My First Solo Camping trip

Before this trip, I had never been on a solo road trip, let alone a solo camping trip. I found myself wondering why I never did it before. It was some of the most fun I’ve had on a trip. Went at my own pace. Explored where I wanted to explore.

I stayed at Carl C. Washburn State Park on the Oregon Coast.

Video below is a modified version of a reel I put up on IG (with a trending audio).

I started the morning with a bike ride around town with coffee. Then Ubered over to get the Turo car. Turo is a pretty neat system. It was a bit more expensive than I thought it might be, but for not a owning car, it was worth it.

Got on the road and stopped at REI for some supplies. And, like tradition dictates, got the plantville burger and vegan choco shake at Burgerville.

Listened to tunes on the drive, just vibing.

Eventually, took a break in Lincoln City for coffee at McMenamins.

From there, my route turned south down 101.

I saw someone in the air and had to get a shot of them being badass.

The sun started to set and it was getting dark at this point and I still had about a half-hour of driving left.

Once I turned into the campground I looked for a way to check-in but there really wasn’t one. I had reserved the site a few weeks prior and put my reservation number on the dash. I grabbed a few brochures from the campground area including a tide-table and map of the campground.

Started setting up camp by filming myself setting up my new tent armed with my headlamp.

I love my new tent!

It’s a Durston X-Dome 1+.

It has a single connected pole system with a cross-bar over the top.

I was also trying out my new quilt from Enlightened Equipment, a 20 degree Fahrenheit rated bag that is made with Apex insulation (vegan option).

Speaking of vegan options, check out this cool food bag!

After I got setup, I tried to find the entrance to the path that takes you to the beach. It was hard to find because they were doing some construction at camp, but eventually found it! Ended up walking through a creepy forest (it seriously looked like found footage) vlogging to myself as I went.

It was cold mmkay? I had to put on my belay parka.

I had checked PhotoPills and I confirmed there would be no moon, so even seeing the waves was hard with just the star light.

Started setting up my tripod to get some shots of the stars and the Milky Way (which was visible!). Venus was actually very bright and there were a few ships out on the horizon.

I even got an okay pic of Orion

I didn’t realize I had my camera in JPG-only mode for most of these shots and edited them like I was editing RAW files, so there is definitely more grain/noise than there would be otherwise. And f/2.8 on APS-C is barely bright enough I think. I need to experiment some more with camera settings before I think about getting a new lens. Currently using the Sigma 10-18 mm x-mount for these types of shots. I have Alan Wallace’s amazing book on astrophotography that I’ve been meaning to read through.

After a while of shooting, I switched to RAW+JPEG shooting; and my feet started to get really cold. I decided having numb toes was the sign it was time to get back and get to bed.

It took a long time for my feet to warm back up, but I ended up getting good sleep and sleeping in, a little past 0900.

After getting some coffee and a snack, I headed out the same path in the day-time. This time, the sun was shining through those previously Blair-Witch trees and it was beautiful!

As I got out to the beach, there were actually a lot of folks out with their doggos. Walked up the beach a ways and found a spot that I thought might be good for getting a shot of the moon at a longer focal-length. According to PhotoPills, the Moon would have been in the right place around 0400-0500 the next morning. I kept that as an option, but knew I was going to have a full-day so wasn’t sure of the viability of that plan (i can be a bit eepy in the mornings alright? =D). There was ice on the beach! I had never seen this before.

Got back to the site and made my way south to Florence.

The Oregon Dunes and this area in general is one my favorite natural places. You can find dense forests, swamps/bogs, dunes, rivers, rocky formations, and of course the beaches. I stopped at the day-use area for the Oregon Dunes and a NW forest pass was required, which I didn’t have. So, I continued South past a few smaller towns to North Bend. The only fully vegan restaurant on the Oregon Coast is in this town. It’s called The Tin Thistle. I had been there before the pandemic.

But when I got there, they were closed and the pastry shop next door didn’t have anything vegan (the person literally told me “we don’t accommodate dietary preferences” lmao).

I navigated over to the Bi-mart in town to buy a NW Forest pass. I knew by this time, I was starting to get in danger of losing the light (it was about an hour north drive back to the Dunes area). Got the pass and started north.

The sun was starting to set as I got to the dunes and I was determined to get some self-portraits in a fit I specifically brought for this shot. The idea was to get a real “Dune” vibe at the dunes. I think I succeeded.

On my way out, the sun had set. But I wanted to get one more shot.

A replica shot of one I had taken in 2019, but this time with a photo of me instead of someone else.

The lighting wasn’t as good obvs, so I edited in black and white.

Once I got back I ate some food, and had some tea.

I wanted to try out the winter backpacker trick where you heat up some water and put in one of these Nalgenes. It. Was. Awesome.

My toes were actually warm and I slept even better that night.

The next morning I started packing up camp and headed about 10 minutes South to Heceta Head lighthouse. Volunteers where there to show inside the main house (but you can’t go up to the top). It’s actually a working lighthouse still!

I spent a little bit more time here hiking down a trail until I felt ready to turn around.

At this point, I was ready to start heading back up 101 towards PDX.

On my way, I stopped at this place I had grown up going to.

Really cool area and there are cool rocks and forests.

I was feeling wonderful and watched the waves for a long time before scrambling down to where these waves are.

Just spectacular.

I hadn’t felt this much joy in a long time.

I continued my drive home, dropped off the Turo car, took BikeTown home and ordered a Pizza.

I had some NA beer (since I did dry January) and started editing photos.

What a successful and fun trip.

Being my first trip on my own, I learned a lot.

• I learned that I need to test my water filter before I go! All the water was potable thankfully, but the Sawyer Squeeze I had would not filter, no matter what I did. So lesson learned there.

  

• Reading in the cold and actually getting reading done is harder than you think
• I learned that I value solo travel. Not beholden to anyone else’s agenda, I can just go or stay or whatever. Super liberating.
• YouTube Music creates an offline mix for you which came in handy as I didn’t have service a lot of the time.
• Thank goodness for the layers I brought

  

• Learned that having a Garmin inReach is still a necessity (since I basically had no service at the campground). Since I’m a solo traveler now, I need to make sure I can check with friends/family when I’m out and about.
• I crave more adventures like this!