Today was a brutality of a day. The sun was bright, the hills were plentiful, and the shoulder was narrow. However, for my work I was rewarded with a beautiful beautiful dinner location. That cover photo is the view from my seat in the restaurant. It’s gonna be a painful 5 miles back to camp, but I think it’s worth it.

River near the campground.

The day started with me sleeping in, then enjoying the morning. (This would later be a mistake, because it got so hot.) I stopped at a local bakery for a nice large breakfast (I ordered around 10 things) then hit the road.

First stop was the Crescent City Lighthouse, which is interesting because it’s only accessible during low tide.

Access path (ugh, I had to push my bike.)

On the way back from the lighthouse I got talking with a lady who told my there had been a tsunami in the area in the 60’s! Who knew? Apparently the museum is worth seeing. Sometimes I think this trip is just generating tons of more trip ideas.

The road out of crescent city was pretty terrible. There’s a 3 inch shoulder, and a large hill. It was not pleasant. Also, it was really hot. However, it was basically continuous redwoods until 3pm, which was great. The entire way there were groves dedicated to people.

The road was brutal. All asphalt and long hills. I was not digging it.

I did get to see the “Big Tree” though. Not sure what makes it big?

My campsite for the night is “Patrick Point State Park” with a campmate John. John is a retired veteran, who must be 65 or older. He’s biking back to his house in Texas. (Apparently he bought 5 acres their for $1500. Wow, that’s cheap.) I’ll talk to him more when I get back to camp, but for now I’m enjoying a beautiful sunset in Trinidad, CA at the seascape.

The food was alright, I had the “fresh catch” which was Halibut. But the view is amazing. I’d definitely come back. Hopefully a short day tomorrow! Goodnight!

Watched and talked with some surfers here. They recommended the dinner location.

Note the standup paddle board. Hippie. I’m jealous.

Extra bonus post today, with just some pictures. I made it and got the tent setup just before sundown. Showers here are not free, and require quarters (ugh), so no shower tonight. But, the tent is nestled between three redwoods!

It’s warm here too! And the landscape is beautiful. I love biking in the late evening because the shadow of me biking I get to watch while I bike. Goodnight!!

I hear we got lots of friends out there. :) For those that don’t get the reference. Look up California by Hawk Nelson. That’s a throwback for sure. I’m writing this at “Public House” in Brookings. My goal is to push another 24 miles tonight into Jedediah Smith Redwood State Park. That’s going to be ambitious, but I think I can do it! And it was an absolutely majestic day.

Beautiful field outside of the campground.

This morning was pretty earlier, but I made it out of camp in record time (50 minutes), and was on the road in my Sunday best (aka evening attire, aka what I wear when I’m not sweaty and biking) and on my way to church. It was about an hour to church, and hour in church, and then some donuts and hot chocolate to go, and I was on the road.

View outside of Port Oxford.

This section of the road is twisting and turning (and up and down) the coast, which is both a blessing and a curse. However, the sun is shining, and there’s a steady 15-20 mph wind on my back so it’s hard not to be smiling and happy. It’s funny, every biker I’ve biked with in this trip has made appeals to the weather. (I.e.: please stop the hail! Thank you! Or, please stop the wind! Thank you!)

Some views along the coast.

After passing Humbug Mountain (yes, that’s literally what that’s called), it was all smooth sailing.

After lunch, I stopped at Double D’s for lunch. It was a nice diner, where the clientele was all 55+, and the ceiling was built for people of that age. I had to duck all the way to my table. That gave everyone in the restaurant a good laugh.

Probably my second favorite part of the trip has been today. (Still the section after Yachats is my favorite.) I stopped all the time, making sure to soak in all the sights. If anyone comes back here, the Samuel H Boardman State Scenic Area is BEAUTIFUL! And I highly recommend it.

At one of the stops, after calling the folks, I walked down to “Indian Sands” beach as that was recommended to me by someone from the campground last night. On the way down I met Patricia. Patricia is a veterinarian visiting from Austria. Her English was very good, near perfect, and she was explaining that she was here for four weeks. But the main reason she was here was for a wedding. She had previously done “help-x” where she helps out on a farm, in Montana. In doing that, the farmer recommended she stay with some friends of his in California. After staying with them for a few weeks, she got invited back to their wedding a few years later! Wow!

I’m off from the bar to the California border! Think I’ll make the park! I’ll let you know tomorrow!

He rested... kinda. Today was another fun packed day. If I had to theme the day, it was learning from my elders. I think I learned more about US history today than any other day for the past few years. Did you know that the coastline of Oregon is designated a highway?

First and foremost, a HUGE shoutout to the Oregon State Park service! The hiker/biker camps are fantastic. I might of said this already, but it’s worth saying again. Lots of biking amenities. That it’s a bike stand with full tools in the cover photo of this post.

Today started slow. I got out of bed around 8:30, and cooked a slow breakfast. (For those wondering at home, on this trip I can do about 5 packets of instant oatmeal for breakfast. That’s about right calories wise.) Max rolled out of his tent a bit later, and I asked what his plan was. He said he was ready to get moving, so I gave him a bit of a teaser of what I had planned for the day and got moving. A bit later, he changed his mind and said he’d join me!

Our first stop of the day was the lighthouse at Cape Blanco. We were some of the only people there, so we got an extra long tour, which was great. I felt a bit bad for Max, because his English is not great, but he said he really enjoyed it too. Some fun facts about lighthouses, and this one in general. Being a lightkeeper was a bit of a sought after job back in the day. The coast guard would come and randomly inspect both the light house and the lightkeepers family quarters. If either failed inspection, you were fired. Lighthouses along the coast flash at different intervals, such that ships can know which lighthouse they’re looking at. For example, Cape Blanco flashes every 8 seconds where the lighthouse in Bandon flashes every 40. To this day, sailors still use that information. All the equipment for the lighthouse had to be made on sight, or brought up the coast at low tide! That includes a river crossing. The 800lbs. lenses of the lighthouse is turned by a 0.6 HP motor. This lighthouse was used by Japanese planes dropping bombs in the forest in WWII (trying to start a forest fire.)

After we spent a good amount of time at the lighthouse, it was time to go into town. Inspired by the lighthouse, I thought maybe we could try and walk along the beach into town. I asked a park volunteer about this and he said it shouldn’t be too difficult, it’s about 4 miles, just go at low tide. We were about to do that, bike I checked on my phone the direct distance: 7 miles. That’s too far, so we biked the 10 miles into town. So sad! It’s also possible to hike the Oregon Coast, and one of these days I’m gonna do that!

Our first stop in town was for lunch. We went to a really cool family run bakery and deli called Golden Harvest Herban Farm and Bakery. The food was good! And I picked up a vegan carrot cake for dessert. (Max has never had carrot cake before, so I had too.)

After lunch, we were off to the Port Orford Lifeboat station. This was a coast guard station where they’d launch rescue crews for shipwrecks. I think this was my favorite stop of the day. Did you know why “Jerry Cans” are called “Jerry Cans?” It’s because British/American gas cans in WWII would fall off a truck and break where German gas cans wouldn’t. The U.S. and Great Britain adopted the German design, and because the British called the German’s “Jerry” they were Jerry Cans.

For those that have seen the movie “The Deadliest Storm” (or something like that, the one about the Coast Guard on the east coast), there are scenes in the movie where the boat is totally submerged. Apparently that actually did happen! The boat is self righting in 14 seconds (although modern day coast guard boats right in 8 seconds). And... they had one of display. We didn’t get to go inside, but it was cool to see.

The reason we were even talking about Jerry Cans is the crew members had to haul two 5 gallon cans of gas down 542 steps to the boats whenever they went down (and you thought Lake Michigan was bad. That’s about 90 lbs (45 in each hand) down to the boat.

We walked down some of the steps, but not all. We still got to see this amazing view. I bet it’s not as nice when there’s a storm...

Our final stop in town was the grocery store, where we got food for our BBQ for the night! We bought enough in case Austen made it on his 95 mile day, but he stopped short, so sad! After a brutal bike back north into the wind (I’m glad I’m headed south) we took a shower, cracked a beer, and got a fire going.

It takes an embarrassingly long time to get a fire going in this wet climate. Today I spent more time prepping the fire, and only needed one match, but it’s constant minding of the fire to get it going. However, we soon enough had a roaring fire, and had brauts cooking. (And chili roasting!)

Dinner was very filling, and followed by the delicious vegan carrot cake. Unfortunately, the two of us couldn’t finish the entire cake, so I brought the remaining half over to a group of older campers that were out talking. They were more then glad to accept the cake, and we had a nice long chat about biking, places to visit, and the beach bill that made the Oregon Beach a highway. Apparently it’s only 90 words long! There names were Chris, Mike, and Tom. And they were all from around the area. Most come out at least twice a year to visit the coast. Sounds like it’s time to move to Oregon :)

From today I have two new trip ideas along the Oregon coast. Idea one, bike + surf. This requires me to get good at surfing, but I think it’d be awesome. There seems to be tons of good surfing here. The second is, as I mentioned, to hike the Oregon Coast. That would require a good amount of prep, and would be a slog through the sand, but I think would be a blast. Apparently you have to cross most rivers at low tide.

Finally, I as I said goodnight to Max, he gave me a really nice compliment. I think part of the reason he stayed was to practice his English with me, which I was more then happy to help with (it’s easier for me to understand him then him to understand me.). Anyway, very touching, and definitely nice to hear. Thank you Max! It was fun exploring Port Orford with you!

Hint, it very much was not a beautiful day, but the Oregon Coast is absolutely beautiful! And made the fact that I wore rain gear all day well well worth it. It was a packed day, filled with food, stunning views, rain (ugh), talks with lovely folks around here, and of course biking.

The day started as any day does, at 5am. That’s a bit of a lie, that’s when my dad woke up to drive back up to San Francisco. Hopefully he’s close to back by now and enjoying dinner somewhere in the Bay Area. Thank you again Dad!!

After getting three more hours of sleep, I embarrassed myself with an overloaded plate of food to carbo load for the day. I left with a full stomach, and a full bike!

The final rendition of my bike. I think I remembered everything!

Right out of the parking lot of the hotel was the first cool view, the bridge between Washington and Oregon. I’m very glad I didn’t have to bike over it.

Admittedly, I did have to cross a bridge immediately, but it wasn’t that one :). And, I saw a seal on the way across which was cool.

The road is great! Minus being passed at 55mph by semis, and a few F-150s that don’t move over even though there’s definitely room (jerks). One person blew their own own in what I think was support (I was cranking up a hill, and they were going the other way) but it was so loud that I still feel some ringing in that ear.

My first stop of the day was in Seaside at Dundee’s for some donut and hot cider. (It was not warm outside). It was a cute family owned bakery, and a great place to stop. After the donut, I went to view the beach. I think I could look at this shoreline forever (good thing too, because I’m going to be seeing a lot of it for the next three weeks.) It’s gorgeous! Large sandy beaches with huge rocks in the water. Apparently, those rocks are from an old shoreline that existed a long time ago. Bonus points if you can tell me what happened to that shoreline.

Additionally, I learned this is the route that Lewis and Clark took. The only difference is Lewis and Clark did it in December, so I think I need to stop complaining about the weather.

The Steed at the beach at Seaside. I love this bike.

Beach at Cannon Beach, just up the road from Seaside.

I won’t bore you with details of all the beaches I stopped at. Needless to say, it was a lot. At one point I stopped 5 times in a mile.

Cool rock cove at a beach. All the rocks on the beach are great too! They sound like a gigantic rain maker when the waves run over them, then pull back into the ocean!

My favorite beach! It was a 0.5 mile hike out, but there were people surfing out here!! Fun to watch, though I walked on the wrong side of the river. They’re hard to see in the photo below, but they’re out by the point in the picture.

There are so many state parks, county parks, and recreation areas it’s exhausting. But each one was slightly different, and really cool to stop at.

After what I’ll dub “the beach” portion of today was the cliffs portion. And that was beautiful as well!! It was a five mile or so section where the road meandered along the side of a cliff above the ocean. It was cool. At one point during this section, while stopped overlooking the ocean, a guy did a u-turn in his car to talk to me. Turns out, he grew up in Michigan, then moved to Tiburon, then finally moved to the Oregon Coast. He was a super nice guy. He recommended some cider mill in Michigan, not the Dexter Cider Mill, but somewhere else in southeast Michigan, but I don’t remember what.

A view from the “cliff” section of today. I have a few more, but none of them really do it justice. It’s breath taking. A jagged rugged coastline, with beautiful sandy beaches, and a beautiful fog/cloud mixture. A probably could’ve stayed up there and just watched for hours.

The second food stop of the trip was in Manzanita. It was probably the best food of the day. The turkey sandwich was excellent, I liked the beer, and everyone was super friendly. Right next door was a bookstore, so I stopped in and picked up a book called “Just Mercy.” The bookstore had a cool system where all the employees added sticky notes to books they’d recommend. This was one of them, so I picked it up. I’ll let you know how it goes!

Also, next door was the Manzanita library. I didn’t stop in, but it just looked beautiful so I took a picture.

The final section of today’s trip was the in between inland sections. I always forget just how full of water the Pacific Northwest is (although it did a great job of reminding me today.) The forests are flush with greenery, and there are beautiful waterfalls everywhere. The flatlands have some beautiful inland lakes, and nice to just cruise by.

Probably the lowest point of the day was biking through the tunnel. While the tunnel was cool, I was biking uphill through it, with no shoulder. The road is 55mph, and I was probably doing 5. Luckily, there’s a button to hit to warn motorists that there’s a bicycle in the tunnel, but I pushed through as hard as I could to get through the tunnel fast. Nothing gets the heart rate up like the deafening sound of a car coming through a tunnel when you’re on a bike.

Tonight I’m camping on a jetty! Which is pretty cool, basically my camp overlooks the ocean (yikes! Hopefully no tsunamis.) I’m writing most of this at “the Sand Dollar” Where I had an alright dinner with a bomb view of the waves and the ocean

Campsite jetty:

Right nextdoor is a Catholic Church that has an absolutely beautiful location right on the beach.

(Church and beach respectively)

All in all, a very happy Mark for the day.

I’m now snug in my evening attire, snuggled up in my sleeping bag listening to the rain patter (more like assault) my tent. The roar of the ocean should put me to sleep, being so close. What a cool campsite. Tomorrow, another 50ish miles, the Tillamook factory (I’m excited!!), deviating from the 101 to stay close to the coast!