#4 - Coveys Great Adventure - Camp Hosting at Nehalem Bay State Park

November

 November 1, 2014

As you know, we haven’t been to too many places yet, but the Oregon State Park system is going to be the standard by which we judge all others. The people of Oregon clearly value these parks very highly. Despite heavy use, there is virtually no litter and I haven’t seen any vandalism or graffiti. None.

Reporting for duty in our official OPRD volunteer vests

Nehalem Bay State Park, like all parks in the system depends heavily on volunteers called camp hosts to supplement the park ranger staff. During the summer months, eight couples sign on as volunteers for one or more months. We elected to try the month of October. Since half the park closed for the winter season on October 1, there are four volunteer couples.

Camp host duties vary from park to park within the Oregon system. At Nehalem, the tasks primarily focus on “meet and greet” guests, camper registration assistance, firewood and ice sales, general grounds maintenance and fire pit and yurt cleaning. At this park we are not responsible for cleaning the restrooms and showers, but that can be part of the job at some parks.

Hosts don’t get paid money. Our agreement with OPRD (Oregon Parks and Recreation Department) is that we will provide 20 hours of work apiece per week for a month in return for the campsite and some firewood. Ignoring the cost of firewood, this works out to about $4 per hour.  We are on duty for 5 days and off for two days in a row. Our days off are Wednesday and Thursday.

Our workday begins with cleaning yurts. Yurts are circular “tents” that sleep up to 5 people. They contain a bunk bed and a futon, chairs, a table, lights and heat. The yurts are clustered around a common toilet and shower building, and all have fire pits, partially covered porches with picnic tables and parking for a couple of cars and/or a boat. Yurts are very popular and we are usually sold out every night.

Whenever a yurt is vacated it is cleaned by one of the volunteers before the next camper checks in. Cleaning one right takes anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour depending on how many people stayed in it and what they did. All surfaces are dusted and then cleaned with a citrus-based cleaner disinfectant, the wooden furniture is disinfected and waxed and the floor is swept and disinfected. Some of the yurts were built with floors that have wide grooves between the boards, a triumph of design in a sandy area, so the grooves must be vacuumed, too. The last step is to sweep the large porch, getting rid of the pervasive sand and pine needles. Once you clean a few you develop a system that makes it easier and faster.

One of the most popular features of Oregon’s coastal parks are the fire pits. Every campsite and yurt at NB has a steel enclosure complete with a grilling grate. I don’t know how many cords of wood are turned into smoke every day, but it is significant. On an average day during the summer, I’d guess that 200 fire pits are in use. That many fires create a lot of ash and partially burned wood. When a campsite is vacated, a volunteer tries to get to the site before the next guest arrives to clean out the fire pit and to make sure that site itself is clean. The majority of sites are left spotless, but a few need a fair amount of picking up. The tools for the job are a golf cart equipped with a metal trash can (think embers), a rake, a shovel and good gloves.

On October 1, OPRD went into their “Discovery Season”. In NB that means that the price drops, half of the campsites are closed and all of the seasonal employees leave. The remaining fulltime staff shifts their attention to construction, renovation and maintenance projects, and hands off  camper registration completely to the camp hosts at the kiosk in front of our coach. The hosts are often the only staff that most campers ever see. About 20% of campers have made reservations online and rest arrive looking for one of the “first come, first served” sites. Almost all end up talking to a host for assistance in selecting a site, filling out the right paperwork and help with whatever it is they might need.

We got “lucky” and were assigned the most visible host camp site in the park, right behind the registration kiosk. It also happens to be the only host site that our coach will fit into. Given our location, we have the primary responsibility for greeting and helping the incoming campers. It also means that we are the place people come first when they have a question or a problem. We have had people knock on the door after 10pm. Given we started about 10am, that makes a long day. That notwithstanding, we really enjoy welcoming people to the park and helping them to enjoy their stay at NB.

I described Nehalem Bay State Park in the last edition, but we keep discovering more, interesting things about it. Now that the number of campers has dropped off, the wildlife has started to emerge. NB has a large resident deer population that is completely comfortable walking through the campground at all hours, grazing on the grass that separates the campsites. A daily visitor to our area is a doe with two fawns. The dogs go nuts, but the deer ignore them. A family of the largest raccoons I’ve ever seen lives under the trash compactor across the driveway.

We also have a resident elk herd. I was dropping off a load of ash and charred logs to the burn pile (dump) the other day and darn near ran into them. I sat there for 5 minutes watching about 15 of them casually feeding on the grass and brush surrounding the dump. A few days later Kayeanne and I were headed to town and discovered them on the driving range that is just outside of the park entrance. They are really impressive animals, especially from 30 feet away. The bull is a lot taller than I am and is completely sure of his place in the order of things. Sorry, my pictures were lousy.

It looks like we may also have a bear in the park, too. People have reported seeing a small black bear, and I have seen piles of poo on the hiking trails that the rangers say are likely from a bear. I hope I can spot him before we leave.

We will be winding up our month as camp hosts on Saturday. We’ve had a great time and met some very nice, interesting people. Despite rain every day for the past month (it is pouring as I write this) we have signed up to host at NB next October. While hosting does save some money on camp site fees, our primary incentive isn’t financial: we simply enjoy doing it and love the area. Next year I’ll learn to fish for salmon, too.

Kayeanne’s thoughts:

As we come to the end of our month as camp hosts in this beautiful state park, I feel a sense of sadness although I’m quite excited about continuing on our journey.   We’ve come to know our fellow hosts and have enjoyed working with them.  We’re all from such different walks of life, and it’s been great to share stories and enjoy the camaraderie. 

We all show up at the meeting hall on Sunday evenings to play games. We’ve become quite expert at Mexican Train and a card game called “Golf”.  Someone lights a fire in the potbelly stove and most of the time it’s raining. There are lots of good things to eat which often include the crab or fish someone caught that day. 

Jason and Geoff 

The rangers have been great to work with and are most appreciative of their volunteers.  Cleaning yurts was not my favorite job, but I liked working the kiosk, (except when it was pouring and the wind howled).  Bob was a natural as a camp host, and I’ve never seen him greet the public with such verve and friendliness.  Everyone loved him, and I so enjoyed being with him in this environment. I’ve nicknamed him Ranger Bob!

The Oregon coast is very popular for mushrooming, and we spent a fair amount of time at it.  Searching the forest for “good” mushrooms is a bit like being on an Easter egg hunt.  It’s such a pleasure to cook and eat them without purchasing them from a market; however, we did check with the rangers before eating them. We settled on the King Bolete when we could find them because they are easy to recognize and are prized for their delicious flavor.  Sautéed in olive oil and a touch of butter and garlic, they are scrumptious!  There are also many “bad” mushrooms to watch out for, and the psychedelic ones are quite plentiful!

Yum! Really!

There are two lovely towns within a few miles of the campground; Nehalem, which is charming and rustic, and Manzanita, which is quite upscale and filled with wonderful stores stocked with unusual items that are too expensive.  There are great bakeries and restaurants, and we have been conducting a taste-off for the best clam chowder in the area.  Hands down, the Fish Peddler on the docks of Bay City wins the prize! Their chowder is the best I have ever had.

We wrapped up our stint as camp hosts this morning and are now at Valley of the Rogue State Park near Grants Pass Oregon on our way south. We miss our friends and family and look forward to being back in SoCal for the holidays. More soon.