LOYAL MEN FROM OREGON COAST TO MOUNTAINS

Loyal men used to do one thing: pledge and hold their allegiance to family and nation.

It used to be a point of pride, like being a Dallas Cowboys fan.

America’s Team, or just another outfit that can’t get out of its own way?

How can we stay out of our own way?

Start with knowing where you come from, and don’t forget it.

For example, if you grew up on the Oregon coast, name the town.

People are smart enough to know the coast has towns.

Ask a guy from Camden where he’s from and he says “Jersey.”

New Jersey is the state in between New York City and Philadelphia.

Jersey guy knows where he’s from. He also knows no one cares unless they come from Jersey too.

Then they are loyal men.

It’s not the same on the Oregon coast

Jersey has a coast. So does Delaware. They call it, “The Shore.”

Their shores are packed from Rehoboth to Wild Wood to Jones Beach and every sandy stretch in between.

Loyal men from Oregon see those beaches and reflect on the coast they grew up on.

Not crowded. Not warm and calm, either. Getting sand blasted there is part of the fun, like challenging each other to dip a toe in the chill waters.

Once you get used to the temperature you can put another toe in.

The Oregon coast is more of a working coast than relaxing. You have to work at having fun.

Being cold and miserable at the beach or in the mountains is more fun in Oregon.

2

East coast beach trip runs from an apartment with a cement beach/sidewalk out front, to a boardwalk town with little waves breaking weakly on the shore one at a time.

Having fun yet?

Oregon beach trip runs from the valley, over the coast mountain range, to a rocky beach with high tide waves showing their power to change the environment.

Before you ask, let me tell you about the coast range. It’s created by the ocean crust running into the continental crust and getting pushed down. The mountain range is the scraping of ocean crust.

Then the real fun starts.

The thinner ocean crust is forced down and pushed east. Along the way it heats up and melts and finds outlets to the surface.

Those outlets are called volcanoes. The Cascade Mountains are the result.

3

In Oregon we have real mountains instead of the worn down tired hills of the Appalachian Mountains that top out under 7000 ft.

Hike from the highest peak east of the Mississippi River (Mount Mitchell, 6,684 feet) to the second highest one (Mount Craig, 6,647 feet). On the ridge line of these giants of the Black Mountain range, you might find yourself above the clouds!

Hike from Mt. Hood to Mt. Saint Helens and you might find yourself in Cheryl Strayed’s footsteps.

Has there ever been a better adventurer’s name than strayed? Cheryl strayed off the path and still found her way home.

Then there’s the mortality rate in the mountains.

Four visitors have disappeared without a trace from the Great Smoky Mountains in the last 50 years.

Mt. Hood says hold my beer.

Mount Hood climbing accidents are mountain climbing- or hiking-related incidents on Oregon’s Mount Hood. As of 2007, about 10,000 people attempt to climb Mount Hood each year. As of May 2002, more than 130 people have died climbing Mount Hood since records have been kept.

The worst climbing accident happened in May of 1986.

I was in Timberline Lodge with a group for Mother’s Day while helicopters and searchers scoured the mountain for missing climbers.

Loyal Men To The End

Oregon tests loyalty at every turn. What’s it take to pass that test?

Willamette Week listed Mt. Hood hazards in 2016.

A guy from where I used to work, the Oregon Historical Society, climbed Hood successfully, then fell to his death on the way down. One climber slipped and pulled others roped in with him.

Then the rescue helicopter crashed into the mountain side.

A big group of loyal men went to his memorial.

There’s something about joining mourners for those taken too early.

It’s a bond of loyalty, of closing ranks, of pledging a new allegiance.

But to what? This was my takeaway:

Be that kind of loyal.