We got an early start on Saturday. We woke up with a few ideas as to what to do. Our main plan for the day was to see the Oregon Dunes. It's a huge stretch along the middle coast of some of the biggest dunes in america. But we had some choices to make first. Over breakfast at the Pancake Mill in Coos Bay/North Bend. Mmmm, pancakes.
We did not want to go back to Humbug Mtn, we had already decided that. Too far south, not enough payoff. The owners of the motel had mentioned a park called Golden and Silver falls state park east of Coos bay. It sounded really neat and I wanted to see it. Sadly when we looked it up it appeared the road nearby had collapsed and the park was inaccessible. Oh well, our minds were made up for us. We'd hit Cape Arago, and just head north.
Cape Arago is a cape in a state park just slightly southwest of Coos Bay. Like most spots on the Oregon Coast, it's rugged, rocky and really cool. I kept thinking of Acadia National Park ramped up to 11. Seriously, after seeing most of the coast, my trip as a kid to Acadia really looks tame in comparison. As soon as we got to Cape Arago, we stepped out of the car and were instantly assaulted with the sound of Sea Lions. I mean assaulted. It was so loud. We quickly huffed it down to the small cove and realized that all the rocks in the distance were absolutely covered in sea lions, all hooting and hollering. I tried to take video but the wind was too strong (The Oregon Coast is the windiest place I have ever been) to hear the sounds and I didn't have a zoom lens with me so it will just have to stay in my memory. We putzed around Cape Arago enjoying ourselves for a while and then got up to leave. We saw a pretty lighthouse but sadly it was inaccessible to the public. We didn't know it yet, but we'd see many lighthouses.
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| Cape Arago rocks |
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| The wild blue yonder |
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| Cape Arago looking south |
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| Artsy crap |
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| Every rock in the distance was covered in Sea Lions. All of them. |
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| Cape Arago Lighthouse |
We drove back through Coos Bay, got on the 101, and drove north. Our first stop was a quick one at the Umpqua Lighthouse. I'd been seeing scenic pullouts along the way and impulse turned. Umpqua was alright, it was kind of busy but you could look down into the dunes and see people riding buggies. There was a nice museum at the lighthouse to explore, and Keeley bought a mug for the US lighthouse service.
We kept going north and finally found a trailhead for the Dunes. Takenitch Creek. After a mile of walking a trail through the woods, we come out on a huge expanse of dunes.
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| Dunes |
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| Dunes |
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| Duuuunes |
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| Dunes |
We probably should have just hung out here for a while and turned around, but we kept going. We walked through the dunes towards the ocean only to find out it was blocked off due to wildlife concerns, so it ended up being kind of a waste of time, which is a shame. getting back through the dunes was tiring work as walking on shifting sands is a nightmare.
So we kept going, at least an hour largely wasted. I don't want to give the impression the Dune were bad, they were really cool, it's just that we spent over an hour for comparatively small payoff. If we weren't so rushed for time, it would have been far more enjoyable. We soon arrived at the Sea Lion Caves, which I thought was going to be just a lookout point. Nope, we got out of the car, saw the parking lot, saw the gift shop and the depressing note of Tourist Trap hits us. Sea Lion cave is a big cave filled with sea lions that costs 14 bucks per adult to see. Nope, not worth it.
Well so far we'd seen a cool cape, an average lighthouse, a disappointing dune walk, and a tourist trap. Things weren't going too well. Luckily Heceta Head changed all that.
Heceta Head was another lighthouse with a small cove beach state park right on the water. We turned off, intending to take a short peek, but ended up staying for a while because it was really nice. Parking was a nightmare but I got lucky and someone pulled out in prime real estate for me. It was a half mile walk up through the woods to the lighthouse, which gave a great view to the south. After taking in the lighthouse views we walked down to the beach and frolicked on the sand and in the caves next to the beach. It was very relaxing and highlighted one of my favorite aspects of the Oregon Coastal beaches. They are never crowded.
Back on the east coast growing up, going to the Delaware coast, there were constant people. Real estate on the beach was low. Everyone sat around, you had to be mindful of your neighbors, it was easy to forget where you were, and I hated it. I don't like swimming. I don't like crowds. When I visited LA a few years ago my friends took us to the beach and I tolerated it for them but was secretly miserable, as it was just the Delaware coast but worse. Oregon has none of these issues. Even on incredibly nice days, there is so much real estate to hang out. The landscape isn't just miles of the same sand and crappy beach shops. It feels wild. Surrounding you are giant rocky cliffs that make you feel alone, even with people around. The water is too cold to swim so most people just walk around or set up small groups away from others and have campfires. You can explore the rocky caves and tide pools that litter the area. It's my kind of beach. It's a beach I enjoy.
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| Facing the dunes to the south of Sea Lion Caves |
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| Heceta head flower |
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| 101 bridge and the cove |
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| Heceta head LH |
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| The cove |
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| rocks on the beach |
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| Keeley in the water |
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| Sea Caves |
Anyway after enjoying Heceta Head we went north some more and took a quick pit stop at Devils Churn in Cape Perpetua state park. Devils Churn is a thin narrow channel carved out of a volcanic flow that has the water slide in, make funny noises and splash about. It's a neat little stop that didn't take long to explore. I saw a teenage girl there that was the spitting image of my little sister and it freaked me the hell out. I guess everyone does have a doppleganger.
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| Devils Churn |
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| Devils Churn |
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| Bird at a coco place at the Churn |
Our next stop Waldport, for 2 seconds. They had a cool bridge I wanted a photo of
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| Bridge |
Then we reached our dinner destination of Newport. Newport is a cute town that smells like fish, has a super pretty bridge, and lots of hills. It reminded me of a micro scale San Francisco. We had an overpriced fish dinner, relaxed, and then went to another lighthouse, Yaquina Bay lighthouse. The sun was starting to set and things were beautiful. I got a few pictures of the bridge and we headed for our last stop of the night, Yaquina Head.
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| Crab who was judging me at dinner |
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| Trail out to yaquina bay |
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| Yaquina bay lighthouse |
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| Newport |
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| Yaquina bay |
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| bridge |
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| Underbridge |
Yaquina Head is yet another cape with a lighthouse on it. I know, what a shocker. Yaquina head though is beautiful and reminded me heavily of Cape Blanco. It was incredibly windy to obscene levels, especially in one particular spot that funneled the wind into you. The lighthouse was picture perfect, the beach wasn't a beach, but smooth rocks that sounded weird to walk on. The best I can describe it is if sand was 300% bigger. It felt like I got shrunk to the size of ant and was forced to walk on sand, just big pebbles underneath you that clanked and shuffled. It was cool.
We watched the sun lower down, and it would have been my favorite spot in the whole trip if there had been a few less people. We got lucky with Cape Blanco and were alone, we weren't as lucky here, but that was just a small annoyance. Yaquina Head was beautiful and I want to go back.
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| Yaquina head lighthouse. Picture perfect. |
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| From the bottom of Yaquina head |
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| peek a boo |
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| Standing right here was the windiest spot I have ever stood in my entire life. |
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| spooky |
Our last pit stop of the day was a brief turnout called Devils Punchbowl. It's just a big ol hole in the rock on the coast. You can explore it at low tide but the tide was coming in and we were tired.
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| Big hole, you can see water pouring in |
Not long after that, we rolled into Lincoln City and got briefly lost trying to find our bed and breakfast. This was the place we threw our money into, and it was a lovely old lake home run by two sweet old folks. We got a huge room on the second floor with a hot tub and a view over a lake to watch the sunset. It was incredible and much needed after all the time in the car and exploring. It was our final night out on the coast, but we still had stuff to see the next day.
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| Lakeside B&B |
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