wirednoodle's wanderlust: Rock Creek Camping Jan 17-18 2009

I didn’t expect another adventure quite so soon, but sometimes you just get lucky! Tye texted me around 9:30pm and asked if I wanted to go camping. I asked where and after hearing Rock Creek and a chance to meet the infamous Matt and Jeff (friends of his I have heard some wild stories about), I said I was game.

A quick packing of stuff and I was ready when Tye picked me up at 10:30pm. After a brief stop at a friends house to grab Tye’s card for his camera we were off. Well sort of, we made a stop at the Wal-Mart in Troutdale. Grabbing some snacks and a few essentials we headed up to the counter. It was then that Tye realized he had forgotten his wallet in the car. Oops! Paid for the stuff and off we went.

It was fairly windy in the gorge, but all in all it was an uneventful trip from I-84 to I-197 then south to Rock Creek. Tye had heard that Jeff had gotten his truck stuck, so we were to look for his truck on the side of the road (buried apparently) and then a sign to find camp. We arrived later then we had originally shot for, but rolled into camp at 2:30am.

We arrived in camp to see 4 trucks and a fire burning low.

We no sooner got out of the truck then out pops Spencer from his truck to say hello. Then from off in the trees we hear Matt saying “YOU’RE LATE!”

They had just settled down for the night 5 minutes before we pulled in. Tye was not real happy being the last one up to camp and said some rather unsavory things about working swing shift as opposed to graveyard (Last year he worked grave and was the first one to be at camp).

After 10 minutes of chatting, Matt proceeded to get up and came to say hello. It took me a few minutes to realize the guy was friggin barefoot. Let me catch you up at this point by saying it was around 23 degrees. Yes it was cold!

We gravitated to the fire pit and threw a couple logs on the fire. After chatting for a few hours, everyone headed to grab some sleep at about 5:30am. I wasn’t tired so I sat up by the fire and listened to my Zune (I work graveyard and had woken up at 7pm so I was wide awake).

After 20 minutes of listening to Carlos Mencia, I heard some movement and then a tent opening. Out pops Mike, a co-worker of Matt’s. Mike is originally from Minnesota and has the accent to prove it! He grabbed a chair and we sat and enjoyed the fire with some low key conversation thrown in every now and then. About the time the sun came up I tried for a few pics of the heavy frost covering everything and the view looking out of camp.

Jeff's truck after getting out of the hole he was in.

Later in the morning folks started getting up. Matt popped out first followed by Spencer and Jeff. Jayden, Matt’s son, made his appearance shortly thereafter and said he wanted breakfast. Matt told him to stay out of the mud puddles. This was shot 5 minutes after he was told! HAHAHA!

So shortly after some morning chat, we all piled into the rigs and headed down the road to the only restaurant in the area. Jeff and Mike were a bit late. They showed up in Mike’s truck and then Jeff mentioned he had set his emergency brake and it was now frozen. Oops!

We headed into the restaurant and ordered breakfast. While ordering, one of the waitresses asked if we were camping. After telling her we were, she said oh I love that wood smoke smell! Try getting that comment anywhere in Portland after standing around a campfire for several hours!

After a GREAT breakfast and a Jager Bomb (thanks Tye!) and a Malibu-Pine for me, other mixes for the rest, we headed to the general store. What an amazing place! They literally have everything you might want. Good thing, as Jeff needed to grab a couple things to thaw out his rear end to release the e-brake. I could have spent an hour and a couple hundred dollars in there easy, but I managed to force myself out the door after 10 minutes with a new pair of gloves (which I think are still in Tye’s truck).

Back to camp for some fun with the quads and to set up my tent. On the way Tye and I cruised through the Sportsmen’s area and the Rock Creek campground. Managed to find a good size log that we manhandled into his truck. I managed some time on the 80 (little quad that Tye brought) which was a blast. Before I went on a quad, Tye wanted to take advantage of the large mud hole near camp and get some action shots.

Then Jeff wanted in on the fun!

Spencer showed off with the little bike he brought.

The rest of the time was fairly low key. I was getting tired, but was having a good time and didn’t feel like hitting the hay yet. Spencer and Amanda decided to leave to watch the UFC fights, so I had everyone line up for the obligatory group shot.

Around 5pm or so we talked about eating again. After some discussion between hot dogs or real food, it was agreed that we should head back to the restaurant. It was then that Jeff and I had the best milkshakes ever! We ordered vanilla shakes with a shot of butterscotch schnapps. Oh hell yes! After a few minutes Jeff gets up and gets a couple extra shots of butterscotch schnapps (thanks again for that extra shot Jeff!). Two shots of butterscotch schnapps and a large vanilla milkshake will definitely set you right. Damn that was good!

Matt made arrangements for us to go over to Gary’s place after eating. This was an eye opening experience! Gary has a grand slam on big horn sheep and turkey. He has them all mounted in a huge room. That isn’t all though. There are several bear, numerous deer and elk (including a stag from Mongolia), cats, a wolf, and the list goes on. My jaw literally dropped. Here is a cell phone pic taken on Tye’s phone to give you an idea.

After we left we headed back to camp. Upon pulling in Jeff told us about something strange we had to see, so we loaded up again and headed off into the woods. We pulled into a clearing to find some sweat lodges.

Then the strangest sight, a huge arch structure built in a circle that had to be over 100ft across. The pics aren’t great, but if you look close you can see the arch bending to the left.

On the way out we found an outhouse that Jeff decided to get a close look at.

Then it was back to camp. I was totally exhausted at this point,but had to try for a good fire photo.

I was about 27 hours without sleep so off I went to the tent and some sleep. Not a bad night, but I woke up a few times cold. Could have used an extra blanket, but all in all it was ok.

The next morning I woke up about 8:30am. Everyone started stirring within a half hour. After some chat everyone started breaking down camp. Mike was the first to leave, but called saying the road was slippery. With that news Tye wanted to get going. Off we went.

We had to stop and take a few pics of Tygh Valley (this pic is a lousy stitch job, but you get the general idea).

Once we got to the turn to head back to town Tye mentioned a place that a co-worker had mentioned that he enjoyed, Mack’s Canyon. It wasn’t far, but I did have to work that night. What do we do? After looking at each other for a second, we turned right instead of left and headed for the Deschutes River.

A short stop in Maupin and we were headed north following the river. We hit the end of the road to find a bald eagle. The eagle landed for a minute in a tree right in the Mack’s Canyon campground. Tye managed to get a couple good shots, but as soon as I made to get out of the truck he took off. Here is one of Tye's photos.

The campground.

On the way out we stopped to look for the petrified wood that our co-worker had told Tye about. It was there alright! I had never seen that much in one place before so it was cool to see.

We also discovered the long lost origins of trailer trash.