Oregon150

Brett Willyard
Broadway Middle School
Seaside, Oregong

Oregon is a very beautiful state, there’s only one problem, you never get the time to really explore it. But that all changed in late December 2007, when the power got knocked out for a week. The first couple days of the storm were fierce, tipping over trees in every direction. There was no way out of town for all seven days.

The great part is that whenever there’s a massive storm like this, our small town gets together. It barely rained the rest of the week, so everyone wandered the streets of Cannon Beach. We all were looking for houses that had generators, food, or at least heat. There was nothing to do without electricity, so this was the perfect opportunity to explore the true Oregon.

A large group of Cannon Beach teens decided to take a hike through the thick woods. About twelve of us took an abandoned path into the forest. We had to manage our way through trees that had fallen during the storm. About thirty minutes in, there was a large clearing that allowed you to see miles of undeveloped land. You could hear birds chirping, water nearby, and smell a variety of trees.

The view was spectacular out in the untouched wild. I got a real feel of what Oregon is all about. As we hiked further, we discovered that it just didn’t stop. So eventually, after we were satisfied, we hiked back to town, leaving behind a site that isn’t seen by many people. We spent the rest of the week making the best of having a town without any communication to the outside world.