Milo McIver State Park Estacada, Oregon June 25 – July 2, 2025

On Wednesday, June 25th we left Sutton Campground for a 4-hour drive to Milo McIver State Park in Estacada, Oregon for a 7-night stay. We were here a little less than a year ago. No one left painted rocks on the electrical pedestal for us this time 🙁

Over the past several weeks we had been experiencing some occasional leaking near the bathroom that I haven’t been able to locate. I have squeezed myself into the tiny access area looking for where the water might be coming from, but with no luck in locating a leak. So, we finally decided to have a mobile RV Tech come out while we’re in one spot for 7-days to see if they can locate and repair the leak.

Unfortunately, we couldn’t get anyone out before Monday, June 30th, so we were hopeful that the leak could be located quickly because we would be leaving that following Wednesday.

Estacada Lake Trail

Thursday morning we took Bella and hiked along the Estacada Lake Trail. Not much had changed since we hiked it last year, but Bella enjoyed the hike and all the places she could sniff that were probably new to her again.

The lake is beautiful and has some gorgeous trees and flowers on its banks, giving Cindy a chance to look up several varieties of flora with her phone app.

Then we placed some orders with Amazon for some things to be delivered to Jeremy and Wendy’s when we arrive the following week.

I also squeezed back into the tiny access area to take photos of the water pump (which is what we thought was leaking) and the water lines to send to the mobile tech so he would have an idea of what the layout was on our unit. Most other models we have seen show the water pump in a more easily accessible area than ours. With ours you have to lie down on the floor between the bed pedestal and the back of the bathroom wall (about 18 inches in width) to get to the tiny access panel. Then you have to reach into the small area to try to work with the pump and the lines. I’m hoping, for his sake, that he is a smaller guy than me.

We spent the rest of the day reading and writing.

Clackamas River and Fish Hatchery Trail

Friday morning we hiked somewhere we didn’t hike last year; the nearby Clackamas River and Fish Hatchery Trail. Last year we were spending most of our stop here over in Portland and the Waterfall Trail, so we didn’t get to these two places at all.

It was very interesting to see the Salmon Hatchery and watch them in their pens. You can see that in the accompanying video. We were both pretty amazed to learn that even these salmon, hatched in these pens, when released will return from the Pacific Ocean to the Clackamas River to this fish hatchery in order to spawn.

When we got to the Clackamas River we tried to encourage Bella to drink some water from the bank on the river, but she has never liked moving water. Fourteen years ago, when she was just a little puppy, we took her to Virginia Beach and she could not run away from the incoming waves fast enough! We have tried over the years to acclimate her to beaches, lakes and rivers, but she will very rarely get close to moving water and never steps into it with her paws.

This time, she finally found a fairly still area on the shore and took a few sips. You can also see that in the accompanying video.

For those that have asked; she is doing as well as can be expected. She still has some not so good days and occasional bad days, but on the whole we have been so grateful to have her with us much longer than we expected last year. She is slowly declining, but still enjoys her hikes and walks. We watch her carefully to be sure she is not experiencing any undue pain.

Upon our return from this hike we got out the clippers and trimmed her up a bit. She had a lot of long fur hanging from her haunches and it was catching some streaks of her poop. We were going to bathe her at our outdoor shower, but it was misting rain and she likes to dry in the sun so we just applied some dry shampoo for a quick fix.

Bat Barn Hike

Friday night we took the park’s Bat Barn Hike with Ranger Matthew. There were 7 of us in the group and we all learned some things about bats. Well, for Cindy and I it was learned some MORE things because we’ve taken several bat hikes around the country. I even received a Junior Ranger sticker for knowing the name of the bat that Ranger Matthew was showing us a photo of on the hike. Whoooooooo!

The Bat Barn was an old, abandoned barn that held fruit (the park was an orchard for various fruit trees before it was donated to the state) and the local bats have now taken up residency in the large wooden building.

Unfortunately, it did not get dark enough by the time we arrived at the barn for any bats to emerge as they do each night. We all waited another 15-20 minutes hoping that twilight would entice them out, but no go for that night.

Owl Prowl Hike

Saturday night was the park’s Owl Prowl Hike, also with Ranger Matthew. It seems owls may be more popular than bats, because we had 19 people in this group.

During the hike we learned quite a few things about these nocturnal hunters and both Cindy and I found it very informative. Unfortunately, it again was not dark enough by the time we reached the open field where they hunt, so the only owl we saw was the stuffed owl that Ranger Matthew carried on his shoulder like a pirate’s parrot.

Sunday Hike

On Sunday we took off in the morning for a hike along one of the park’s longer hiking trails and returned in the early afternoon. The rest of the day was spent relaxing.

The Leak Is Found

Monday morning the RV tech came out and what we thought was a water pump leak turned out to be water heater leak. The water heater tank holds about 6 gallons of water and the tech is pretty sure that is what is leaking. He will return on Tuesday to remove it and be sure that is what is leaking.

If it IS the water heater, we have a decision to make; replace it with another 6-gallon tank or install a tankless on-demand model.

On Tuesday the mobile tech retuned and removed the old water heater. After removing the insulation, it was clear to see that a seam on the tank had sprung a leak and was slowly dripping water from the bottom.

Cindy and I had decided to replace it with a tankless on-demand water heater. It takes up the same amount of space but as long as water is flowing it will heat it up and keep it hot. The tech spent 5 hours removing the old water heater and installing the new one as well as upgrading our water connections in that tiny access area to head off any future water line leaks.

Once all the new connections had been added with the water lines, electric connections and gas line connection we started it up and we were back in business. No more water leaks and hot water almost as soon as we turned on the faucet.

Now I don’t have to wait 15-20 minutes for the water to heat up after Cindy takes a hot shower to take one myself.

We spent the rest of the day getting ready to leave the next day for our trip to see our West Coast Family.

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