Days 5+6 - Mount Hood National Forest, OR

original date June 21, 2026. I started daily documentation of my adventure on another platform but wish to bring it over to Hive. Since I am only about a week behind, I will be back posting roughly every 12 hours until I am 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

Ok, I love this fucking van. I was a little nervous about my decision, but after just a few days I am so sold on this thing.

On Friday I loaded up as much free ice as I could from the motel, threw all the various trash bags and reusable grocery bags full of my unorganized belongings into the van, and headed out of Portland. I looked for the nearest Space Age(the cheapest gas you can find around here in case you find yourself in the PNW), bought a new cooler from the bargain mart(mine was objectively too small), and hit up a couple thrift stores looking for storage solutions for the van. I ultimately failed in terms of finding anything for storage- but I will continue looking. This is a marathon, not a race- or whatever it is people say.

For the meantime my stuff is just scattered around in random bags. Over time, as I need things, I will figure out a method. It’s so comforting having enough space to actually move things around and organizing while going through my shit. In the Subaru, essentially any time I needed to find one thing I would lose three others in the process.

The backseat has a power folding option to lay flat. It’s located all the way in the rear, and the previous owner had the middle row of seats removed- leaving a “large” kinda open living space between the “bed” and the drivers seat. I was surprised that the laid out seat actually very comfortably fits my 6’3”/192cm ass perfectly if I sleep diagonally. I thought I was going to want to make working on the sleeping situation a top priority; but this is more than apt. As long as I stay single 😂

I spent a good couple hours organizing as much as I could, and then decided to just lay down and go to bed. I didn’t sleep the night before, and I was just so ready to relax.

I woke up and drove to the Mount Hood area. Although I’ve never technically lived here, it is one of my favorite places in the USA. I have spent summers working here, and many springs camping around with friends. It’s an active volcano about an hour east of Portland. It was once considered a glacier, however I have heard that in recent years it has been downgraded to a “snow field” due to recent severe melt and disintegration. Due to the fact it has snow year round, it is an insanely popular spring and summer destination for skiers, snowboarders, hikers, climbers, etc.

Summers here are lively in a very interesting and unique way. 95% of the people here camp in kind of “unofficial” capacities. Random forest roads, parking lots; really wherever you can find that’s not already taken over by groups that have beat you to it. A good portion of the year round employees live in vehicles up on a certain part of the road that runs through the tiny town at the base of the access road. It creates a very lively and active outdoor community of hundreds of people all going up to the mountain or various river/climbing spots during the day, and eventually gathering around various fires and campsites at night. I typically opt for a specific forest road that is about a three mile stretch until it dead ends at a pretty little waterfall. The three mile stretch has dozens of different pull offs and campsites and as long as you don’t overstay your welcome and are respectful and clean, it is entirely free.

So for the meantime I will be posted up in this beautiful area while I get the van settled and figure out some next steps. I know I have some friends around here but I have yet to find them.

There’s an annual summer solstice event where hundreds of people all hike up and build a jump up by an outcrop above the lifts called Illumination Rock. I really wanted to participate in that today but, I decided against it at the last minute due to my ribs. For now I will spend some time down in the parking lot, grabbing water and electricity from the lodge and doing some boring adult stuff on my phone. I managed to locate my computer but not yet my charger- I sincerely hope I didn’t accidentally leave it in my storage unit but if I did, whatever. Not the end of the world.

Wishing you all the best and a very happy solstice! <3