TRIP PLANNER: TILLAMOOK COAST PG. 84
How to Style a Log Cabin
Cooking With Mulberries
What We Can Learn From Tribal Forestry
I NSI D
The
Beginner’s Guide to
E:
B R IT COLU ISH M GETA BIA W GUID AY E
Tent Camping TIPS, GEAR + 5 SPOTS TO SPEND YOUR SUMMER NIGHTS
SUMMER MUSIC FESTIVALS YOU WON’T WANT TO MISS INCLUSIVE OUTDOOR ADVENTURES
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Rich Bacon
Find a campsite with a good, flat area for setting up your tent.
The Ultimate
TENT CAMPING Guide for Beginners … AND THE GEAR TO GET YOU THERE
written by Jean Chen Smith | illustrations by Maggie Wauklyn Something stirs in my soul when I am surrounded by nature in our state. It is an awakening of the senses— hearing the birds sing their unique melodies, smelling the Douglas firs, watching the flutter of branches as a bluebird takes flight, and even feeling the raindrops on my face. These are some of the reasons I love camping so much. When temperatures warm, one of my favorite things to do is pack the car up for a two- or three-night tent camping adventure. Tent camping can be both easy and affordable. You are able to drive up to the campsite location without having to lug all your gear on your back. In some instances, you must reserve a spot ahead of time. Some campgrounds have facilities such as communal showers and bathrooms. If you are a beginner, do not fret. Here are ten fundamentals for tent camping, along with our ultimate gear guide, so you can relax and enjoy your adventure.
Restorative Balance Oregon’s tribes bring ancestral knowledge back into forestry written and photographed by Daniel O’Neil
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Oregon white oak, Douglas fir and Mount Hood define the landscape in the eastern Columbia River Gorge.
T’S HARD TO SAY who really arrived here first. As the last Ice Age glaciers melted away a little more than 10,000 years ago, today’s forests unfolded into the woods we know. Yet archaeologists have found remains of people in modern-day Oregon that date back 18,000 years, and the tribes begin their story when the Creator placed them here long, long ago. Either way, Oregon’s forests and its Indigenous peoples have essentially co-existed forever. As forests emerged across what became Oregon, tribes evolved with them, shaping them with elements like fire and being shaped by communities of plants and animals. Yet since the arrival of Euro-Americans, profit-driven mismanagement of Oregon’s forests has led to unhealthy, unstable, and fire-prone ecosystems, all in a rapidly changing climate. In this new century, public and private landowners have begun to collaborate with local tribes to revitalize Oregon’s forests. Such partnerships benefit tribes, non-tribal entities and forest ecosystems across the state. They also help build relationships founded on a shared respect for each other and for Oregon’s forestland. The age of tribal forestry has dawned, even though it has been here the whole time.
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Tillamook Coast This coastal region is a watery, culinary, cheesy—and collaborative—wonderland written by James Sinks
Tillamook Coast Visitors Association
PRIOR TO statehood, there was no easy overland route to Tillamook Bay. So, before refrigeration was a thing, settlers had to rely on faster seafaring shippers to transport dairy and farm products to market in more populous Astoria and Portland. Thus, when traders said in the 1850s they’d no longer make the treacherous trek into the bay, it could have been disastrous. Cranky and motivated, the community came together and built its own boat, milling local lumber and scrounging metal and sails from nearby shipwrecks. Local tribal members even aided in the construction of what became the state’s first christened ship, and the Morning Star of Tillamook made its maiden voyage in 1855. It stands as an example of an apt oxymoron—independent cooperation—that still defines the Tillamook Coast. In 1909, family dairies teamed to create the Tillamook County Creamery Association, paying $10 each to get it started. Now, working
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together, they produce some of the best cheddar on the planet (and other delicious stuff to test your lactose tolerance). In the 1950s, after a series of “Tillamook Burn” forest fires scorched the coast range, the sawmill-supported community helped in the massive reforestation effort. More recently, independent food producers joined to showcase the region’s surf-turf-and-farm bounty, collectively calling themselves the North Coast Food Trail. And after years of reluctance, strongheaded locals who saw Tillamook only as a timber-and-farm economy have been swayed by a collaborative tourism sector. “Tourism used to be a dirty word here, but not anymore,” said Nan Devlin, director of the Tillamook Coast Visitors Association, before a recent gala awards banquet celebrating everything from breweries to bookstores to museums. The welcome mat is officially out. The mat also might be a little rain-soaked in these parts, but don’t let that dampen your excitement for a packed—and flavorful—itinerary. Prowl uncrowded beaches and trails. Ride the rails. Unleash adrenaline in the sand. Float the bay. Actually catch some dinner. And, of course, ignore calorie labels and your doctor, and sample the cheese and the ice cream with abandon. Tillamook is abundant enough to fill a weekend— and your cooler—and then some.
Not merely wonderful dairy, the Tillamook Coast has some of the most scenic hikes on the Oregon Coast.
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