THE RUGGED ROAD LESS TRAVELLED.
Day 46 – We got up at 7:30, sunny & breezy, 51 degrees. Today we’re going to finish our exploring of the southern coastal Oregon area. We left Idaho & arrived in eastern Oregon one month ago. We haven’t wanted to leave. It’s a beautiful State and we saw very little of it. We MUST come back. On our way out this morning we paid for 1 more night at Harris Beach; we will have been here 9 nights in the same campground when we leave tomorrow – that’s a record for us except for when we’ve camped on our land in Maine.
We drove south on Highway 101 through Brookings/Harbor & turned onto Oceanview Drive, wanting to get as close to the Ocean as we could. This took us through the “Easter Lily Capitol of the World” or so they say……Smith River, CA, which is close by, also makes this claim. This area supposedly produces 95% of the Easter Lilies. Lots of very green fields, no lilies to see. Back on the 101, we stopped at the visitor center at Crissy Field State Park, right on the border of OR & CA. This visitor’s center had more pamphlets & information about Oregon in one place than we’ve seen anywhere. If you are coming from the south into OR, we highly advise you to stop here. Anything you might want to know about the whole State can be found here.
We crossed the highway here and took Winchuck Road, along the Winchuck River. We had read about the Oregon Redwoods Trail which winds over the top of a ridge near the border. We followed directions and crossed a small bridge over the Winchuck River to the other side. It was supposed to be 4 miles from there to the Trail. The road was dirt with potholes & puddles, very narrow and one lane, winding along a cliff to the top of a ridge through large trees. At times we wondered if we should turn around. It was slow-going & treacherous, but some logging had been done, so we kept telling ourselves that if big logging trucks could do this……
4 miles of narrow, rutted dirt road to get to the Oregon Redwoods Trail, near Winchuck River, Brookings, OR
4 miles of narrow, rutted dirt road to get to the Oregon Redwoods Trail, near Winchuck River, Brookings, OR
The thought occurred to us that we sure would hate to meet a logging truck on its way down this road as we were travelling up it! We finally reached the sign for the Oregon Redwoods Trail, parked the car, noted that there was one other car there, and headed for the beginning of the trail. A hiker was coming out off the trail, greeted us, and I complimented his t-shirt, a great Obama shirt. Thumbs up, we bonded, like minds, etc., he said sometimes it was a little iffy wearing the shirt & running into people; I told him to check out our bumper sticker when he went to his car. We watched him as he did that and chuckled, saying Yeah Bernie. LOL.
The trail was really nice with large old Redwoods and Douglas Fir trees. We meandered thru the woods, not so wet and rain-forest-like as yesterday, but there still was that feeling of awe as you stroll through an area of such old, ancient trees.
Rob and Vicki, Oregon Redwoods Trail, near Winchuck River, Brookings, OR
We drove back down the rugged road less travelled, driving down was easier than driving up, and thankfully didn’t encounter other vehicles. Eventually back on paved roads, we followed the Winchuck River back to Highway 101 and north to the Post Office in Brookings/Harbor. Picked up our mail, our absentee ballots were in the envelope with the other mail, LIN you’ll be glad to know, we voted and mailed our ballots back to NY. We stopped at Chetco Point Park and walked the path to the cliff overlooking the rocks & the Ocean. Then we drove back to the RV, sat outside in the sun, and browsed thru the literature we’d picked up at the visitor’s center. Getting cooler each day, 60 degrees and breezy.
Chetco Point Park, Brookings, OR
Do you think it gets windy here? Chetco Point Park, Brookings, OR
White Crowned Sparrow, Harris Beach State Park, Brookings, OR
White Crowned Sparrow, Harris Beach State Park, Brookings, OR
For our last night in Oregon we went out for fresh fish. We went to Sebastian’s Seafood Grill at the harbor, overlooking the ocean. We split the shrimp with pasta and the crab cakes. Good & lots of food; we took some back to the RV. We were in bed by 9 p.m.