![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.foresthiker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/Loki-spotting-2optmzed.jpg\" "\\"Loki-spotting-2optmzed\\"")
<\/a>Have you ever seen a dog stick his nose into the air to take the measure of a place?\u00a0 For me these remote valleys each have a distinct character that guide the elk, shield the beavers that call it home, and nurture the shadowy carpets of duff that split to reveal buttery chanterelles.<\/p>\nDigging for the buried stories<\/p>\n
Several years ago, I explained to a friend that I was\u00a0writing a book about the forests and trails that stretched from Portland to the coast. \u201cAside from describing trail routes, what more is there to say\u201d, he asked? To him the Coast range was a vast expanse of forest that was occasionally visited by hunters, fishermen and loggers. Where, in these remote forests, were the dramatic stories that might interest people, he wondered?<\/p>\n
After years of crisscrossing these mountains, I recognized that this corner of Oregon was full of stories if one only knew where to look. These remote forests were rippling with historic undercurrents. Digging deeper, I discovered footpaths made by the region\u2019s first people. In the foothills I followed the blaze marks of the ax-wielding trailblazers. Along the wild Salmonberry River I walked the trestles and tunnels of our determined railroad builders. The deeper I penetrated the denser the story became.<\/p>\n
More than a hiking guide.<\/p>\n
I started this project describing two hiking routes to the coast, but soon I found myself digging deep into Oregon’s history. Not satisfied with just hiking 1,500 miles of old logging roads, I began to systematically collecting long-lost anecdotes from century-old newspapers, hunting for out-of-print pioneer memoirs, pouring through obscure community histories, and culling archeological reports.<\/p>\n
As my hikes took me deeper into the Coast range, the research uncovered an epic contest between Oregon\u2019s primeval forest and the determinism of the American frontier. And the cast of characters exploded beyond the foresters, private land managers and lumberjacks that one might expect to find, to include the Calapooyans, the colorful voyageurs, the hard-scrabble homesteaders, the bull whackers, and even the violent “Wobs\u201d that shaped this remarkable history.<\/p>\n
This book will be for those people who want to explore aimlessly and to be rewarded endlessly. It is my hope that you will enjoy your natural surrounding by following the Coast Range trails I\u2019ve surveyed. And that my digging into the heritage of the place it will give you a greater appreciation for the complex history\u00a0 that this forgotten corner of Oregon yet another dimension to appreciate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Oregon\u2019s Forgotten Corner. For those of you who actually read this blog on a regular basis, it may have become apparent that I am using this medium to assemble and present the first draft of a book about Oregon\u2019s forgotten … Continue reading