May 29th

Milepost ~600

Every day on the bike is a good day, but some are better than others.

The weather was perfect - sunny and not too windy or warm, and since I knew I was not going very far and shouldn’t arrive at the hotel before midafternoon, I took my time getting up and rolling, though once I was out of the tent, even after using mosquito repellent those jerks drove me through a hurried but still thorough departure, not forgetting sunscreen and/or pre-hydrating as I had in the recent past.

One of my favorite quotes from seeing the Dalai Lama speak was his answer to the question “What’s the hardest thing for you about being a Buddhist?” and he thought for a moment before answering a single word: “Mosquitoes.”

I had planned another small day, 20-30 miles. I haven’t really looked at my odometer since it reset, but my maps have consistent mileage markers between points of interest, so I always know “about” how far I’ll go, but of course I also explore a bit so it’s almost always a slightly smaller expectation than reality. I was planning on breakfasting shortly on the way south from Newport, but since I was camping on the edge, I came across no convenient stops, so just rolled to one of many beach stops for a snack, then carried on ~20mi to bustling Waldport for brunch, where I consumed most of a pizza and took a chance to visit the grocery store to grab shaving supplies (I’d always assumed I would be near a grocery store if I wanted to clean up, and it turned out to be true!), and then glided onwards along the beach. This bridge connected two halves of Waldport (population ~2,300) and was the least unpleasant car bridge I’ve crossed - almost all downhill and plenty of shoulder!

All day: yet more beach overlooks. Sandy, Sunny, Cloudy, Windy, gorgeous, etc. Check out the photo gallery here

While scenic-overlooking, I learned a lot about wildlife habitats and legal protections therefor during the last few days of stopping at every beach and linger, reading all the signs. A bit of an inveterate plaque-reader, I am! To summarize:

• messing with most of the wildlife in the tidepools is likely harmful and potentially fatal to them. Don’t molest the starfish.
• the rocky outcroppings on the beach are largely protected by state law as wildlife preserves which you shouldn’t enter or climb on. Don’t traumatize the birds.
• and of course there’s the fun “all beaches in oregon are public land” law to factor in. Do maybe stand nearby and stick your tongue out at the nearby property owners just a little bit - they aren’t an endangered species :P

I’d done a bit of investigation of the immediate surroundings of my hotel destination (a place Lori went to as a kid and enjoys returning to), and found an MUP along the beach that isn’t really part of the route, though it has been included in the Oregon Coast Trail. In Yachats, this is called the “804 trail” locally and while I’m no expert I can read between the lines of the signs about trail being on or abutting private property and a bench commemorating the “stewards of the 804 trail”, and surmise that it was a hard-won battle. What is most important right now is that it was quite a pleasant way to end the trip, with little super scenic bits like this even just in the last mile:

Cleaned up, watched the waves and read for a few hours, awaited Lori’s arrival. Together we ate dinner and went for a walk along the crashing coast and then snuggled to sleep and dreamed of nothing.

In the morning I drove us back to the part of the state where all the people are. I’ll come do part 2 (part 3? First part between Mexico and Santa Barbara already ridden back in 2012-ish) someday. Conveniently/Intentionally I stopped this journey in the town of Yachats which is as far south as you can easily get directly from Portland on a transit-type bus (rather than a Greyhound type). More to come in this blog as I do a gear-checkout and some “Deeper Thoughts” I didn’t make time to write down during the daily journals.

Written by Chris McCraw who resides in Portland, OR but maybe his heart is on the bike?