Portland Hipster Hunt

Trip Report: Fourth Annual Portland Hipster Hunt

Early on November 15th, a group of CLC members new and old  packed up the van and headed south to the City of Roses. With the intention of being able to enjoy Portland well into the night the team stopped to at Paradise Point State Park and set up camp. With a lightened load and eager spirits, the group headed on to Downtown Portland.

After a brief review of the itinerary, everyone bundled up to ward of the sub-freezing weather and headed out after receiving the all important hipster hunt bingo boards. The initial burst of competition quickly lightened as everyone switched into urban explorer mode. Groups wandered all over downtown, seeing many sites such as the food cart market,  Portland City Hall, the waterfront farmers market, before finally ending up back at Powell's Books. Highlights include a beatboxing didgeridoo performance by The Urban Shaman, a very retro arcade, and two adorably yarn-bombed otter sculptures.

The group reassembled for dinner (pizza) and piled into the van to head back to their already made camp. The promise of hot-cocoa and cider lured people to the campfire for awhile, but with temperatures plunging into the 20's it's allure faded quickly.

The only reason to take your gloves off

We awoke to the sound of playful puppy barks. The camp host had two adorable corgi puppies that were desperately in need of love, and we were ever so eager to provide it. In fact we loved them so much that some group members decided to adopt them on the spot, and they ended up in the van with the rest of the team.

With everyone finally awake we broke camp and left for home with our recently acquired canine cargo in tow. After stopping for breakfast along the way we arrived back in Seattle mid-afternoon with high spirits thanks to the CD of The Shaman Man that was on repeat all drive long.

-T.D.