On our sixth day road-tripping down the Oregon Coast, we left our campsite at Tillicum Beach and visited Cape Perpetua, with its tremendous views, then checked out Thor’s Well at Cook’s Chasm, enjoyed more dramatic coastal views on the way to the Heceta Head Lighthouse, and eventually made it to Coos Bay, where we decided to stay at a motel and get some laundry done rather than camp another night. It was a fun day.
This turned out to be our first morning on the coast without rain or mist. Maybe the weather had finally turned toward Summer, we thought, and then we realized that it actually was the first day of Summer! But the morning was still cool when we woke up at the campground. We could hear the surf just beyond the nearby dune as we ate breakfast. That was a sound that led to a good night’s sleep.
We headed south, and, after driving along a low strip of sandy beach, Highway 101 began climbing. Cape Perpetua was our next stop, and it was part of Suislaw National Forest. We found a pullout at a spot called the Devil’s Churn, which sounded really cool. It was a long narrow surge channel that led inland from the ocean. Sadly, there wasn’t much surf that morning, plus it was low tide, so there was essentially zero churning going on. We tried to imagine this spot on a stormy Winter Day, but it wasn’t happening for us. Oh well.
Meanwhile, here in the forest, there were plenty of big trees, as well as a winding forest road leading us high onto the top of the Cape. We drove up, parked the car, and took a dayhike out on the trail to the Cape Perpetua Viewpoint. There were stunning views both north and south from up there. I took far too many photos and videos, but I’ll only bore you with a few of them here.
On our way back down to the highway, we saw a sign saying Giant Spruce, so of course we had to check it out. We parked and took another short hike inland, up a small valley, and arrived at the mighty spruce. Yes, it was truly a Giant.
That accomplished, we drove a short way further south to visit Thor’s Well. This was one of the spots on my list, and we were excited to check it out. It was located at Cook’s Chasm, another surge channel much like the Devil’s Churn, and this one featured the “Spouting Horn” which was a blowhole that wasn’t blowing at all under the current conditions of low surf and low tide. Bummer. But Thor’s Well was there for us, so we didn’t despair. At low tide it was much more accessible. We hiked down from the parking lot and made our way across sealife-filled tidepools formed of volcanic rock toward the well. This was a large hole in the coastal rocks that was created by the erosive action of the waves. There was an underground entry tunnel where the ocean came crashing in. Very fun. And the tidepools were excellent. We really liked Thor’s Well.
It wasn’t on our list of must-see items, but we saw a turnout called the Strawberry Hill Scenic Viewpoint, so of course we stopped to check it out. Why not? We were on vacation, after all. There were some fine views of the rocky Oregon Coast, as well as a few places with some sandy beach. Very nice.
The next big stop of the day was at the Heceta Head Lighthouse. We left the highway and parked down below at Cape Cove, where the trail to the lighthouse originated. There was a pleasant sandy beach at the cove, but that wasn’t part of our plan, so we grabbed a daypack with some water and snack, and began the climb up to the lighthouse itself.
The Heceta Head Light was quite old, from the days of big oil lamps and giant Fresnel lenses spinning around, powered by large clockwork gears. The lighthouse keepers would pull chains to lift heavy weights that powered the spinning lens, like a huge grandfather clock. This was back before electricity arrived on the Oregon Coast.
We lucked out and the volunteer docents opened up the lighthouse and gave us a quick tour. The old iron stairway wasn’t open, so I never saw the big glass lens, but that was OK. The displays all told about the lonely life of a lighthouse keeper. Nowadays everything is automated, and the keeper’s home is rented out as a Bed and Breakfast!
The grounds around the light were still meticulously maintained, just like in the olden days, with mowed lawns and flowers. Cormorants and other sea birds flew all around, nesting on the large sea stacks that lurked just offshore on this dangerous piece of coastline.
We got back on Highway 101 and only drove for a few minutes before we had to stop yet again for another random roadside viewpoint. We really couldn’t help ourselves, I’m sorry to relate. But beauty is beauty.
Google Maps showed us a County Park near the Umpqua River. We liked the name “Umpqua” for some silly reason, and kept repeating it until it sounded like utter nonsense. Just the same, the park was really nice. There were giant pieces of driftwood on the beach, bleached white after years in the sun and rain. Down south in San Diego, we never see giant logs on the beach, so this entire Oregon scene was really fun. We clambered and scrambled on the logs, then headed over to the big jetty to check it out. Lots of fun was had.
As the afternoon drew on, we arrived in the town of Coos Bay. As we entered the town, we saw a monstrous pile of sawdust. It was several stories tall! This tells the truest tale of the sheer number of board-feet that Oregon’s mighty forests produce each year. Wow!
Our plan was to stay in a motel that night, so we could take some (much needed!) showers. Since it was an actual city, they also had a laundromat nearby, so we got to refresh our supply of clothing. Without regular showers, it helps to have extra changes of clothing, but eventually it all had to get clean. Doing it at the same time is best. So that’s what we did.
We grabbed some food at a nearby fast food joint and headed for our motel. It was right alongside Highway 101, but we didn’t care. The showers were so good, and the bed was so soft, that nothing else really mattered. We were done for the day, and life was truly good again. Thanks, Coos Bay!
For a topographic map of the hike see my CalTopo Page
For LOTS more photos of the trek see my Flickr Page
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