9/6 - 9/16 Oregon's Northwest Coast - On the Road Again

Oregon Coast Photo Gallery

9/6 - It's nice to be on the road with Timmy again. August was a different kind of travel: the Wallowas backpack, followed just a few days later by the Alaskan salmon fishing trip. Timmy spent a lot of August with his mom. But he seems to be happy to be back in the copilot's seat.

It was a lovely late summer day in western Oregon, sunny but not hot. We pulled out of Eugene a little after noon, headed north to Salem, west then north on SR22, winding through rural countryside & forested hills, dense & even a little dark in places. Our destination was the stretch of beaches south of Tillamook. We checked first at the Sand Lake Recreation Area that Don Wright said had camping for $6. Hmmm, Don's out of date again. It was $16 & since the area was primarily an OHV camp, I decided to try Cape Lookout State Park just a few miles farther north. It's also $16 (without hookups), but much nicer.

I backed into our site, got out to check our position & noticed one of Gypsy's tires looking rather soft. By the time I was unhitched & leveled, it was definately flat. Well, a little unplanned work for tomorrow. It was still afternoon, so we headed for the beach. Timmy had a great time chasing shore birds & sniffing flotsam while I took a few photos. We haven't enjoyed a beach since Pismo, way back in January. At dusk we were treated to a thin crescent moon in the deepening blue western sky with the evening star nearby, a lovely conjunction.

9/8 - Today we relocated to Camp Nehalem on the Nehalem River. It's a dispersed camping site in Tillamook State Forest & one of very few free locations anywhere near the coast. With diesel now costing over $3 a gallon, we really need to stay within our camping budget. We'll take a free site whenever we can find it. No cell service here & next week is a work week, so we'll be moving on to a state park near Astoria on the weekend. Camp Nehalem is out of the way, quiet & nicely situated in the forested coast range. Our spot is surrounded by blackberries, giving us both privacy & a treat; there are still some juicy berries here & there.

Yesterday was an exploration day; we were checking out alternative camping sites & just enjoying the sights along Tillamook County's back roads & byways. We stopped by Cape Meares for some spectacular coastal scenes & a quick look at the lighthouse. It must be one of the smallest in the country. I also took several photos at Cape Lookout & we enjoyed several walks on the beach. Timmy got to romp with a Maltese named Peabody; they had a great time & provided entertainment for many bystanders.

It's been getting progressively cooler, foggier & breezier with each day. There's some rain in the offing the next day or so. We'll be fine here & will be back on hookups for next week, so no concerns in the power department. I changed the flat tire today; found a piece of gravel embedded right through the tread. We'll get it repaired in Astoria. I was very glad I had bought a Trailer-Aide, much easier than trying to jack up the trailer.

9/11 - We spent a quiet Friday at Camp Nehalem, welcome after 3 days on the move. It was a rainy day with only brief periods of sun. The weather was just cool enough that we got out the catalytic heater for evening & early morning; the first time we've used it this season. There was a noticeable touch of fall in the air; some trees are beginning to take a brownish cast. Our neighbor in the camp claimed that he had landed a nice sized chinook from the Nehalem. They must be running as the camp was visited by several fishermen while we were there.

Yesterday we moved on to Fort Stevens State Park, which occupies the farthest northwest tip of Oregon's coast. It's right at the mouth of the Columbia River, Lewis & Clark country. The park is quite full & it was probably a good thing that I had reserved ahead. Situated among large Sitka spruce with easy beach access& other attractions, it's the best camping in the Astoria area.

We were parked & had just finished setting up when we started hearing thunder rolling in the distance. Thunderstorms are rare on the Oregon coast, so I didn't really expect much. But after an hour of preliminaries, the main event started, with booming thunder & heavy rain. Timmy gets very nervous in thunderstorms, poor guy; it went on for a couple of hours. I comforted him as much as he would allow, but mostly he just paced & panted.

Today after a visit from my cousin Dan & wife Susan, who live in Astoria, we toured the park. Seeing the bar where the Columbia meets the sea was interesting, but the wreck of the Peter Iredale, still rusting away on the beach after 99 years, was probably the highlight.

9/15 - It's been a quiet week here in the coastal woods, except for the occasional rain of spruce cones on our roof. The first time it happened we were just waking up & it was a bit disconcerting. Later I saw a squirrel about 40 feet up, happily plucking & dropping cones one after another, to be harvested on the ground I assume. Luckily these are smallish cones, so I wasn't concerned about damage to the roof or solar panels.

The weather has been quite pleasant, with sunny afternoons most days & temperatures in the 60s. We'll be breaking camp tomorrow & rather than head on up the coast, I've decided to spend a few days in the Mount St. Helens area. I know the mountain is still spouting steam from time to time; it should be interesting. I think we'll end this page & consider this next leg another adventure.

Before moving on, I need to describe a beach encounter Timmy & I had today. We went back to the shipwreck site for another look & just to enjoy the beach one more time. After romping for a while & taking some photos, we walked farther on to investigate a curious brown object that seemed to be roped off. It turned out to be an elderly sea lion that the rangers had taped off with yellow tape marked "PROTECTED MARINE MAMMAL". The old boy bore a lot of scars & was definately long in the tooth. He kept a kind of wary eye on us, breathing heavily from time to time as we checked him out. For the most part he just seemed to be basking in the late afternoon sun, very lethargic. I think he may have been sick or even possibly dying. There was hardly anyone on the beach & no rangers in sight. I assume their approach is to just let nature take its course.

 

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