Tuesday, October 18, 2016

It was a rough night for Sam.  He has nearly made peace with raindrops on the roof, but he is still a quivering mess when lightning and thunder strike and we had quite a thunderstorm last night.  The morning was quiet and the sun tried to make an early appearance.  

We decided the low-level fog would not stop us from a drive through the big trees.  The Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway would have been perfect if it had only been open.  We diverted down a narrow road that led to nowhere.  Love the sun rays through the morning fog and trees.

We circled around to the southern end of the Newton B. Drury Pkwy and checked with the Prairie Creek Visitor Center.  The road was closed for post-storm clean-up and would not be open until the afternoon. While we were there, we did a little walking on the nearby trails.

Later the same afternoon, we took a drive on Howland Hill Road through more big trees in the Jedediah Smith Redwood State Park. Our little Honda FIT managed the rough and extremely narrow unpaved roadway, but we never reached the posted speed limit of 15 mph.  I was a little surprised at the number of cars on the drive. Everyone was well mannered though and there were no issues with the tight spots between some of the trees.

The Boy Scout Tree Hiking Trail looked interesting so we got out and spent a little time exploring.  Sadly, no dogs were allowed on the trail, but Sam was just happy to be along for the ride and we only left him for a few minutes.

Our last stop for the day was Stout Grove.  An amazing trail through more old growth Redwoods - the quiet beauty of the forest and the grandeur of these awesome giants are truly amazing to me!  

Monday, October 17, 2016

Finally, most of the storm had blown through and we headed to our next site just two days behind schedule.  When we called Bob at Chinook RV Resort about our aversion to traveling in the 60 mph crosswinds he said "no problem".  

Fortunately, this was another short hop, just 73.0 miles (80,010.8 total), because there was a lot of, let's just call it excitement, on our drive today.  We saw more rain, curvy and narrow road, hills (Joani hates the downhill ride with sharp turns at the bottom the most).  Just to add to the excitement, there were the bicyclers and construction zones.

Several places the trees were so close to the road they had gouges in them from passing rear view mirrors - fortunately, we kept our distance. Still, the drive was beautiful between the forests and the dramatic ocean vistas.

We stayed at Chinook RV Resort a little more than 3 years ago.  It was prime Salmon fishing season then (September) and the park was full. This time the fishing season was over and the folks in the park were, like us, here for the Redwoods.  Bob arranged it so we could have our doors facing each other creating our own little outdoor space. The river was high and rushing along due to the recent rains.  From the fire pit at the river's edge, we could hear the crashing surf.

Saturday, October 15, 2016, Typhoon Songda

The "Storm of the Century" was hammering the west coast from Seattle to northern California.  We got a lot of rain at Turtle Rock in Gold Beach (the four day total was more than 10 inches) but the worst of the wind gusts were tempered by the hill that anchors our RV park.

We donned our rain gear and walked to the highway 101 overpass a few times to see the storm surge at high tide.  The turtle was completely surrounded by water.  Hunter Creek broke through to the ocean and the calm lake like water was replaced with a swollen torrent.

We are standing under the 101 highway overpass and having to brace ourselves when a wind gust made it hard to stay upright.

Looking east, the sleepy Hunter creek had broken through to the ocean and is now flowing with the tides.

We got to experience standing in 80 mph winds.  It was not a good idea to be standing in the blowing sand.  I'm sure if I needed paint removed from something it would not have taken long.

Silly me, I tried to walk on the beach when there was a break in the rain.  The wind kicked back up and I was being sandblasted.  Since I was in shorts, it felt bad enough that I ran back to the shelter of the highway overpass.

As the waves crested, the wind whipped the water into a fine spray that looked like smoke.

Tuesday, October 11, 2016

A few miles south of Brookings we explored the McVay Rock State Recreation Site. McVay is a well-hidden park home to the only "off leash" dog park in the Brookings area. Sam stayed on his leash - I was not sure how friendly the 100 pound beast inside the fence was and I didn't want to find out.

The beach was covered with smooth, colorful rocks with very little sand.  Of course, we found another 20 pounds of treasure to add to our collection at home.

Just about 9 miles east of Brookings on North Bank Chetco River Road (Oregon Highway 784) was the Redwood Nature Trail, the world's northernmost redwood grove. It was on the left less than a mile beyond the Alfred A. Loeb State Park and the Rogue River - Siskiyou National Forest. The trail was just over a mile in length and was one of the quietest hikes we have made in quite a while. There was only one other hiker on the trail. Most of the time there was near absolute silence - it was almost eerie and beautiful at the same time.

Coastal redwoods (Sequoia sepervirens) up to 250 feet tall and 10 feet in diameter. Some may be as old as 800 years.

Sunday, October 9, 2016

We drove into Gold Beach for a couple of things at the grocery store, but instead of rushing back home we decided to do a little sightseeing while we were out.  Highway 101 has so many spectacular bridges. Patterson Bridge, completed in 1932, spans the Rogue River with a total length of 1,898 feet.

The Mary D. Hume, below, was built in 1881, retired in 1978 and is now on the National Register of Historic Places.  It could have used a good bilge pump a few decades ago.  Now it will need a little extra elbow grease to get it back in ship shape. We saw a nice framed picture of the same boat in a bookstore.  Extrapolating between that picture and today made me believe there are only a few years remaining before the whole thing is under water. 

Don't you just love the architectural detail in every part of this bridge? The moon rising over the railing was just a happy coincidence adding a little extra artistic flair.

Out on the Rouge River North Jetty, we found this creative little project for housing feral cats.  Volunteers feed them, spay them, treat them and try to find them homes.  So far, they have rescued about 2000 cats.

A few Gold Beach volunteers built and maintain this feral cat sanctuary.  "The Cat Lady" feeds the residents nearly every day.

Saturday, October 8, 2016

The four of us (Kate, Mike, Joani and I) took a little drive down the coast.  South from Gold Beach along highway 101 was the Samuel H. Boardman State Scenic Corridor.  There were many overlooks and parking areas providing access to some of the most beautiful coastline. 

We started from Turtle Rock in some pretty dense fog but knew it could change within minutes.  Sure enough, just a few miles south we drove out of the fog.  There was still a pretty stiff wind and it was interesting watching the fog racing over the hills and beaches.

The parking area for Arch Rock gave us access to a loop trail through some nicely forested landscape.

Before we completed the half-mile loop the fog blew in and we found the forest magically transformed.

Another few miles south was a turn out for Natural Bridges.  We only walked 50 yards to an overlook for a few quick pictures.  The trail continued on.  Presumably, there was access to the beach below as well as a trail across the bridges.  I might be a little crazy but there is no way I would hike across that fragile looking ribbon of rock.

Just before we reached Brookings we stopped for some beach combing at Harris Beach State Park.  There were tide pools and pretty rocks (but still no agates) galore.

The fog was still racing along offshore weaving in between the rocks.