Camping at Tahkenitch Lake, Oregon

We take the Retro and Mike's new boat out for the first time since we moved

Ten minutes from our new house in Oregon lies Tahkenitch Lake, just off Highway 101. This body of water is dropped over the woods of coastal Oregon in the shape of a long-lobed maple leaf: one of the hundreds of relatively minor gatherings of water in a state that boasts some of the mightiest waterways in the nation.  

It was a bit overcast, but that made it cool and nice.

The hills surrounding Tahkenitch have been logged down to a fringe of old-growth Sitka spruce and Doulas fir hanging over the edges of the water. These large conifers leave no room for anything  so soft as a sandy bank, their branches splayed over the water as rocks hold them back. Behind the fringe of old growth, replanted saplings cloak the swales in velvety green, a little eerie in their uniform height, but reassuring.  

Oregon takes its lumber industry seriously and it appears sustainable, at least from where I sit in a speeding boat on this particular day on this particular lake. 

We streak through a misty gray aft…