had to find my own hand and foot holds (sometimes just my big toe and fingertips were holding on). The first wall was about 2 stories up. Since I did so well he moved me on to a harder wall about twice as high. And I did it!!! It’s much easier climbing if you know there is rope to stop any falls. It was such a adrenaline rush.
It’s the end of October and our season of being a state park volunteer is ending. It was so much fun and we got to experience so much. From the ocean to the desert to the mountains. Our plans now are to head back to Grants
Pass to spend the holiday with family. One more trip......
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