Page 13 - 20060708 - The 'X' Chronicles Newspaper - July/August 2006

Ghost Hunting in Oregon 13 13 Ghost Hunting in Oregon Adventures in Ghost someone about something, etc., and then to this coastline. Even after 10 years of somehow, serendipitously, something just falls obsessively gathering every possible detail Hunting on Oregon’s in your lap to help you along in some way. But about this shoreline, I’m grateful I’m still Coast in Wheeler, indeed much of the bay area, it making discoveries. [] happens a lot more often. I spend a great deal of Oregon Facts and time in Portland and towns up and down the Oregon Facts and Continued from Page 12 coast, and this place, I strenuously maintain, is rivia very different. Newport’s Nye Beach area has T Trivia some of the same thing going on. Click here to 1. Oregon's state flag pictures a beaver on its read more on this. reverse side. It is the only state flag to carry two separate designs. 2. Oregon has more ghost towns than any other state. 3. The Columbia River gorge is considered by many to be the best place in the world for windsurfing. 4. Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the United States and is formed in the remains of an ancient volcano. 5. Oregon and New Jersey are the only states without self-serve gas stations. 6. Eugene was the first city to have one-way streets. 7. Pilot Butte, a cinder cone volcano, exists Another fairly credible yarn comes within the city limits of Bend. from Wheeler, from Winston Laszlo, owner of 8. At 329 feet the Coast Douglas-Fir in Oregon Old Wheeler Hotel. He's encountered several is considered the tallest tree in the state. things in that old building he couldn't really 9. At 8,000 feet deep Hells Canyon is the explain. Sometimes, he said, he believes he In deepest river gorge in North America. sees someone in the corner of his eye, only to the 10. The hazelnut is Oregon's official state nut. discover there's no one there. meantime, in and around all this fascination Oregon is the only state that has an official state Once, Winston was looking in a mirror with – and research on – the paranormal tales of nut. The hazelnut is also known as the filbert. in the hotel's public area and saw the the coast, I’ve seen dozens of crazy natural 11. Oregon's state birthday is on February 14, reflection of a man sitting in a chair behind things on the beaches. Sea foam so frothy it Valentine's Day. him. Winston says he turned around to look at flies upwards in huge chunks, looking like 12. The "Oregon Pioneer" statue that tops the the man, whom he didn't recognize as a guest, flurries of snow going the wrong way. The capitol building is a work by Ulric Ellerhusen. and there was no one there. summer of 2004 was so full of glowing This heroic figure represents the spirit of A pair of ghost hunters even came to phytoplankton sightings it was amazing. Oregon's early settlers. the visit the place and took photos of what Whales and their baby calves cavorting in a bay 13. The state park system has 159 yurts located they believed could be "spirit orbs" just near Depoe Bay. Huge bundles of unidentifiable in 19 parks. Yurts are a circular domed tent outside the basement area. Winston still has objects washed up after storms. Strange, hidden suitable for camping. copies of these. spots with an unmistakable mystical, spiritual 14. Navy blue and gold are Oregon's official My favorites, however, are the oddball vibe. And of course, there have been plenty of state colors. ones that are easily debunked or obviously freaks in the local bars – both natives and 15. The Chinook salmon is Oregon's official silly. Like the story about the Yaquina Head tourists. The list goes on. state fish. Lighthouse in Newport, which purportedly It’s all led me to the inescapable 16. The Willamette River was discovered in had the ghost of an assistant lighthouse keeper conclusion there’s so much more to Oregon’s 1792. named Higgins bumbling around the place. I coast than finding a nice beach or a bowl of 17. Darlingtonia Wayside is Oregon's only rare called lighthouse authorities once to interview clam chowder. There’s a whole other dimension plant sanctuary. [] them about that, and they told me they had recently received a letter from a descendent of the man, saying he had never died in the lighthouse but had moved to Portland and eventually died there of old age. The other, somewhat hilarious, part of this one has the TV crew of the Hardy Boys show filming there in the 70’s, smothering the inside of the lighthouse with cobwebs and other props, but leaving the place in such a mess that the organization in charge of the lighthouse at the time had to sue the Hollywood team to get them to come and clean it up. In recent years, I, too, have come across a phenomenon I can’t explain, but have certainly experienced it. Called the “Wheeler Moment,” it’s a legend that has to do with the Nehalem Bay area and how unarticulated thoughts and wishes just somehow seem to come true – or odd little coincidences just seem to happen there with startling regularity. Everyone has these: where you’re thinking about needing something, or wanting to talk to