Pacific Northwest Rainforest, Zigzag River, Mt. Hood, Oregon

To Oregon We Go! Parts 1 and 2 can be found here and here.

On the second night of our journey we were asleep at our campsite along the Zigzag River near Mt. Hood, next to a warm and glowing fire, when our dogs began to growl around midnight…

We woke with a start to see a man standing near our outdoor bed, maybe a dozen feet from us. He was illuminated by the light from our fire—a white male, average build, thin brown hair, thirtyish, somewhat pale—his features were soft, rubbery. The man was staring at us, not speaking. “Can we help you?” asked my wife, Donna.

After a very long pause he spoke slowly, with a hint of a rural accent: “I’m trying to start a fire…you have a real nice fire.”  Read more