48 Hours With Erik Leon | “An Oregon Adventure” | Ford
When I first moved to Oregon, I remember it being so dense and beautiful. It’s such a crazy unique place, and I feel like every single season and every single month I have something that I can do that is in a different location.
The way that I live my life and kind of go about it is I really like to believe that whatever will happen can happen. I’ve been surfing about the same amount of time that I’ve been snowboarding. Woo-hoo! But I snowboard as a profession, and I surf for fun.
We try as hard as we can to predict the weather patterns and how the swells gonna come in, but it’s completely unpredictable. When you show up to the beach and you’re like, “Man, I do not wanna surf right now.” I’m like, “Not one bit.” You kind of just force yourself
To get in the water regardless. Last known video of me before I go out. I am pretty stoked. I’m pretty happy. I’m glad I went with the flow. I don’t hate to say that I’m an adrenaline junkie, ’cause that’s definitely what I am. When I started riding bicycles,
I took off my training wheels in the first hour. So I was already like full head over heels for like going fast and being in control. Once I got out of the water, whatever happened for the rest of the day was just like meant to be.
I feel just fortunate to be in a place where I can just sleep outdoors and embrace like what we have on this planet. There’s nothing you need to be doing. There’s nowhere you need to be. There’s nobody you need to call. You’re just there and just existing. How it’s supposed to be.
Today we are gonna go search for some Coho down on the north Oregon coast. Going fishing is more of like a walk in the woods with a chance of catching fish. You’re still gonna get the walk in the woods. I have chips in my teeth from biting fishing line over the years.
When I’m out here, I just get to hear nothing. It’s like white noise. And your brain kind of goes elsewhere, even though you’re doing something. One of the coolest parts about fly fishing, or fishing in general on a river system, is that, like, there’s always a curve in the river
And you never know what’s on the other side of it unless you walk down to it. It’s like all connected. Somehow I have the same amount of energy when I catch a fish, or if I don’t catch a fish and I just see a fish, I’m still just as excited.
Watching something just exist in its natural environment is cool enough for me. I think we fit in as much as we possibly could in 48 hours. If the waves are good or if the fishing picks up, I would probably wake up tomorrow and go and do it all over again.
I mean, what else is there to do, you know?
In the first episode of 48 Hours, Ford Bronco® Sport ambassador and pro snowboarder Erik Leon leaves the slopes behind to explore his connection with the mythical Oregon coast.
Keep up with Erik Leon on social media
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/erikleon_/?hl=en
