Day Total - 35.1 miles
Trip Total - 851.2 miles
I woke up early this morning. Very early, in fact, at about 1:30 AM to the sound of rustling plastic bags. My first thought was that a mouse had gotten into my tent, so I tried to flush it out by moving the bags around. Nothing was there though, so I tried to get back to sleep. Then it started again, but I still didn't see anything.
Then, finally, after a third time, I saw it - a raccoon had torn a hold in the side of my tent and was reaching into my food bag, which I had stupidly left out of a pannier and right against the side of the tent. Fortunately, the raccoon hadn't actually gotten anything more than an arm into the tent, but it had ripped open a packet of ramen. I immediately went to Kevin's tent to get duct tape and patch up the hole. I also put my food back inside a pannier, squarely in the middle of the tent, which seemed to be as effective a deterrent as I could muster. The raccoon didn't cause any more trouble for me after that, although I did find out the next morning that he had also gotten into the food of the couple camping next to us.
The question you're probably asking is why we didn't have our food in a locker. For some reason, the state of Oregon simply recommends that you store your food in your vehicle and does not provide food lockers (except at Harris Beach, the first place we stayed in the state). Obviously, for bikers, that doesn't really work. We probably should hang our food, which is what we did at the next campsite, but even that isn't always possible due to the height of the trees.
Needless to say, our start was on the late side, but at least the weather was good. It was sunny and slightly cool, great for cycling, although perhaps not quite ideal for seaside tourists. The first bit of the ride was fairly hill and somewhat treacherous, particularly as we rounded Cape Perpetua. The shoulder was very narrow on the winding road, but at least the pavement improved once we crossed into Lincoln County. Plus, the view from several hundred feet above the ocean was incredible - deep green forest and a shimmering blue sea filled the expansive view.
From Cape Perpetua, we dropped into the town of Yachats, obviously a popular summer destination, and the road flattened out dramatically. The section from there to Waldport was, frankly, quite boring, with the highway just far enough from the ocean that we couldn't see it. It was a bit like the stretch of Highway 1 in northernmost Sonoma County, where vacation homes lined sidestreet after sidestreet heading out toward the shoreline.
We stopped in Waldport for groceries, since we wouldn't actually be going into the center of Newport. Our campground for the night was just short of the bridge over Yaquina Bay into the city. Once we had restocked our food supplies, we crossed the Alsea Bay Bridge (actually riding it since it was a newer bridge with wide shoulders) and pedaled directly along the coast once more. This section was different from what we had seen to the south. Where rocky outcrops had dominated in the areas we had already passed, now we were riding next to golden sandy beaches, although the ocean was still much too cold for anyone to be using them. The highway, still mostly flat, was lined with more summer homes.
We made quick progress, and at about 3:30, we pulled into South Beach State Park. We unloaded the bikes and chilled out for awhile before boiling the pack of hot dogs that Kevin had bought earlier that day. We met a southbounder named Forrest who was getting a granny gear put onto his bike at the shop in town. He had been in Newport for a day by that point, so he clued us in on what it had to offer. Of course, I already had his favorite place on my radar - the Rogue Ales brewery, which, as it turned out, was only about a mile away down the park bike path.
Trip Total - 851.2 miles
I woke up early this morning. Very early, in fact, at about 1:30 AM to the sound of rustling plastic bags. My first thought was that a mouse had gotten into my tent, so I tried to flush it out by moving the bags around. Nothing was there though, so I tried to get back to sleep. Then it started again, but I still didn't see anything.
Then, finally, after a third time, I saw it - a raccoon had torn a hold in the side of my tent and was reaching into my food bag, which I had stupidly left out of a pannier and right against the side of the tent. Fortunately, the raccoon hadn't actually gotten anything more than an arm into the tent, but it had ripped open a packet of ramen. I immediately went to Kevin's tent to get duct tape and patch up the hole. I also put my food back inside a pannier, squarely in the middle of the tent, which seemed to be as effective a deterrent as I could muster. The raccoon didn't cause any more trouble for me after that, although I did find out the next morning that he had also gotten into the food of the couple camping next to us.
The question you're probably asking is why we didn't have our food in a locker. For some reason, the state of Oregon simply recommends that you store your food in your vehicle and does not provide food lockers (except at Harris Beach, the first place we stayed in the state). Obviously, for bikers, that doesn't really work. We probably should hang our food, which is what we did at the next campsite, but even that isn't always possible due to the height of the trees.
Needless to say, our start was on the late side, but at least the weather was good. It was sunny and slightly cool, great for cycling, although perhaps not quite ideal for seaside tourists. The first bit of the ride was fairly hill and somewhat treacherous, particularly as we rounded Cape Perpetua. The shoulder was very narrow on the winding road, but at least the pavement improved once we crossed into Lincoln County. Plus, the view from several hundred feet above the ocean was incredible - deep green forest and a shimmering blue sea filled the expansive view.
From Cape Perpetua, we dropped into the town of Yachats, obviously a popular summer destination, and the road flattened out dramatically. The section from there to Waldport was, frankly, quite boring, with the highway just far enough from the ocean that we couldn't see it. It was a bit like the stretch of Highway 1 in northernmost Sonoma County, where vacation homes lined sidestreet after sidestreet heading out toward the shoreline.
We stopped in Waldport for groceries, since we wouldn't actually be going into the center of Newport. Our campground for the night was just short of the bridge over Yaquina Bay into the city. Once we had restocked our food supplies, we crossed the Alsea Bay Bridge (actually riding it since it was a newer bridge with wide shoulders) and pedaled directly along the coast once more. This section was different from what we had seen to the south. Where rocky outcrops had dominated in the areas we had already passed, now we were riding next to golden sandy beaches, although the ocean was still much too cold for anyone to be using them. The highway, still mostly flat, was lined with more summer homes.
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| Sadly, this Japanese restaurant appeared to be closed |
View Day 22 - Searose Beach, OR-Newport, OR in a larger map
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