For the first time in more than 15 months, we journeyed somewhere and stayed overnight and did not sleep in our own home. And for the first time in almost two years, we CAMPED.
We didn’t go far. Just 120 miles from our house. We booked two nights at Blackberry Campground, along the Alsea River in Siuslaw National Forest, Oregon. It was GLORIOUS. Yes, State Highway 34 is right there next to the campground, but there’s hardly any traffic at night and well into the morning, plus, our campsite was right next to the Alsea River, and therefore, we slept like logs. It’s a beautiful campground and we will definitely go again. I chose this campground because the one that I really wanted to check out at Alsea Falls was booked out.
We took State Highway 47 from Forest Grove to McMinneville (which we’ve done a million times), then South on 99W through Amity, then right on Bethel Road, through Perrydale (where we watched the eclipse). Then to Dallas, and then on beautiful 223, which is just lovely – we rode it for the first time a month earlier and couldn’t believe it took us that long to find it.
Two miles south of the tiny community of Pedee, Oregon, on Polk-Benton counties border, there’s a lovely roadside stop: Ritner Creek Covered Bridge. It’s pedestrian-only now, and there are picnic tables inside and babbling Ritner Creek below. According to the official web site,
In addition to its original use as a highway crossing over the creek, residents for nearly 80 years have used the Ritner Creek Covered Bridge for weddings, community picnics, dances and as a shelter from the rain.
We continued on 223 and then it was on to State Highway 34 and to Blackberry Campground. State Highway 34 is lovely, by the way.
I almost hestitate to tell this, because I don’t want everyone else booking the site… but campsite #14 is the best for motorcycle travelers: it is separated from all the other campers by both the day use parking lot – which this time of year, no one uses, because the river is too low for boats – and you are right above the river, and that’s a wonderful sound at night, and because you have this fantastic unused parking lot to park your bikes and because you have the day use pit toilets almost entirely to yourselves! The campground wasn’t full at all, but we were so so happy we booked in advanced, because it took any worry about arriving late and not finding a spot and, added bonus, we got the best site in the entire place.
I brought street-vendor-sized flour tortillas, a can of black beans, a wee bit of salsa, an avocado and the last of our grated Mexican cheese, so we could have street tacos that night and mini-breakfast burritos (I brought six eggs too) that morning. Both meals were SO simple to make on our little backpacker camp stove. I’m really proud of my campground cooking skills – I think I am a great mix between deliciousness and convenience. I have no desire to spend an hour cooking while I’m camping. I’m not there to work.
We got up early on Saturday and were able to leave to begin exploring quite early. I love staying in a campsite two nights instead of one, so that we don’t have to bother with packing, we can leave it all and head out and explore and then come home to a setup campsite, ready for us to cook and enjoy the evening and sleep. We headed back onto Highway 34 and headed to the coast. The road goes along the Alsea River, and many of the street names off the road, up into the mountains, are very intriguing like the Alsea Riveria. There are some folks with beautiful houses along that river. I’d love to know just how high the river can get – when we were there, it was low enough to walk across (but I wouldn’t advise it).
My speedometer had stopped working somewhere after McMinnville, so I was worried about my speed, but Stefan said I was eerily always going the speed limit. I have said for years my nickname should be Speed Limit. It blasted us with rain at one point, but then, it stopped, the sun came out, and all was well.
We turned left and headed South to Yachats. It’s the usual not-attractive Oregon coastal town, but it was so surprising and, well, nice, to enter the town and be greeted by people on either side of the street with Black Lives Matter signs. It’s a brave thing to do in Oregon!
And now I’ve seen most of the Oregon Coast. And can say, with authority: there are way, way better routes through Oregon than the Oregon coast. That said, I will also say that the area around xxx is the prettiest part, by far, of the Oregon Coast. But the rest? You can skip it.
I saw National Forest Service Road 5590 on Google Maps, making a loop, listed as 18.7 miles, and it looked doable for me on my KLR. I knew it was some kind of “main” forest road, since it showed up so prominently on Google Maps. It starts off as Yachats River Road from 101, and, in fact, it is mostly paved and lovely. You trade the coast for a lush green river valley, which I prefer! Early on at one point, you come to a fork in the road, and one sign tells you to go to the left, on a gravel road, 9 miles to 101, and the other says that Cape Perpetua is to the right, 11 miles. We were very confused, because Stefan says there’s no way it was just 9 miles to the coast in that direction. A look at the map shows he’s right. So, maybe someone scratched off the 1 before the 9? Anyway, I could see a Forest Service Road sign for 5590, going uphill, and up we went. The road was still paved, which was a shock, and after probably half a mile, we saw a sign for Keller Creek Day Use Area. It was a great place to park the bikes and have a look around. There is a sign there and an information board that has been updated with COVID info, and it has been mowed in the last few weeks, so it is still open, but it doesn’t appear on GoogleMaps, which I find odd.
Keller Creek Day Use Area has an area that looks like it would be perfect for swimming on a really hot day. I fear the locals regularly tear the place up, otherwise, it would be great for camping. It showed signs of recent damage.
A white Suburu outback with California plates went by, and the lone male driver looked at us like, “Is this really a road?” But he continued on. And so did we. I was stunned – while the road was barely wide enough for a car, the road was mostly paved! But when it stopped being paved, it REALLY stopped. When it stops being paved, it’s wretched – in the rain, it would have been terrifying and dangerous. The conditions of this road must change frequently, per logging trucks and the rain. According to the Forest Service web site, the road was closed through May 15 and stationary logging equipment would be blocking the road – which, of course, we did not know because we didn’t check first. But that explains the parts of the road that weren’t there. I’m so glad I took that offroad riding class a few years ago – I never could have ridden this otherwise. I just would love to know why the road is mostly paved. Again, it’s a very narrow road – had we met a car coming down, I don’t know what we would have done.
We never saw the white Subaru again… There is nowhere on the road where you can pull over and take in the view or rest, so I was really glad we had stopped at Keller Creek.
The road brings you to Forest Road 55 eventually, which takes you to the well-paved road for regular passenger cars that goes up to Cape Perpetua viewing area, that looks down on the cape (it will be obvious to you when you hang a right for this road).
Next trip, maybe we will do Ten Mile Creek Road / NF 56 which is connected to a slightly bigger loop than the aforementioned Forest Road: it becomes NF 5800 / Klickitat Trail Road, then becomes Cummings Peak Road, which is what we took on our this trip back to the coast on the aforementioned loop.
While I’m not much for national forest roads unless someone has told us it’s well-maintained, both of the aforementioned loops stand out so prominently on GoogleMaps, in contrast to all of the other roads, I knew they had to be okay. Here’s a screen capture:
One thing about doing these roads: it’s important to first look at updates on the Siuslaw National Forest, web site or the US Forest Service Roads web site regarding whether or not the forest service roads you are interested in are open or not. Turns out the forest service roads we took were closed for a few weeks because of logging and re-opened only recently.
Less than six miles from our campground was East Boundary Road, which is also National Forest Service Road 5800. A guy in a parking lot (we meet a lot of those) told us it’s possible to go from that road all the way to where we were, and a look at the map checks out. I just doubt I’m good enough for such a ride.
Anyway, back to the Cape Perpetua Lookout: it’s common for the parking area at the top to be full, and we were hoping that by parking at the overflow lot down below we would get out of paying the day-use fee. We’re not opposed at all to day-use use fees, but two things: as near as we can figure, each of these sites wants you to pay at each site, and in one day, you’re likely to go to six or so sites. That’s $30! Added to that, each motorcycle has to pay – so, a van full of 10 people pays $5, two motorcycles with two people pay double. NO. We weren’t ticketed, but I think that, indeed, we were supposed to pay, even given where we parked (there are self-pay stations everywhere).
The lookout is totally worth the stop. It’s breathtaking. No stop at the site is complete without seeing the Stone Shelter, a small, rustic one-room no-frills structure was built around 1933 by the Civilian Conservation Corps. It’s meant to be a place where you can view the cape and the ocean and be protected from the elements. The CCC also built many of the trails and campgrounds in the area that are still in use today. During World War II, it became an observation station, looking for enemy boats or aircraft.
We didn’t wear masks at this site. The wind was blowing, it was cool, and Dr. Fauci says we’re fine outdoors and vaccinated, so we went for it. It’s the first time I’ve been around people and not had a mask on. It felt so weird, like I was being a bad person.
We ate outside at Yachats Brewing + Farmstore. Stefan loved his pulled pork. My vegetarian burger was… boring. I was trying to be healthy. Vegetarian burgers need SO much sauce and fixings to taste like anything. We’re still not ready to eat inside, despite being vaccinated and what Dr. Fauci says. We don’t drink and ride, and the only soda they had was their own, but it was so good, we had two glasses each! Yachats Brewing was the only place we saw in Yachats with outdoor seating, and we didn’t see a park or anything where you could eat takeout (any picnic tables were in places where Oregon State Parks wants you to pay $5 a motorcycle to visit). We SO wanted fish and were really disappointed not to have it.
We rode some more, further South, took more photos. But I was getting tired and cranky. We never saw a sign for Thor’s Well, though we passed where it was supposed to be three times. It’s an old sea cave that has collapsed, creating almost a “drainage pipe” to the ocean. It’s a seemingly bottomless hole that thrashes and sprays water as the waves crash in and out. Since it’s on every map online and in print, we assumed there would be a road sign for it. Nope! I have read all about it online now and I still have no idea where you park to hike down to it.
Going back North on 101, just as we passed the entrance to the Cape Perpetua campground, traffic came to a standstill. There was a crash up ahead. Took about 20 minutes of just sitting there to clear. We never did find out if it was motorcycle-related or not – there were several Harleys parked on the side of the road but I think they just didn’t want to sit there waiting. That’s another thing about 101 – if there is a wreck, the traffic shutdown can go on for miles and miles and miles – there’s no way to detour.
Stopped at a grocery for beer and cookies (we suddenly want cookies any time we go camping), then got back to the campsite and heated up some canned soup. Stefan was stunned that, after easily finishing off my little box of wine from the night before, I couldn’t finish the second little box that night. I was so tired. It was a great day, but I was completely wiped out. We kept thinking we were about to get rained on before we were done enjoying the fire and the evening, but we didn’t. It did rain in the night – it was a wonderful sound, in fact.
The next day, we were in no rush to get home, so we took our time eating breakfast. We left the cookie package out while we walked around the campground and when we got back, realized the birds had successfully torn open part of the bag! The tent was dry despite the rain the night before, so we packed up and headed back to Waldport. We got gas and then headed North on 101.
Stopped at Seal Rock, Oregon. No seals, but very pretty vistas. And the town itself would have been a great place to stop, especially the completely outdoor fish house, which was oh-so-ready for business, but at 10 in the morning, I wasn’t yet ready for lunch.
At a stop light, I saw a big brown sign – that means something scenic or historic – that said there was an “outstanding” sight: the Yaquina Bay Lighthouse. A lot of lighthouse sites are oversold and not all that great, but I wasn’t ready for our trip to be over, so, what they heck. Well, THIS one did NOT disappoint! The lighthouse at Yaquina Bay is well worth the side trip! Sadly, both the exhibit at the visitor’s center (but not the bathrooms) and the inside of the lighthouse are all closed because of the pandemic. But the scenery is absolutely magnificent. I realized then that, at last, I was having a great time at the Oregon coast. Only took 13 years to finally say WOW, I LOVE this!!!
I told Stefan a few times that I was disappointed I had lived in Oregon for 13 years and still hadn’t seen seals. I saw them in California back in the 1990s a lot. But even in all our trips to Astoria, I’d never seen them. I had resigned myself to the reality that I was not going to see them. As I looked out at yet another viewpoint, I looked down at the beautiful gray rocky coast and… there they were! SEALS! Hurrah! Found the point where you can go down to the rocky beach and have a closer look (but not TOO close). I was so happy! I could have sat there all day, in fact. It was glorious.
We pushed on. It was my first view of Newport, which is a really sad, depressing city, at least the stretch where you drive through. Added bonus: lots of Jesus signs and a billboard telling you evolutionary biology isn’t real. Yeah, we drove right through. What a shame we didn’t realize Otter Rock was a road we could take for a few miles pushing North instead of 101.
Foodies love to hate on Moe’s Seafood Restaurant. Welp, sorry foodies, but it’s the best fried shrimp I’ve ever had. The fish in the fish and chips also never disappoints. The clam chowder is decent as well. We got takeout and ate out on a park bench in Lincoln City. Then we walked down street in ever-increasing wind to what turned out to be public beach access, with not only the actual sea, but a sea of seals on Salishan Beach, the beach on the other side of the sea. But we didnt’ stay long: it was horrifically windy and a couple of folks looking addicted and desperate had me wanting to leave ASAP.
101 turned inland, we got rained on and there was some gnarly wind (thankfully, a headwind rather than a side wind), and at last made it to Beaver, now in the pooring down rain. I’ve been to Beaver a few times, but from there, we either turn right from wence we came in the Nestucca River Valley and head up to Tillamook, or we turn around and go back. We stood under an awning, hydrated and put on our rain jackets. I texted our dog sitters to let them know we’d be late – the rain was pouring now and it was really slowing us down.
We were hoping Nestucca River Road was open at last but, alas, it’s not, so you still have to use the Bible Creek Road / Bald Mountain Road detour. By the time we got to the top of Bald Mountain, it was pissing rain. It was a deluge. We stood under the awning of the information sign in the parking lot at the viewpoint (but not the one up by the pit toilet) and felt miserable for a while. But it wasn’t getting any better. We were also IN a rain cloud. I have never actually been IN a cloud. We headed down the narrow road, oh so carefully since my viser is crap and I had to have it open in order to see in the deluge. We got back down to Nestucca River Road and, by the time we got to Carlton, there was a break in the rain.
We made it home before dark, which is an absolute requirement for me anymore. We were reunited with Lucinda and there was great rejoicing…
Wow, I just wrote a travel blog! It’s been so, so long…
More about our travel adventures: www.coyotebroad.com/travel/
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