Major support for Oregon Field Guide is provided by... [ music playing ] WOMAN: Come on!

There he is, there he is, there he is.

[ exclaims ] Come over here, buddy!

Good boy!

[ laughing ] WOMAN: Whoo, high five!

Yeah!

ED JAHN: Next on Oregon Field Guide: To learn about life in the trees, you have to learn how to climb.

Welcome to tree-climbing school.

WOMAN: Oh, my God!

Then, what do you do with a thousand-pound pumpkin?

MAN: Go!

Paddle it, of course.

[ all laughing ] But first, a DIY story that spans the ages along the Oregon coast.

MAN: You get seawater and you boil it down, and then you get salt from it.

When Lewis and Clark finally made it to the Pacific Ocean, they hadn't just made it to their destination.

They'd just found an endless supply of something they desperately needed for food preservation and flavoring.

It was salt, directly from the sea.

Flash-forward to today, and Ian McCluskey has the fascinating story of how salt was made then and now.

McCLUSKEY: In 1805, the Lewis and Clark Expedition reached the Oregon coast.

MAN: Just after Christmas in 1805, Captain Lewis decided that they needed to get more salt.

They were running out.

And the only place he could get it would be the ocean.

[ music playing ] So they came down here and they started making salt.

Every year, members of the Pacific Northwest Living Historians get together at Seaside to reenact the original making of salt by the Lewis and Clark Expedition's Corps of Discovery.

Well, most people would figure, which I did, was, well, you get seawater and you boil it down, and then you get salt from it, right?

And that is what we're doing, but it turns out that there are more processes that you need to go through in order to really get what you want.

[ music playing ] Meanwhile, some 50 miles down the Oregon coast to the south, another group is working hard to make salt from Pacific seawater.

The team at Jacobsen Salt Company are moving the process into the future.

And both groups are using their ingenuity to take water out of the ocean and convert it into pure, clean, edible salt.

[ music playing ] The quality of salt starts at the source.

The estuary of Netarts Bay is an ideal environment for salt-making.

As the tide rises, it sweeps over beds of oysters, some of nature's original water filters.

Every morning, Jason, the operations manager, takes his morning coffee to check on the intake pipe.

This right here is our intake.

This is where all the salt comes.

This is where the process begins.

And we'll wait until it's slack tide, where everything is sort of settled down, and then we'll pump for a few hours.

But this is where it all starts.

At the peak of the tide, the water is pumped into holding tanks.

Then it is processed through reverse osmosis.

Reverse osmosis is a water filtration process commonly used to separate salt from water, also known as desalinization.

But in this case, they reconfigure the flow, separating out the freshwater as the byproduct, to leave even saltier water.

Lewis and Clark would freak out if they could see this.

If they could time travel, their minds would be blown.

And it's pretty cool that we're doing it in Oregon like they did.

Captain Lewis noted in his journal that the men dispatched to the salt camp returned "with excellent, fine, strong, and white salt."

But without detailed historic records of how the original Corps of Discovery made salt, for the reenactors, it's trial and error.

MAN: Uh-oh!

First times we tried this, we had gray salt.

[ chuckles ] I mean, it was gray and green.

Because the copper kettles that we have leach the green of the copper.

That was one of the things that we learned in the last couple of years, that cleaning the kettles is always a good thing.

Ah!

MARK: We're still perfecting our methods.

We've gotten it a lot better.

It's not as green as it used to be.

[ laughs ] MAN: Also, we started straining it through a cloth.

But I felt like an idiot, because when I was a kid and we milked the cows, we would strain the milk through a cloth.

It's like, "Well, why didn't I think of that?"

We're aiming to get it as beautiful and pure white as the Jacobsen Company does with their methods, but we haven't got there yet.

Back at Jacobsen's, Tim, the lead salt maker, checks the salinity as the water boils off.

When the brine is good and strong, he moves it to the next step: heated tables.

TIM: This is our evaporator room.

This is where the magic happens.

So right now, this is about ready to be harvested.

What's going on here, there's a slow thermal current that's active right now, and this helps our salt flakes form.

The ocean water that had started at about 3 percent salinity is now somewhere around 28 percent, a point when salt crystals begin to form.

Small crystals will start forming together to create a large pyramidical-like structure.

It is forming upside-down at the surface, and just when the surface tension can't hold it, it starts essentially snowing into the pan.

TIM: A lot of it's all eyes.

What are you looking at, what are you seeing?

Is it time to harvest?

Oh, looks like it's time to harvest.

Okay, I'm going to harvest, you know?

After harvesting, the salt is rinsed in the barrels.

This removes the traces of brine as well as helps clean away calcium and magnesium.

The clean, wet salt must then be dried.

They load trays into a specially modified shipping container that they can heat up to about 140 degrees.

And then we get this.

This is almost dry.

So this is pretty much what it looks like before it's sorted.

That's the next step.

Amanda's roots on the Oregon coast go several generations back.

She's the lead of post-production, the step where the salt is inspected and sifted by size.

I kind of like the way it looks coming out of the spout.

It's almost like it's in slow motion.

I do love it.

Nobody else is doing anything like this anywhere, so it's like a craft, almost like an art.

It takes about two weeks for the Jacobsen team to make salt from bay to bag, as they say.

But the reenactors have just the two-day weekend.

They keep the fires burning through the night, just like the original Corps of Discovery.

GLEN: We call this living history, and there's something extraordinary about trying to live it.

MARK: At the end of the day, and it starts to get dark, you can hear the ocean, you can feel the wind, you've got the fire light.

It's almost like you were out here in 1806.

JOHN: I can find what must have been the feeling that the men of the original Corps of Discovery had about each other, about their crew.

And, you know, poking at that fire and putting more firewood in there, it's a part of me now.

It's now the final day for the reenactors.

Mark checks on the salt.

It looks like it's about time to harvest the contents of their kettle, which has become a slurry, kind of like a porridge.

It's getting hot.

The slurry is drained in a canvas filter.

Then the remaining seawater is wrung out, producing at last the results of the weekend's work: old-fashioned sea salt... or at least as old-fashioned as the reenactors can make it.

The batch is laid on a board and spread out to dry in the sun.

The end result is not exactly the pure flakes of the modern coastal salt makers.

The techniques have become more refined, but the process is still as elemental as the salt itself.

TIM: When I look back at even Lewis and Clark to what it's come to now, it's still a primal process.

We're still using flame to heat up water.

We might change our heat source, but it's still heat to water to evaporation.

It's very primal.

I don't think that will ever change.

[ music playing ] -WOMAN: Getting smoother, Alaina.

-Looking good.

What we know about forests often comes from scientists working in the forests, and not just on the ground.

There's a world of life happening up in the canopy.

And to study all of that, you have to know how to climb.

MAN: All right, I think we got everything.

THOMAS: It's day one at tree-climbing school.

These students will be spending the next week learning to climb hundred-foot-tall trees like this one.

Alaina Makowski and Megan Schaap have never climbed before, and they want to collect pine cones for the Forest Service.

But cone collection is dangerous work and involves limb-walking in the world's tallest trees.

To do it, you need a certification.

I have never climbed before.

This will be my first time up in a tree like this.

Emily Boes has been collecting cones for about five years, but she needs to get recertified to stay on the job.

In order to climb, it helps to have an experienced teacher.

MAN: Oh, that's the one!

Someone like Chad Marks-Fife, who's been climbing for over 15 years.

My particular teaching style is very in-the-tree.

There is only so much I can tell you on the ground.

At the end of the week, Chad will decide if the students are ready to be certified.

This is all about safety.

I don't want you clinging to the tree, thinking, "If I let go of this, I'm falling out."

Like, you will always be strapped to something safe.

I guess more on a personal level, I wanted to... be able to overcome kind of a fear of heights that I have.

Just being able to just be high up in a tree and not be scared.

Oh, my gosh... CHAD: I'm a cone that you really badly want right here.

-There it is.

[ laughs ] -Oh, no, I'm sorry!

So I'm thinking more space here.

The one thing that kept me in the field of restoration ecology was if I could get up in the trees.

-[ groans ] -Oh, so close!

ALAINA: So just to have this opportunity to actually do it has been... a little dream come true, I guess.

There's a lot of really important forestry work that can only be done in trees, like studying animals that spend their lives in the canopy.

MAN: Oh, settle down.

Nobody's going to hurt you.

And for pro climbers, being up here is sort of a natural high.

You have a bird's-eye view of the world that you don't have anywhere else.

It's just a lovely place to be.

In the Northwest, pine cone collection is another big reason for tree climbing.

[ man laughs ] Perfect.

Without these cones, scientists wouldn't be able to research sick trees and replant healthy ones.

[ man exclaims ] Sugar pine, little brittle.

But even for experts, the danger is real.

Oh, geez!

Oh!

Climbers are routinely a hundred feet off the ground and carrying 20-30 pounds of gear.

Usually the only thing holding them up is a piece of rope secured by a bunch of really strong knots.

Chad demonstrates one of these knots.

It's part of a bare-bones system that's quick and easy to learn, but getting up the tree is a different story.

CHAD: This will be your first bar for whether or not you want to do this.

Arch your back... like that, and then push up.

Then reset your feet, arch your back.

It's going to look like you're kind of humping your way up this tree.

-[ laughs ] -That's just what it is.

All right, and when you're ready, arch.

-There it is.

-Oh!

Okay, that's a lot harder than I thought it would be.

CHAD: Climbing can be overwhelming.

Especially in a setting here where they have one week to learn what is a lifetime of knowledge.

For their first test, Alaina and Megan need to climb the tree and walk out onto a limb to retrieve a weighted line.

[ breathing heavily ] At 20 feet off the ground, Megan's fear of heights is catching up with her.

[ hyperventilating ] Oh, my God.

So Emily climbs up to check on her.

-EMILY: Hey, girl.

-Hello.

EMILY: You feeling all right?

Oh, God.

[ Megan continue hyperventilating ] I'm just having a little bit of a panic right now.

EMILY: Hey, just take a break.

You're totally safe.

MEGAN: Oh, gosh.

EMILY: And what can I do to help you?

Just going to take a lot of practice for me to get used to.

EMILY: Yeah, yeah.

Raise yourself up and get standing upright against the tree.

MEGAN: That sounds so scary.

EMILY: Sounds scary?

Okay.

MEGAN: Oh, God.

EMILY: If I need to rescue right now, -I'll go get stuff.

-[ laughs ] -You can do this.

-Oh, man.

-Sorry about this.

-EMILY: Don't be sorry.

Bless your heart.

You're doing awesome.

You can read through manuals, you can watch videos, but how your body is going to react in a tree is just something you don't have until you're there.

It's learning to trust something that you've never done before.

Emily knows how overwhelming all of this can be for first-time climbers.

She patiently coaches Megan through the fear.

-It's okay.

It's okay.

-Okay.

-It's okay.

-[ exhales deeply ] Okay.

I'm going to take a second.

-EMILY: Back on that other side.

-MEGAN: Come on, come on.

Okay.

Thank you so much.

You're welcome.

You're doing great.

-This is all part of it.

-Yeah.

She's learning all of those things that she can then carry with her the next time.

[ Megan sighs deeply ] That was terrifying.

That was fun, but so scary.

[ laughs ] You know, I think the more I do it, the better I'll feel about it.

In the late '70s, the Forest Service saw a need for national tree-climbing standards.

That's probably a decent shot.

With its rich tradition in forestry work, Oregon seemed like a natural fit.

And just like that, the tree-climbing school was born.

People travel from all over the country to attend, and from all walks of life: biologists, arborists, technicians, and even smoke jumpers.

-Stretch.

-Mm-hm.

Gots to stretch.

It's day three, and Chad's ramping things up.

CHAD: This is for climbing.

Let's do it.

Pretty sharp, enough to step through your own toe if you step on your own foot.

Go down as tight as you can possibly go.

I would not describe any spurs to be comfortable.

After learning how to spur climb, Alaina will attempt a mock rescue.

You're going to have to come get me off that tree.

-Ooh!

-Chad climbs the tree and pretends to be knocked unconscious.

-Crack!

Boom!

-EMILY: Chad, can you hear us?

Alaina has to spur climb above Chad, attach him to a rescue line, and lower him down safely.

It's going to go super well, and that's what I have to tell myself to get up there.

Okay, whoo, whoa!

Feels very strange to stand in these.

[ breathing heavily ] This is a big deal because I need to be able to do this in order to actually get certified.

Okay, I need this one above your line now.

-Mm-hm.

-Without whacking you.

EMILY: You're just going to have to gently raise it above.

There's no other way around it.

You have to get that lanyard above-- -Above his head?

-EMILY: Mm-hmm.

[ Alaina breathing heavily ] Oh, God.

Alaina just learned a bunch of complicated rope systems, and this is her first day spur climbing.

She needs to apply all these newfound skills to perform the rescue, all while supporting her full body weight on her ankles.

Oh, my God, if I could just get my feet up.

[ whimpers ] [ breathing heavily ] -CHAD: You're doing awesome.

-I know, I just... my feet!

ALAINA: I had this moment where I was freaking out, and I have to build this whole rope system and then get down to Chad and, like, reposition Chad and connect him to me.

And I was like, "Oh, there's so much ahead of me."

Feel like my muscles are getting exhausted and shaking.

Just trying to keep my composure.

I mean, I think I just don't know a correct resting position.

CHAD: Bend your legs and kind of lean back.

Oh, there it is, thank you!

[ sighs ] I'm going to try to think of what's happening next.

I'm making an alpine butterfly in the middle of this.

Alaina can't forget that she's got weapons strapped to her feet.

God, they really get in there.

The spikes are sharp, and they're dangling just inches from Chad's face.

Oh, there she is.

You're now connected to my system.

EMILY: There you go.

There you go.

ALAINA: Whoa, whoa, God!

Okay.

-CHAD: We did it!

-[ Alaina cheers ] EMILY: Yes, yes!

ALAINA: Learned a lot, made a lot of mistakes.

Switching the systems is daunting.

To take your weight off of what you've been relying on and then trust what you've built up there, I'm still gathering myself.

CHAD: She performed very admirably for a person going through a stressful situation and thinking for just a moment, "Maybe I can't be here anymore."

And then just collecting themselves and moving on.

All right, we finally made it.

Day four, the fun part.

After demonstrating a new rope system, Chad wants to test Megan's limb-walking skills, something she was too scared to do a few days earlier.

Megan, why don't you lead this?

Since she's going to be working a lot of cone collecting, I want to make sure that she can work her way out to the place that the cones are actually growing in the tree.

-Hey, Megan.

-Yeah?

You know all these times that I've sarcastically said, "Oh, my bag is stuck, I need it rescued"?

-MEGAN: Uh-huh.

-My bag's actually stuck now.

Okay.

My feet shaking.

[ laughs nervously ] CHAD: Kick it out.

Give me a little foot kick.

There you go.

Megan has to trust that this rope system she only learned a few minutes ago will hold her safely in the tree.

[ exhales deeply ] MEGAN: Okay, it's fine.

You're-- Just go, just go, just go.

CHAD: Can you flip it over the branch for me?

You can sit down if you want to, you can do whatever you like.

MEGAN: Okay.

CHAD: Cone is on the ground!

Doing good, Megan.

-Ground!

-[ laughs ] [ Emily cheers ] Oh, my God.

-What an awesome job!

-Thanks.

Wow, that was probably the most terrifying thing I've ever done in my entire life.

I did the limb walk.

It took a while, but... Oh, my God.

...I'm really happy that I-- I didn't bail.

[ laughs ] And I got it done.

It's the final day.

Rope.

And Chad's ready to let the students know whether they've been certified.

I am very pleased with the both of you as new climbers.

I found each of you to be totally competent in everything we did, and the things that made you uncomfortable, you did anyway.

I intend to sign you both off as functioning trainees in all of these techniques.

-Is that good?

-That sounds great.

-Yes.

Thank you.

-Yeah.

Emily, you are-- you are totally competent already.

You are confident, you are prepared and ready to lead and participate at this capacity, you know, if you will allow me to sign you off as a climber.

-Yes!

-[ all laugh ] All right, well, three success stories.

-That's awesome.

-Two trainees and a climber.

MEGAN: I definitely want to keep climbing.

I want to be able to just walk up that tree and just feel really confident and really secure and be able to just really enjoy being up there.

EMILY: Looking smoother, Alaina.

ALAINA: I think I'm hooked.

I think I need more practice and I need to get more comfortable, but once that's down, hanging out up there is just a blast.

[ music playing ] Picture strapping yourself into a thousand-pound pumpkin, then grabbing a paddle and racing across a cold lake.

What could be more Oregon than the Pumpkin Regatta held in Tualatin each fall?

[ music playing ] I was excited to get in the pumpkin.

It's really hard to balance and stuff.

They kind of have you stuff your body in there and give you a paddle, and off I went.

ANNOUNCER: Let's start it off in five, four, three, two, one, go, racers!

How often do you get to see people paddling pumpkins?

In costumes?

I like all the community.

I like being able to get everybody together, seeing the costumes.

And everyone's always in a great mood this time of year.

It's a lot of fun.

MAN: Oh, we love it, yeah.

There's just tons of different stuff to do, good vendors, good prizes for the kids.

It's really good.

I like the checkers game.

MAN: Normally you'll find me paddling out on rivers or on the ocean, but now I'm going to be paddling in a pumpkin.

MAN: Okay, just step in.

Yep, step in, I got it.

-You good, comfortable?

-Thank you.

-All right.

-Whoo!

I'm going to do my "otter-most" to go out and have a good time.

ANNOUNCER: Fans, are we ready?

[ crowd cheering ] Five, four, three, two, one, go!

WOMAN: Go, Tom!

[ all laughing ] I'm "otterly" exhausted.

That was the most fun I've had paddling for a year or two.

That was so amazing!

Highly recommend it if you know anyone who wants to do it.

You can now find many Oregon Field Guide stories and episodes online.

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