Goodbye, Oregon

My last day and a half on the Oregon coast I spent largely in the Cape Perpetua Scenic Area. Coastlines of jagged, black volcanic rock and rough waters make this area dramatic, and place names like “Cook’s Chasm” and “Devil’s Churn” certainly reflect that. I spent a half day at the small cove Strawberry Hill exploring tidepools and watching seals and then the remainder of the afternoon at the aforementioned Cook’s Chasm and Devil’s Churn where I hiked a bit of the Trail of the Restless Waters that follows the shoreline. By late afternoon I was in Newport, feeling that it was time to head home to Utah, back to Tom and Abby. I stopped in at Rogue Brewery and was enjoying a Brutal IPA when I found myself engaged in an interesting conversation with a Oregon native. The conversation continued though we were both had finished our beer drinking so we walked along the harbor checking out the boats. The best part though was he showed me where there were seals on the docks!

In the morning I drove out to Yaquina Head Lighthouse and Scenic Area to stretch out before the drive. The lighthouse is situated at the end of a beautiful cove full of black sand and rock; wildflowers, broken basalt outcroppings, and dwarfed fir trees complete the perfect picture.

My path home, though direct, did take two and half days which meant that I took many a short walk to stretch out. The best was my discovery of the South Yuba River off I-80 in California. Here massive smoothed boulders were overrun with freezing snowmelt pouring from the surrounding mountains. I also think I found a potential dream house in the way of a red cabin perched over a falls.