William L. Sullivan's Blog
April 13, 2014
Just out: "The Oregon Variations"
My new collection of short stories, "The Oregon Variations" came out this week, with one story set in every county in Oregon, so it's literally all over the map. In the next few weeks I'm giving 20 slide shows in 11 Oregon cities to kick things off. Check www.oregonhiking.com under "Calendar" for dates, locations, and details!
December 6, 2013
Snowy authors fair
This is crazy, but if you're in Eugene tomorrow, Saturday, December 7, three dozen authors will be autographing their books at the county fairgrounds for the Authors & Artists Fair. Yes, there's half a foot of snow on the ground, but we'll still be at the fair, with sidewalks cleared and the Holiday Market running. If you ski, or if you're used to winter weather, trek to this event. A complete list of attendees is at http://www.lanelibrary.org/ .
March 12, 2013
New hiking guide available
The new 4th edition of "100 Hikes in NW Oregon" is now ready, complete with a dozen new trails in the Portland/Columbia Gorge/Mt Hood/ Mt St Helens area. Right now it's available as a very nice eBook for iPad, iPhone, or Kindle for 9.99 (with sharp maps and lots of color pix!). The print version will hit the bookstores in early April at 18.95. Check www.oregonhiking.com for details.
April 25, 2012
Draft of D.B. Cooper mystery ready!
I've just finished a draft of my fourth novel, a mystery about the 1971 airplane hijacker D.B. Cooper, who escaped by parachute with $200,000. If you like mysteries, I could use your help! I'm looking for "beta readers" who can read the manuscript in the next two weeks. If you send me a review with comments and suggestions, I'll reward you with an autographed first edition when the book is officially released October 1. Interested? Just send me an email at sullivan@efn.org, and I'll reply with a PDF version of the book for you to read! Thanks!
May 3, 2011
Snow levels still low
Janell and I drove to a hike two days ago and were turned by back snow just above the 2000 foot level! We hiked to Spirit Falls (on the Umpqua NF east of Cottage Grove) but could not drive to the Moon Falls trailhead. It's a late year, so add a couple of weeks to the opening dates in all of my Oregon hiking guides!
March 18, 2011
Short stories by typewriter
I'm off for a week of spring vacation at our log cabin, where we have neither mail nor cell phones nor electricity nor road access. But I have a typewriter, so I'll be working on another short story for a collection I'm planning to release in 2012, titled "The Oregon Variations."
March 17, 2011
Spring Vacation on the Oregon Coast!
Wondering where to go for spring vacation? Try hiking a new section of the Oregon Coast Trail between Yachats and Cape Perpetua.
Spring hits Oregon on the coast first, with trilliums and hummingbirds and weird sunny days in leafless alder groves. On this easy hike at Yachats you’ll pass a statue honoring a blind Indian woman named Amanda, and learn a bit about the dark side of Oregon’s coastal history.
The round-trip hike from Yachats to a stone shelter atop Cape Perpetua is 5. 2 miles, including a few rough spots on the cape. If you make your goal a statue of Amanda, however, you can trim the distance to just 2.2 easy miles.
Park along Yachats Ocean Drive, a short scenic loop just south of town, and walk south on the lane's shoulder. Just before Highway 101, follow “Oregon Coast Trail” markers to the right. For the next 0.2 mile the path parallels the highway. At Carpenter Drive, cross the highway carefully and turn right on a trail that climbs through the woods above the highway. At the 0.6-mile mark you’ll descend a wooden staircase to the highway. Walk 100 feet along the shoulder to find the continuation of the trail.
Now the path switchbacks up into deeper spruce woods, with views to Cape Perpetua. After the path crosses another small road, the route descends to a 50-foot footbridge over a pebbly creek. Here you’ll find a small plaza and a four-foot concrete statue of Amanda. A tribal ceremony with 150 people dedicated the site last summer.
After the Rogue River Indian War in 1856, the Army removed the native people of Southern Oregon to a reservation on the Central Oregon Coast. Amanda escaped and returned to her home on the Coos River. When soldiers caught her there 8 years later they marched her, blind and barefoot, over the lava cliffs at Cape Perpetua back to the Yachats reservation. Many visitors come to this wild part of the Oregon Coast for the scenery. But if you know the area’s history, you can also hike a portion of Amanda’s 1864 trail of tears.
Spring hits Oregon on the coast first, with trilliums and hummingbirds and weird sunny days in leafless alder groves. On this easy hike at Yachats you’ll pass a statue honoring a blind Indian woman named Amanda, and learn a bit about the dark side of Oregon’s coastal history.
The round-trip hike from Yachats to a stone shelter atop Cape Perpetua is 5. 2 miles, including a few rough spots on the cape. If you make your goal a statue of Amanda, however, you can trim the distance to just 2.2 easy miles.
Park along Yachats Ocean Drive, a short scenic loop just south of town, and walk south on the lane's shoulder. Just before Highway 101, follow “Oregon Coast Trail” markers to the right. For the next 0.2 mile the path parallels the highway. At Carpenter Drive, cross the highway carefully and turn right on a trail that climbs through the woods above the highway. At the 0.6-mile mark you’ll descend a wooden staircase to the highway. Walk 100 feet along the shoulder to find the continuation of the trail.
Now the path switchbacks up into deeper spruce woods, with views to Cape Perpetua. After the path crosses another small road, the route descends to a 50-foot footbridge over a pebbly creek. Here you’ll find a small plaza and a four-foot concrete statue of Amanda. A tribal ceremony with 150 people dedicated the site last summer.
After the Rogue River Indian War in 1856, the Army removed the native people of Southern Oregon to a reservation on the Central Oregon Coast. Amanda escaped and returned to her home on the Coos River. When soldiers caught her there 8 years later they marched her, blind and barefoot, over the lava cliffs at Cape Perpetua back to the Yachats reservation. Many visitors come to this wild part of the Oregon Coast for the scenery. But if you know the area’s history, you can also hike a portion of Amanda’s 1864 trail of tears.
