Bullards Beach State Park

Getting Oregonized

18 years ago, we snowshoed up Vail Pass and married ourselves. That was a perfect start to our unconventional life. It was a happy anniversary to us!

After agreeing to camp host on Oregon's coast for the month March, we were informed that we would need to arrive 10-14 days early to quarantine since we were coming from out of state. That had us arriving February 18th. What in the heck! Winter on the coast can be quite stormy and had been this year. But we got lucky and arrived in time for the mild weather to arrive. Other than a few days, the storms off the Pacific Ocean would split and go around Bandon. There is only a 15 degree difference 

between winter and summer on Oregon's coast. As long as the highs were in the low 50s and the sun was shining, it was pleasant for a bike ride.

We had a couple of bike riding options while camp hosting on Oregon's coast. The Beach Loop and return through the cranberry bogs or North Bank Lane along the Coquille River through

farm country.

The Beach Loop overlooks Coquille Lighthouse.

A stop for a light lunch at Bandon Brewery got chilly while sitting outside in the ocean breeze, making our teeth chatter on the last three miles home. We managed to have take away 

at several food trail restaurants along the coast.

In the winter, only 1 of the 3 loops are open for campers and usually pretty full. Part of our camp host jobs were to help clean up the other two loops. We would rake and blow a site or 

two clean each day. With 54 sites in the B loop, we would be done in time for it to open in May. 

One early morning, we heard raking and blowers in the "B" loop. The rangers at Bullards had gotten a call saying that Sunset Beach Campground would be closing due to sewer problems and it was the first Friday of spring break weeks. The rangers were out in full force, rakes in hand and equipment in tow for the challenge of opening by the end of the day to take in Sunset's refugees. We can't  have disappointed campers. Everyone pitched in.

Before

After

Most days we walk the 1.25 miles to the beach and pick up any trash we see along the way, before starting our daily duties.

These very small pieces of plastic can be seen along the entire beach.

Pearls Trail

Another path for a morning walk runs from the middle loop of the campground for a walk on the boardwalk. 

We rarely saw a car while riding along the Coquille River.

At low tide we visit the tide pools and high tide watch for migrating whales in the distance.

We are finishing up our final day of hosting but will stay a few more days to get our second vaccine before heading to warmer pastures.

Answering a few questions

Leaving the coast

We are going to try and answer a few questions people had about our experience so far as camp hosts.

 Oregon has many types of hosts including visitors center, lighthouse tour guide, kayak guides, and the list goes on, requiring only a month long commitment. Every state park has different expectations for each position. For us, the hours we work are more important to us than actual job. We prefer morning or evening work so we can have a bigger chunk of time off to hike, bike ride or sightsee. Some people prefer being inside a visitors center or lighthouse but 10am to 2 just cuts into our fun time and is a deal breaker.

 We haven't seen much of a down side to the hosting experience so far. Our orientation consisted of  handing us a set of keys and a binder to figure it out on our own. We are bright and figured out our own game plan. There are always people who complain because they did it differently somewhere else or know a better way to do things. When the negativity starts, we just nod, say "have a nice day" and move on. Sure, we were frustrated when we ran out of wood. We just put the "Out of Wood" sign up and went home. Nights could get cold in the wood shed. We put out our "see host in site 1" sign and went inside to read a book. If they wanted wood, they knocked on our door. As you can see, the signs are very important. Most things in life really aren't worth stressing over. If it is too stressful, move on.

Trail along the Columbia River in Warrenton.

The rhododendrons in bloom early

We had signed up to work a 2 hour shift at Astoria's Crab, Seafood and Wine Festival allowing us to avoid paying the $15 each entry fee. Standing in line to taste wine and eat in a crowded hall isn't our thing even if a band is playing. Another volunteer was so happy when we passed it on to her. Astoria had school bus shuttles to the campgrounds since the parking in town is limited and the 500 campsites were full along with all of the other campgrounds in town. We would hear the people whooping and singing while returning with their purchases as they walked back to their campsites. Then they would get quiet as they settled into their wine laden slumber by their fire. Everyone was home by 10pm. The extra security the park paid for was not needed.

Staying in a beautiful place and saving over $1000 per month in fees was worth the little time we spent "working" four hours a day, five days a week. Keeping our cash inflow greater than our outflow.  Allowing us time to take in the area.  Also, moving every 5-7 days can get wearing over a period of time.

The volunteer appreciation potluck was nice. We passed on the gifts. No place to put them. We don't see ourselves returning to Fort Stevens even though Marlo, host coordinator, invited us back. We loved the area. Been there, done that. Too many places to see.

Our drive into Oregon's Coastal Mountains was only 67 miles after we washed the pollen and sap off the truck and trailer in Seaside.

We pulled into Camp 18 restaurant and logging museum, the most popular stop on the way to and from the Oregon Coast between Portland and Cannon Beach. We lucked out and didn't have to wait for a table. As we were leaving, the Sunday morning crowd was lining up.

Our  next stop was LL Stubb Stewart State Park in the coastal mountains to be relief hosts for the hosts of the east and west campgrounds. We will take care of the sites once the campers leave and change the post markers for the incoming people.  We post our "see host in site 55" sign on the wood shed door as we are available to sell wood and ice two evenings a week. It isn't physical at all and frees us up in the early afternoons for a few hours. We will see if we like this job as the month goes on but so far, so good.  

We are in a great place to ride our bikes and hike while we get our toes wet.

Our first host job

Learning the ropes

 

We have contemplated camp hosting or volunteering at state parks for quite a while. Last summer on our tour of Oregon, we took a closer look at the parks, job descriptions and opportunities. We decided to sign up at several different parks in different positions. The positions fill early but often have cancellations. A few things we look at when choosing a park was how far the grocery stores were, how close  hiking is and the bike riding routes available.

Some of the benefits of hosting in Oregon State Parks is staying in a great park for a month or more without charge, free nights in route and free entry into local museums. Plus we get to meet nice people and feel like we are contributing in a good way.

Things were pretty quiet even with spring breaks in Oregon and Washington.

 

 

Our first position is Fort Stevens State Park located on the northwest corner of Oregon where the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean.  Our job is to sell firewood 5 days a week from 4-8pm. Our trailer is right next to the wood bin. On slow days, which is most of April except the weekends, we put out the sign to check with the hosts in site H1, our site. We just enjoy the rest of the day.

Western Skunk Cabbage

This eagle was huge sitting high in a tree along the river.

The 4200 acres of this state park is larger than we had realized with over 500 campsites, making it the largest in the western US. It is well laid out and everyone has plenty of room. This takes a lot of different types of camp hosts. Right now there are only 12 sites with host but goes up to 25 in the busy season. Some people's jobs are to ride around or walk and pick up trash and be available to answer people's questions. It is much about having an official presence on each loop.  

We like watching the pilots board the large ships as they enter the Columbia River and the tug boats that pull them along.

 Initially constructed during the Civil War, Fort Stevens remained active through World War II. Sea mines were used as a means to defend the river’s mouth from enemy intrusion. The mines were attached to the bottom of the river by cables, then detonated by remote control from an on-base switchboard. Everything associated with the mines, with the exception of the explosives, were kept within the Mine Cable Storeroom.

 

The miles of bike trails are well maintained and wind all through the woods in the park and are well used by the families. Our morning walk to the shipwreck beach is one mile each way and the trail around the Coffinbury Lake is 2 miles around.  We stopped at the lake on our return walk from the ocean to watch the Osprey diving into the lake and pull out a fish.

 

Some days, we ride our bikes the 4 miles to the historic area and along the river's jetty. There are tours both in an Army truck and underground which we can take for free as volunteers.

We like being right near three towns making grocery shopping easy and less time consuming.

We do get a bar or two of Verizon which is fine most of the time for us. But get a very cool Blues station which we don't find very often in our travels. This station features artists we haven't heard in ages.

The Peter Iredale was a 19th century, 4-masted steel ship that ran aground in 1906 on the Clatsop Spit. Today it is considered one of the most accessible shipwrecks of the Graveyard of the Pacific.

 

Kites were flying high during spring break.

We wake to the sound of fog horns of the ships going up the Columbia River from the Pacific Ocean in the morning marine layer.  At night we are lulled to sleep by bullfrogs that can get pretty loud at times. We like it.