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We just got back from a couple of days in Brookings on the Oregon Coast. The forecast was for non-stop rain, but we got lucky a for an hour or so with a bit of sun. This beach is about 3 miles south of the entrance to the Chetco River. It’s actually just a bit north of the Crissey Field State Park. You probably can’t access it easily without renting a place that is on the beach.
When we stayed at the Alfred A. Loeb State Park a little over a month ago there was a trail from our cabin called the Riverview Trail which follows the Chetco River. It was very nice, and I highly recommend it if you are in the Brookings area. However, when the trail ends you do not want to turn around and head back. Instead, cross the street and take another trail. This one is called the Redwood Nature Trail.
While not as spectacular as Stout Grove in Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, this trail is still pretty darn special. Stout Grove in Jed Smith can get a bit crowded (relatively speaking for this neck of the deserted woods anyway), but you won’t likely see another soul on the Redwood Nature Trail. The trees can get hundreds of feet high and some are hundreds of years old. Lots of moss and ferns cover the ground; natural creeks with mini-waterfalls abound as well.
Here is the little guy I talked about in yesterday’s blog entry. He was living out on this big rock in the ocean. There was grass (or maybe it was just moss) on the top of this rock but no trees. I’m not sure what he lived on. I doubt he scampers back into town on a regular basis since the rock is only connected to the beach for a brief part of the day. Even then it is probably a 40-yard scramble over a bunch of jagged rocks with water flowing between them. Then it’s another 20-yards of beach to the trees.
I suppose you could say he is a mini, non-human version of Ted Kaczynski, living life on his own terms, bucking the trends that his predecessor squirrels followed. I didn’t notice any manifestos or bombs in his possession however.
At low tide on the Oregon coast you can walk out onto some of the large rocks in the ocean that are surrounded by water when the tide is higher. I took the above picture from one of those rocks. I was quite surprised to find a living friend out there who didn’t have wings and can’t swim (as far as I know). I’ll show you him next time.
My kids enjoying the surf at Harris Beach in late October
The path down to Harris Beach in Brookings offered amazing views. The temperature was a balmy 70-something degrees in late October, and there was none of the normal, biting wind. Both sides of the walking path were covered in berry bushes. The fruit was gone, but the leaves were still bright green. The sun was so bright that the greenness sort of gets drowned out in the above photograph. In person, the contrasts between the green of the bush leaves and the blue of the ocean and sky were stunning.
The above photograph was taken a couple weeks back when we went to Brookings, Oregon. I’ll have another picture up soon that shows our cabin window in which you can see the reflection of this tree.
Although not quite as pretty or secluded as Harris Beach, which we found on Sunday, Sporthaven Beach, just south of the harbor in Brookings was still very nice on Saturday.
Today’s picture is the exact same as yesterday’s. I took both from the same location within 10 seconds of each other. The difference is that in yesterday’s I focused on the trees and in today’s I focused on the sky.
On a map, Ashland doesn’t look far from the Oregon coast. Birds can probably make the trip in fairly short order. Unfortunately for those species forced to take cars, there are two mountain ranges in the way so it takes a couple of hours on a roundabout course which first takes you quite north of your destination (Grants Pass) and then quite south of your destination into California. The drive is beautiful though–especially this time of year. For part of the drive you are along the Smith River with incredible views of the fall colors lining the banks. Unfortunately, we didn’t stop to take pictures this time.
Once we got to Brookings, Oregon we headed up the Chetco River for a cabin in Alfred A. Loeb State Park. A 30-second walk from the cabin afforded the above view.
The little ripple in the water is from a fish hitting the surface to get a bug. It was dinnertime for the many fish in this little part of the Chetco River.