Oregon's southern coast

Leaving California, I continued north on 101...

Agricultural land gave way to coastal pine forest. Road signs promised coastal views from highway turnouts. I investigated a few of them and found the coastal views mostly came in two flavors: 1) a long, steep descent to a beach, requiring a longer, steep ascent back to the car afterward, or 2) a longish hike through dense pine forest leading to a narrow perch on the edge of a sheer cliff. I abruptly aborted all attempts at flavor #1 once I discovered their nature. I completed only one attempt at flavor #2...



but I was facing the sun, so it was not great for picture-taking. Also, a very loud rockslide occurred on one of the cliffs I was facing immediately as I arrived at my precipice. That seemed like a message for me to leave, for my own sake. So I did. With haste.

Eventually the road descended to one remarkably nice beach whose name I did not catch but is surely distinctive for its very large rocks.





Way up high on the biggest rock...



Dudleya.



It wasn't really my plan to stop for coastal views anyway. I'd hoped Oregon's coastal towns might be interesting. The first one you hit is Port Orford, namesake of the famous plant relict Port Orford cedar, Chamaecyparis lawsoniana--actually a cypress, not a cedar.



I don't think there are any notable examples of C. lawsoniana to be found here, but I did enjoy this little interpretive wetland and boardwalk.



This couldn't have been more than a 2- or 3-acre patch of land with a boardwalk in it to observe migratory birds and other critters. I noticed much more extensive wetlands around town which made me wonder about the value of spending a lot of money on putting a boardwalk (surely!) in this tiny patch of land, but, well, it's not my money.

It was around Port Orford that I began to notice Lysichiton americanus growing like a ditchweed, everywhere on the Oregon coast.



One does not often see this groovy native arum in my part of California.

The next little town is Bandon, which fancied up its harbor area to appeal to visitors like me.





My stomach was still full from the Denny's omelette in Crescent City but judging by the crowds at Tony's Crabshack, this was the place to get a bite to eat in Bandon. The big plates of seafood looked delicious.



I also liked this building whose only purpose was to give visitors a respite from wind and/or inclement weather. It was sunny and clear during my visit to Bandon, but you know it rains a lot in this part of the world. San Francisco would do well to offer its visitors a few shelters like this, I think.



North of Bandon is Coos Bay, which reminded me strongly of Hilo, Hawaii in design, layout and mix of architecture. (Different foliage tho').





I can't explain why these are the things I took pictures of in Coos Bay, but so be it.



After Coos Bay, the Oregon coast transitions into expansive sand dunes. These are popular recreation areas for Oregon families who come in droves to sled on the dunes and swim in the lakes. I booked a yurt at Jessie Honeyman. For whatever reason, I was expecting something quiet and nature preserve-y with fewer kids and family dogs, which is silly because there are screaming children right there on the webpage. I retreated to my yurt and pretty much crashed for the night.

In the morning I stopped in Florence for coffee and apple pie at a very cute roastery under the Hwy 101 bridge.



Florence maintained a lot of the old buildings in its tourist area, and there were some nice little gardens and cute shops. But it was early in the morning and they weren't open yet.



So I bid adieu to the coast and turned inland.



My next stop was Eugene, which I will talk about next time. Let me just say that the drive from Florence to Eugene is really beautiful. Unforch, I did not stop for pictures.