Day 3: Unexpected
Today was a treat of a day, so I’ll try and write a treat of a journal entry. If you read any journal entry, today would probably be the day. Today’s journal will be less about my trip, and more about the people I met along the way. You’ll meet Eli, the fisherman who used to work out of Dutch Harbor (Alaska, if it’s ringing bells think deadliest catch), John Maier, the grandfather of brewing in the Pacific Northwest, Abby and Jeremiah, who work(?) at the brewery in Yachats, Nathan, who built (and owns?) Yachats Brewery, and finally we’ll close with my two day travel buddy Austen (I spelled his name wrong yesterday, sorry.) Austen’s story is quite amazing, so it’s worth waiting to the end!
But before we get into all the grandeur of the day, I need to set the scene and start with the beginning. The day began with a slow rise from a warm yurt at 8ish. Austen opted to take a shower, I did not, but shortly we were off the the Pacific Grind Cafe for breakfast. It was a rather eclectic cafe that was pretty particular about how to order, but the food was delicious. And the donuts to die for (maybe I was just hungry.)
The Yurt:
After breakfast came some of the most beautiful riding of the trip so far. Exhibit A:
The coast of Oregon is both rugged and stunning. Apparently, about 17 million years ago a major natural disaster happened, which formed the current coast, but left parts of the old coast in the sea (which is why there are so many rocks in the sea.) A few more beautiful pictures:
It was quite stunning, lots of little rivers twisting through the sand towards the ocean.
But, enough about me. It’s time to meet Eli. Our lunch stop was at a pizza place in Newport, OR. By the time we made it we were both hungry, and got a nice large pie. Sitting down, I started up a conversation with this guy at the part about fishing. Turns out, he really fishes. Likes works on a fishing boat fishes. He goes out to Dutch Harbor, Alaska, and fishes 6 months a year. (Or at least, he used to. You’ll learn why “used to” in a second.) According to Eli, the crab haulers have a very dangerous job. But it’s just as dangerous as the fishing he was doing. I also learned that even as you become a professional fisherman, your still tell stories about the amazing catches you made fishing. Eli was quite the interesting guy to talk with. And I was glad I ran into him.
After taking some pizza for road ‘za later, we headed farther into Newport to get our bikes cleaned at the Newport Bike Shop. After two days of biking in rain (and hail!) the bikes could use some cleaning he guys at the bike shop were super helpful and nice. They let us use their hose to spray the bikes down, the came out and greased our chains for use. Most importantly, Austen being a brewer, he told us to go meet up with John Maier at Rogue Brewing, so we did.
And what a treat that was! John is both an avid brewer and and avid bicycle tourist. As I understand it, he doesn’t need a car in Newport, OR. Instead he just bikes everywhere. Additionally, and this is the super cool part, he is somewhat of a legend in the Pacific brewing scene. And that’s super cool! He’s in charge of all brewing at Rogue, and is a very laid back guy. Funny enough, when we met him, he didn’t really want to talk about beers, he wanted to talk about bikes! Anyway, it was super cool to meet John and talk with him. He’s kinda a big deal. He also gave us a six pack for free, and brought us up to the tasting room and gave us a free beer there.
John’s bike, which was probably the coolest touring bike I’ve ever seen. All the parts are from all over the county.
Austen with John:
Barrels at Rogue (photo credit to Austen):
We finally left Newport around 4, crossing this beautiful bridge:
We continued down to Tillicum Beach Campground outside of Yachats, and setup camp there. The campground is beautiful!! It’s right next to the ocean, and we got an amazing site!
I’m loving Oregon camping. All the campgrounds so far are super nice, and have beautiful facilities!
To cap the night off, we went to Yachats Brewery for dinner. Yachats might be my favorite brewery I’ve ever been to. The beers was delicious, the food good, the art at the brewery both beautiful and with a cool story, and the company fantastic. The story starts with Abby and Jeremiah. They were the first two I talked with at the brewery. Both interesting to talk with, they had just gotten back from backpacking in Mexico (as in traveling around with everything they own on their backs and going city to city.) They discussed what made it dangerous and/or safe. The topic of conversation switched to talking more about the art at the brewery. Which, and I think this is super cool, was designed by Abby but painted by customers. Basically, Abby made a paint by numbers mural, and then as customers came in they could fill in the mural. What a cool idea! This is the final result:
After talking with Abby and Jeremiah, I started talking with Nathan. I’m not sure what Nathan’s role is, but he definitely help found the brewery. He maybe the owner, I’m not sure. How he started the brewery was quite amazing. He basically jack hammered into a cliff, 17’ long, and 10’ back, to form the cellar for the current brewery. And apparently that was quite the task! He ended up buying his own dump truck to move all the debris out of the way! (This guy Nathan also loved to talk, we heard lots of stories throughout the night.) Digging our that part of the brewery took almost two years! But now they have a beautiful brewery with some great beer! Go check it out!
Finally, we come back to Austen. Most of the people I met today are due to Austen. John, Jeremiah, Abby, and Nathan for sure. Austen is a brewer, and part of this trip is to build social capital to start his own brewery. He’s biking to LA, then over the Phoenix, then New Orleans, up the east coast, and back west. All in all he’ll spend 7 months of his bike. He and I just happened to start the same day. His goal is to meet someone in every town he goes through, to build out his network for his own brewery. He’s got a ton of experience as a brewer, and wants to start his own thing. It makes my reasons for going on this trip look insignificant when stacked next to his. Anyway, a really cool dude starting his own brewery. Best of luck Austen!! You can follow his journal here! https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?o=1mr&doc_id=20798&v=Z
Picture of Austen and I biking together.
All in all, quite the amazing day. I think tomorrow I’ll take it easy, and only ride a few miles (20ish) to the Oregon Sand Dunes. I may just hangout there for a day, or rent an ATV and go explore the beach. My service tomorrow may be poor, so I’m not sure I’ll get a post out tomorrow night. But signing off for now, goodnight! I leave Austen tomorrow, as he’s staying in town to brew a beer. I’ll be sad to lose a travel partner, but happy to start going solo again! (Somewhat surprisingly, but going solo is very relaxing)
