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Quick Take:
Eugene resident David Johnston enjoys outdoor dining experiences that combine foraging for wild ingredients with peaceful riverside meals.
One local man enjoys the simple pleasures of foraging for his own food and then enjoying it in a beautiful natural setting. David Johnston calls these excursions “picnicisms,” which he describes as a way to appreciate life.
“Picnicking is kind of a lost art,” Johnston said.
Johnston is a 68-year-old Navy veteran who was born and grew up in California’s Bay Area, where he said experiencing nature “beyond the cement” was mostly out of reach for him. He went to college in Bellingham, then moved to Eugene, where he was involved with different businesses.
At one point a friend invited him to go hunting. That invitation created an opening for Johnston to learn to enjoy nature both for the psychological benefits of being in nature as well as to find his own food.
“I had in the back of my mind ever since I was a kid, wouldn’t it be cool if you could walk through the forest and feed yourself,” Johnston said. “The joy for me is just getting out into the forest. If I find what I’m looking for, that’s great. If I don’t, that’s okay because foraging is like a treasure hunt.”
Johnston forages to find food, but that’s partly just a means to an end to the real enjoyment, which is “chilling by the river.”
“And since you are by the river, shouldn’t you have some foraged food?” Johnston said.
Johnston’s picnicisms start with scouting new and scenic locations along rivers and keeping detailed notes on promising spots. He prepares elaborate meals using foraged ingredients such as dandelions, hawthorn leaves, and salmonberry blooms. Even wintertime snow doesn’t stop him from finding a place to picnic alongside water.
Johnston posts his photos in Eugene Foodies!, a Facebook group. In May, Johnston posted a photo of a venison burger with red onion and foraged miners lettuce, wood sorrel, thimbleberry flowers, and morel mushrooms, next to a peaceful brook which he identifies only as being in the Coast Range.
An April post shows a salad of thimbleberry shoots, wilted stinging nettles, dandelion leaves and flowers, hawthorne leaves, salmonberry flowers and leaves, big leaf maple tree blossoms, wood sorrel, and currant flowers and leaves with a vanilla-infused olive oil and raspberry dressing.
In March, Johnston posted a photo of a riverside picnic with elderberry-infused honey glazed elk medallions, and Dungeness crab with cream cheese, garlic, and herbs stuffed into morel mushrooms.
“It’s just the best way to really appreciate life that I know,” Johnston said. “When you’re sitting there and you’ve got the river gurgling and maybe a little bit of a breeze in the trees. You look around, nobody’s there. This is an experience you couldn’t buy in most big cities, no matter how much money you have. These are ingredients you can’t buy in any store.”
While Johnston centers his picnicisms around foraged items, he said that memorable outdoor dining doesn’t require foraged ingredients or extensive preparation.
“Make the same old sandwiches you’re going to make that day for the kids,” he said. “Go to McDonald’s. Take them out by the river somewhere, and they’ll have a memorable day that didn’t cost you any more than a plain old average day would have. If you’ve got the gasoline to get to the creek, that’s truly all you need.”
He goes on to say, “Don’t blow the gig if you can’t come up with something. Even a peanut butter jelly sandwich at a minimum — throw it in a paper bag and get yourself out there. It can be simple. You can pull in any boat landing, let your kids run wild and throw sandwiches at them while you’re alongside a river at a nice place.”
Johnston assembles his picnic packs strategically, getting his camping gear ready and packing light to avoid carrying bulky equipment over uneven terrain. He’s even mastered rustic cooking techniques, like the Swedish torch method, where lighting a fire in a hole in a log creates a natural stove.
“Besides the physical benefit of walking and hiking, getting out in that natural environment instead of seeing the outline of buildings all day has positive psychological benefits,” Johnston said. “It’s something that’s basically free while you’re getting some exercise and mental health benefits.”
Johnston’s time out in nature is therapeutic for him.
“For me, spending time out in the woods is my church, and that’s my therapy, that’s where I find peace.”
Five nearby places to picnic by water in Lane County:
- Perkins Peninsula Park
https://www.lanecountyor.gov/government/county_departments/public_works/parks/our_parks/perkins_peninsula_park
A green park on Fern Ridge Reservoir with a swimmable beach, picnic tables, restrooms and a nature trail for exploring. - Orchard Point Park
https://www.lanecountyor.gov/government/county_departments/public_works/parks/our_parks/orchard_point
A popular recreational day-use park with concessions, barbecues and picnic shelters - Alton Baker Park
https://www.eugene-or.gov/facilities/facility/details/Alton-Baker-Park-29
Alton Baker Park provides access to the Willamette River with an adjacent trail. - Elijah Bristow State Park
https://stateparks.oregon.gov/index.cfm?do=park.profile&parkId=60
Located on the Middle Fork of the Willamette River, the park offers 847 acres of meadows, forested areas and wetlands. There is an adjacent horse trail area as well as a large dog park. - Cottage Grove Lake
https://www.recreation.gov/gateways/232
Cottage Grove Lake is popular for swimming, boating, fishing and camping.
