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Zach Urness🏔️ Profile
Zach Urness🏔️

@ZachsORoutdoors

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I cover Oregon's outdoors for @Salem_Statesman and @USATODAY . Environment/recreation/public lands. Explore Oregon Podcast. Best Hikes w/kids Oregon. Girl dad.

Scio, Oregon
Joined February 2011
Don't wanna be here? Send us removal request.
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@ZachsORoutdoors
Zach Urness🏔️
1 day
The 400-mile Oregon Coast Trail is becoming an increasingly popular option for thru-hikers, given its lack of wildfire closures and smoke. September is an ideal time to do it. So I reposted our deep-dive podcast on the OCT with author Bonnie Henderson:
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Zach Urness🏔️
4 years
Trapped by downed trees and roaring flames of #BeachieCreekFire , Don Myron took three critical steps: 1: Find rock in middle of the river to stay overnight 2: Use plastic chair as shield from flames/embers 3: Drink @Rolling_Rock you found riverside
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Zach Urness🏔️
2 years
The dream of every Oregonian, it seems to me, is to explode whales and find D.B Cooper's treasure. Possibly at the same time.
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Zach Urness🏔️
2 years
Oregon’s Central Cascade wilderness areas have reached peak glory. Few mosquitoes. No wildfire smoke. Lakes at wonderful swimming temps. And plenty of fish to be had. Take advantage, my friends, for this blessed season is short.
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Zach Urness🏔️
4 years
Sad but not surprising news. It has been confirmed that George Atiyeh, icon that saved Opal Creek and changed Oregon, died in Beachie Creek Fire. This is a pretty long obit-feature about his fight. If you don't know the history, it remains remarkable.
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Zach Urness🏔️
6 months
One place in Oregon that ALWAYS lives up to the hype.
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Zach Urness🏔️
4 years
Spent some time up the Santiam Canyon today. Talking to folks that lost everything. Hurts. We've had big fires: Biscuit and Whitewater, Chetco Bar and Silver King. The Canyon Creek Complex and the B&B Complex. Even the great Tillamook Burn. But nothing like this. What a year.
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Zach Urness🏔️
1 year
BREAKING: A jury has found @PacifiCorp liable for wildfires and damages in all four of the fires. In an almost clean sweep, the jury found @PacifiCorp at fault on every question and leveraged massive $$ for victims.
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Zach Urness🏔️
1 year
*I'm pretty sure* Oregon's snowpack is the best it's been since 2011. The 2017 year is closest.
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Zach Urness🏔️
1 year
This sucks on the highest level. Quite possibly the coolest shop in Portland — and the only great place to buy quality rafting gear in the state. I don't have any details, this was just posted their FB page today without any other context or message.
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Zach Urness🏔️
2 years
The #CedarCreekFire grew to 51,814 acres as of the overnight flight. It's still a good 6-8 miles from Oakridge from what I can tell on maps, but more extreme burning today until winds ease in the evening/tomorrow. Latest update:
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Zach Urness🏔️
2 years
This was a fun one to write. "Shred the dunes: Rare major snowfall allows Oregon Coast snowboarding at Cape Kiwanda." Story:
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Zach Urness🏔️
1 year
One of Oregon's most beautiful hikes — to a view of where the Columbia meets the ocean — has reopened. Saddle Mountain has reopened after almost three years of frequent closures. Story:
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Zach Urness🏔️
4 years
Oregon senators @RonWyden and @SenJeffMerkley have introduced a bill seeking to protect 4,700 miles of Oregon streams under the W&S Rivers Act. It's called the "River Democracy Act." Hoping to have a list of each river included, but can see a lot in bill & on this map.
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Zach Urness🏔️
1 year
Oregon's snowpack is now 195% of normal — the median from 1990 to 2020, the most snow we've had in the mountains since 2008.
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Zach Urness🏔️
3 months
The ancient forest and turquoise swimming holes of the Opal Creek area were beloved by generations of Oregonians. In 2020, the Beachie Creek Fire torched the forest, killing 85-95% of its trees and destroying trails & bridges. We returned to see how it looks and what's next.
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Zach Urness🏔️
8 months
How it started v. how it's going. Oregon snowpack on Jan. 1 and Jan. 17.
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Zach Urness🏔️
3 months
. @uoregon students once again utterly fail to clean up after themselves after partying at Lake Shasta over Memorial Day Weekend, officials said, leaving a huge mess. It was in contrast to students from @OregonState who did clean up earlier this year.
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Zach Urness🏔️
5 years
At least when it all burns down we will have stuff like this
@chelseafree5
Chelsea Freeman
5 years
We found a little @FreddieFreeman5 @Braves 👻
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Zach Urness🏔️
3 years
The #BootlegFire in southern Oregon has absolutely exploded. Klamath County Sheriff is taking rare step to arrest or cite people in evacuation zone firefighters fall back. Story:
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Zach Urness🏔️
4 years
It is unlikely my journalism career will surpass this moment.
@Rolling_Rock
Rolling Rock
4 years
We're so glad Don's okay. Help us find him so we can send him some Rocks!
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Zach Urness🏔️
2 years
Silver Falls State Park is taking its first steps into a new era. It's been overcrowded for years so is planning ... -New 40 to 100 site campground -Visitor's center -Trailhead & waterfall trail to new viewpoint -Newish restaurant/cabin rentals Story:
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Zach Urness🏔️
1 year
Oh man. Don't like this at all. The Smith River corridor — right next to the Jed Smith Redwoods — is one of the most beautiful places on earth. But there's a lot of fuel out there. Ack.
@matthoffmanwx
Matt Hoffman
1 year
Here’s a look at the #SmithRiverComplex that shut down Highway 199 in Del Norte County, CA. This was taken at about 2:30 pm just before the highway was closed. 📹: Kim Olin
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Zach Urness🏔️
1 year
Oregon's @HighDesertMuse just got this little guy — a male bobcat kitten, approximately 8 months old. What's your pick for a name? I'm going with sagebrush.
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Zach Urness🏔️
1 year
Wow, Cliff Mass is predicting cool and rainy temperatures to return to the Pacific Northwest. This is quite a statement here …
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@CliffMass
Cliff Mass
1 year
The Northwest Will Soon Share California's Fate
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Zach Urness🏔️
4 years
We’re up in Detroit and it’s hard to put into words. But the community is talking about rebuilding. #OregonFires
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Zach Urness🏔️
2 years
OK, so judging by attendance at my kids' school and comments from parent friends, I have to assume roughly 75% of school age children and their parents are sick with some awful plague right now? That sound right?
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Zach Urness🏔️
2 years
A level 3 evacuation — meaning GO NOW — has been issued for Oakridge, Westfir and the surrounding area. The #CedarCreekFire is absolutely blowing up. Hope it misses the town.
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Zach Urness🏔️
1 year
Well that’s wild (in Portland)
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Zach Urness🏔️
4 years
BREAKING: Eagle Creek Trail, closed for over three years by the Eagle Creek Fire, has reopened along with other popular waterfall hikes in the Gorge. Details:
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Zach Urness🏔️
2 years
Yeah no complaining about Oregon’s cool weather. There’s extreme flooding in Montana, extreme wildfires in Arizona and deadly heat across the Midwest. We’ve won the weather lottery for now.
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Zach Urness🏔️
5 months
Oregon is home to the world’s largest dark sky sanctuary in SE Oregon. What does dark sky mean and how is it measured? How should you visit? What are locals required to do? We got into all of that. Podcast: Story:
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Zach Urness🏔️
3 years
Shout out to the fire crews clearly working their asses off to suppress around a bizillion lighting-ignited fires across Oregon before the big ugly gross angry 100s return next week. We appreciate you.
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Zach Urness🏔️
1 year
My goodness. I just published a story about a giant fire in SW Oregon and not 5 minutes later I had to yell at some kids about setting off fireworks (!!!) down at the swimming hole out here at the edge of the Cascade Foothills. I swear this summer is sitting on the edge
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Zach Urness🏔️
2 years
Today longtime Statesman Journal editor and good pal @DonCurrieSJ was laid off in the Gannett cuts. He worked here for 27 years. He’s been a steady hand, voice of wisdom and mentor to countless reporters, including me, for decades. It’s a MASSIVE loss.
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Zach Urness🏔️
2 years
Here, for absolutely no reason whatsoever, is a picture of one of my favorite chilly swimming holes in Oregon. This picture just feels like summer.
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Zach Urness🏔️
2 years
NEW: Super fun story about the guy who just set the speed records for climbing Mount Hood and coming down: 1 hour and 31 minutes! And he did so half-naked in naught but a pair of tight-fitting shorts. Story:
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Zach Urness🏔️
17 days
Oregon Gov. @TinaKotek has thrown her support behind a movement pressuring @POTUS to establish a national monument in SE Oregon’s Owyhee Canyonlands:
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Zach Urness🏔️
3 months
It's the most beautiful range of mountains the vast majority of Oregonians have never visited — the mighty Elkhorns. It's also a great family-friendly or backpacking destination. I broke it all down in latest Explore Oregon Podcast:
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Zach Urness🏔️
5 months
I returned to write about the Oregon Outback, where the mountains are steeper, history deeper, night skies darker and cuts of steak thicker than anyone has a right to expect in remote southcentral Oregon. Story:
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Zach Urness🏔️
4 years
Here's video from Mike Ferris, my fishing buddy, who escaped from Mill City, Oregon, around 2 a.m. As soon as he left town, he saw flames on both sides of Highway 22, including houses and trees burning. SJ story:
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Zach Urness🏔️
3 years
Oregon rain Twitter is the best Twitter
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Zach Urness🏔️
4 years
We started this day out with semi-good news - some positive signs in Opal Creek. We end it less happy. Shellburg Falls was hit hard by #BeachieCreekFire . When it reopens is anyone's guess. The trails are in awful shape. #OregonFires2020 Story:
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Zach Urness🏔️
1 month
I know a lot of gloomy news about Oregon’s outdoors right now, but the W&S Rogue River is absolutely perfect right now. Was 90% smoke free and basically empty by July standards.
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Zach Urness🏔️
1 year
I never get tired of watching kayakers run what’s arguably Oregon’s most beautiful waterfall -Toketee. Check out James Shimizuon IG. First decent of it was by Grants Pass’ Chris Korbulic.
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Zach Urness🏔️
3 years
Good morning snowy world but especially to our snowy creek.
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Zach Urness🏔️
2 years
On Jan. 25, 12-year-old Haley Pollman of Salem died of Batten disease, a fatal neurodegenerative disorder. Two weeks later, Haley’s family was shocked to read that, according to @OHAOregon , a 12-year-old Marion County girl died Jan. 25 of COVID.
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Zach Urness🏔️
11 months
Happy first Cascade Pass snow day to all who celebrate
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Zach Urness🏔️
2 years
#OregonWildfires are starting to get legit. We've now got the #PotterFire (~60 acres), #ToloFire (~50 acres), #WindigoFire (~100 acres) and the #McKinneyFire monster on the border. All lightning-ignited in the Southern Cascades and Siskiyou. Latest:
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Zach Urness🏔️
3 years
We've lost another gem. The historic Bull of the Woods Fire Lookout burned down in the Bull Complex on Sunday. The Sand Mountain Society worked tirelessly to keep it standing. Story:
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Zach Urness🏔️
4 years
The Gingerbread House in Mehama! It lives! I get coffee there before I go rafting on the North Santiam. Will have to eat there more.
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Zach Urness🏔️
2 years
The Forest Service is planning to reopen some iconic places burned in the Labor Day Fires this spring and summer. They're "cautiously optimistic" about opening Opal Creek Wilderness, Jefferson Park, the Pacific Crest Trail and places to gather glorious "fire morel" mushrooms.
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Zach Urness🏔️
3 years
Well I just got off a depressing interview. Short version: we've got an incoming lightning storm, then record heat, then another lighting storm (maybe), then the Fourth of July. "This year is going to be pretty active, and we do thing it's about to start in earnest."
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Zach Urness🏔️
1 year
Oregon snowpack looking pretty darn good for this time o the year.
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Zach Urness🏔️
4 years
Giovanni Mountain Pizza in Mill City! It lives! Best pizza in Oregon. That’s right I said it come at me haters! I get pizza there once a week. Great crust. Amazing Breadsticks. Does take a while. I place order in Detroit so it’s ready when I get there. Can’t wait to go back!
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Zach Urness🏔️
1 year
Great start to Cascade backpacking season. The Pamelia-Hunts-Shale-PCT loop in the Jeff Wilderness was stunning. Alpine lakes. So many wildflowers. Huckleberries. Very small fish. A few misadventures but my giant dog carried my beer so that made up for it.
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Zach Urness🏔️
1 year
How about some good news? Threatened western snowy plovers have made major gains in Oregon, from near extinction to 483 birds in the most recent count. They've been aided by beach closures that allow them to nest in peace. Story:
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Zach Urness🏔️
3 years
Believe it or not, but there's a major highway in this picture.
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Zach Urness🏔️
4 years
The legendary chair - and its two brothers - have been found! Friend of a woman with a cabin up Little North Fork sent me this. Don said he came across three chairs and grabbed one. They look happy. Didn't know what was coming.
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Zach Urness🏔️
4 months
Valley of the Giants, home to some of Oregon's oldest and largest trees, has been closed by a massive debris flow. It'll likely to take years to reopen its access road. I reported what comes next, what happened and the fascinating backstory of the VOG.
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Zach Urness🏔️
2 years
Pro tip: If you're worried "will the media find out that I'm doing X." You should probably not do X.
@GanucheauAdam
Adam Ganucheau
2 years
Brett Favre: Will the media find out that we're using welfare funds intended to help the poorest residents of America's poorest state to build a volleyball center? Nancy New: Nah. Oh yeah, the governor is fully on board! @ayewolfe five years later:
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Zach Urness🏔️
9 months
Some pretty wild pictures of Silver Falls State Park from photographer Erik McCarthy here. Added it to the flood watch story that you can read here:
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Zach Urness🏔️
3 months
Fourth annual John Day River multi day raft trip in the books. Daughters are now rapid running kayakers and anglers and campers. My favorite trip of every year and this one was no exception.
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Zach Urness🏔️
5 years
I've long thought this wilderness proposal by @SenJeffMerkley was among the most interesting in Oregon. Why? Because it includes a little give-and-take. Create a new wilderness area while freeing up land for economic development in the closest town.
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Zach Urness🏔️
2 years
Is Mark Knopfler wildly underrated? Such a unique sound. Dire Straits slaps so good.
@DireStraits77
Dire Straits 🎸
2 years
There's so many different worlds So many different suns And we have just one world But we live in different ones #DireStraits #BrothersInArms
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Zach Urness🏔️
3 years
Been feeling the loss of Opal Creek hard this hot snap. One boiling day a few years back I "creekwhacked" from Opal Lake down to Jawbone. No trails. No people. Real wilderness among titanic trees & emerald pools. So rare in Oregon, or anywhere. Sigh. RIP.
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Zach Urness🏔️
3 years
“The fire behavior we are seeing on the Bootleg Fire is among the most extreme you can find and firefighters are seeing conditions they have never seen before," fire incident commander Al Lawson said.
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Zach Urness🏔️
2 years
Made it out to Old Salmon River Trail. Came across this absolute unit of a western red cedar. Think the top was blown off but dang, was almost redwoodian at the base.
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Zach Urness🏔️
3 years
OMG I just worked on a totally normal, non end-of-the-world story about a landfill being turned into a park and MY GOD it felt so wholesome and filled with rainbows and puppy dogs, even with some angry neighbors sprinkled in.
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Zach Urness🏔️
3 months
Willamette Valley grass pollen counts have reached their seasonal high period. It's not last year's historically rough counts that went over 1,000, but it's still about as bad as you can find worldwide.
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Zach Urness🏔️
4 years
Man, I've talked to a lot of people with crazy stories about escaping from the flames. Not everyone is OK with their story being printed or posted online. And that's OK - important to respect privacy. But the stories are just beyond anything right now.
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Zach Urness🏔️
4 years
My house! It lives! At least I’m pretty sure. It was originally built in 1900 as a general store. No lie. I took this today while we were evacuating on a level 2. And yes, when it’s level 2 you get time to hook up your raft, which many didn’t get the chance to do.
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Zach Urness🏔️
3 years
About to write one of those modern love essays for NYT about my feelings for Oregon summer temperatures in the high 70s and low 80s
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Zach Urness🏔️
1 year
Lot of memories about the Labor Day Fires today. A surreal, confusing, tragic time. On a lighter note, and not sure why, one thing I remember really well was evacuating and not being sure what to do with my pet ducks. So I just tossed them in a tote and put them in front seat.
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Zach Urness🏔️
2 years
🚨New podcast🚨 Momentum is growing for the reintroduction of sea otters on the Oregon Coast. I talked to the @ElakhaA about: 1: How otters could help the marine environment 2: Why they were wiped out 3: How returning them might work Listen:
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Zach Urness🏔️
2 years
Just some peaceful pictures of Oregon for no particular reason. Five points to anyone who can name all four places. Two of these aren't too hard, a third might be tough to pinpoint, but if anyone gets all four I'll be impressed.
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Zach Urness🏔️
3 years
If you’ve ever traveled south of Cannon Beach, chances are good you’ve wondered about the hulking range of mountains that rise above the beach. It's a place of unique geology, ecology and scenery. Now, 3,500 acres of it is known as the Rainforest Reserve:
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Zach Urness🏔️
4 years
Ok I’m taking the day off, maybe even part of weekend. Peace and many thanks for all the kind words about the @Salem_Statesman reporting during a historic time for our community.
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Zach Urness🏔️
2 years
Oregon got a whopping 5,473 lightning strikes from Tuesday evening into Wednesday. That ignited 124 fires accounting for 123 acres, via @NWCCInfo . Most got rain and stayed small. Largest is 57 acre Dog House Gulch Fire in C. Oregon. Holdovers will be a big thing in coming days.
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Zach Urness🏔️
4 years
Poppa Al’s! It lives! They do indeed have a very tasty burger. Only ate there once cause I tend to need pizza from next door but the homemade bun is legit. I will eat there more!
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Zach Urness🏔️
1 year
Shout out to anyone camping in the upper elevations of the Cascades this holiday weekend …
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Zach Urness🏔️
4 years
Hey Oregon, I am going to go fall asleep for a minute please be cool and relax a little if possible thanks, zach
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Zach Urness🏔️
2 years
Weather news: Oregon's extreme fire danger should start to moderate by this afternoon as east winds die down and Pacific air (slowly) returns. Air quality will stay pretty rough through the weekend, with improvements Sunday night and big improvements Monday. #CedarCreekFire
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Zach Urness🏔️
2 years
NEW: The Pacific Crest Trail has reopened in the Mount Jefferson Wilderness, finally providing access to return to beloved Jefferson Park! You'll need a Central Cascades permit from one of the trailheads to get there, but it's finally official after an almost 2 year closure.
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Zach Urness🏔️
2 years
Oregon has released a new map showing that 57% of the state's landmass is at high or extreme wildfire danger (not 57% of population). Around 80,000 tax lots are likely to have new fire-resistant construction and defensible space codes/rules. Story coming.
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Zach Urness🏔️
4 years
This morning my wife got level 3 evacuated from her small school near Sweet Home. This afternoon I talked to people in Mill City who lost their homes Then my house was out on level 2. Now I’m driving with my raft hooked up and ducks in the back. This one I’ll remember.
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Zach Urness🏔️
2 years
Double rainbow in rural Oregon.
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Zach Urness🏔️
2 years
I wrote about three ways to hike the Salmon River's titanic old-growth forests — and get an underwater view of a creek. It's some of Oregon's best temperate rainforest trails. Story:
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Zach Urness🏔️
11 months
It was just a side thing when we started the Explore Oregon Podcast. An extra place to put our stories on traveling and reporting on Oregon's outdoors. Now, we've now finished 121 episodes and, though sponsors, have paid the salary of 7 reporting interns.
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Zach Urness🏔️
4 years
Word is that rumors are spreading about how #OregonFires started. For the biggest and most deadly, #BeachieCreekFire , we actually have a pretty good idea of what happened. Because we were expecting it.
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Zach Urness🏔️
4 years
The firefighters of the Idanha-Detroit Rural Fire Protection District made a dramatic escape trapped by two wildfires last night.
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Zach Urness🏔️
3 years
Just got back from a 24 hour wilderness escape in the Jeff. This new permit system really pushes you to go midweek. Nobody else camped at this gem. Caught a few fish. Felt a few raindrops. Much good, say I.
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Zach Urness🏔️
2 years
😂😂😂😂
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Zach Urness🏔️
2 years
Snuck outta work early today, picked up kids from school and we are offffffff
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Zach Urness🏔️
3 years
Holy cow is Wahclella Falls spectacular on a rainy day. It never gets old. Was one of my first Gorge hikes ever and it never dulls.
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Zach Urness🏔️
9 months
How about about some (mostly) GOOD NEWS on Oregon's salmon runs? Upper Willamette coho smashed records this year, as 40k fish returned. Once known as the "ghost fish" of the UW, coho are a legit target for anglers. But it's complicated. Story & 🧵:
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