(original date June 22, 2026. I started daily documentation of my adventure on another platform but wish to bring it over to Hive. Im almost all caught up. If I was any more behind, I would scrap it; but my OCD is telling me that I need the whole chronology on here. Excited to finish uploading the backlog so I can stop worrying about Resource Credits lol)
Still being able to see at 10pm is something special. I am much more inclined to night time and normally can’t wait for the sun to start disappearing and the creeping presence of the dark. But I do have to admit, the long days out here are pretty amazing.
It’s funny to me because one of the number one complaints from people out here is the lack of daylight. I guess that’s more of a Seattle thing, which makes sense because during my years living there I determined that the average Seattlites goal is to complain about everything. When I worked retail there I genuinely wondered if they had ever lived, or even been, anywhere else. It’s by far the most mild and pleasant weather of anywhere I have lived. It seems that a lot of people out there really ever only go to California and Hawaii, likely due to the proximity, and that’s all they have to compare it to.
I got off topic there real fast. But just know that if anyone ever tries to describe that place as a “hellhole”, as I often hear it referred to, take it with a grain of salt because it really is one of my favorite cities I have been to. Second in the USA behind New Orleans.
Anyways, yes, the solstice was great. Considering I couldn’t join on the hike to Illumination Rock due to my injuries, I decided to go down the hill a bit to find some things to help organize the van. Unfortunately there is no real town near Mt Hood unless you drive half an hour or so towards Portland, and especially with this gas-guzzler, it’s a real bummer when you forget to do things. Which I inevitably always do.
But! I did get some storage containers from the bargain mart. They unfortunately only had some smaller ones, and I think I definitely needed some more, but it’s a big step. I also found a little side table and lantern at a thrift store, but unfortunately I was dismayed to find out after buying batteries the lantern doesn’t work. I’m gonna see if I can exchange it next time I head down the hill but thrift stores can be weird about that sort of thing so, we’ll see.
I drove back up to the forest road where I’ve been camping and parked in my usual spot. I quickly got overwhelmed while trying to figure out how to re-storage my belongings, so I went for a walk up to the waterfall. The road dead ends in a little parking lot and the falls are a quick half mile up the trail from there, and right before the end of the road there’s this incredible little tucked away camp spot that’s almost always occupied. On my way up to the trailhead, I saw it empty, did a quick assessment to make sure the van would fit through the opening in the trees, and impulsively abandoned the walk and sprinted back down to get the van before anyone could take the spot. I tucked it in there and before I knew it I had lit a fire, which caused me to decide against going for any sort of hike like I had planned and decided to hang out in my little zone and eat some cheese and tomato. I really gotta get a stove.
One of the things I forgot to get while I was down in Sandy was some LED string lights. Every time it gets dark out and I’m in the van i picture how cozy it would be. I need to do an oil change ASAP and I imagine oil is much cheaper down that way, so I’ll have to make the trip soon. I gotta start writing shit down.
An additional reason that this camp spot was so appealing to me is that there is phone reception which is super hit or miss on the road. It’s also a quick walk to a trash can and a port-a-potty which is nice for emergencies. Thank Krampus for the US Forest Service for real. Anyways, I have pretty severe sleep issues, so it’s nice to fall asleep to something. It sucks to rely on but it does help. Normally I can manage to tire myself out enough during the day to drift off but when injured and lacking physical activity; well, it’s my crutch. I decided to fall asleep to some new David Spade movie. It danced the line between intentionally-unbearably-bad and just-stupid-enough-to-be-entertaining. I can’t in good faith recommend Busboys, but it exists if you just wanna fall asleep to something really dumb.
I hope everyone’s day was great and that we all keep striving forward. Life is hard but at the end of the day none of us are making it outta here alive so try to live a little and enjoy yourself. Do something dumb today! Much love y’all
