DAY 8 - Oregon Coast

August 06, 2014

DAY 8 - Oregon Coast

We left Portland and headed back to the coast and Highway 101. After a short stop at Devil’s Lake near Lincoln City, we headed south towards the Devil’s Punch Bowl. A large “bowl” naturally carved into the rock headland and partially open to the Pacific Ocean, this fills with water at high tide and the waves churn and swirl within. We wandered down the State Park along the coast and suddenly we saw a group of whales off the coast! The Grey Whales migrate back north up to Alaska after their breeding season and pass very close to the Oregon Coast. It was difficult to capture on camera but in one of the photos you can see the spray coming out of the whale’s blowhole.

Devil's Lake

Devil's Punch Bowl at low tide

Migrating Grey Whales

Heading further south along the 101 we arrived at Cape Perpetua; a large forested headland which projects into the Pacific Ocean. At its highest point it rises about 240m and as today was quite clear we could see approximately 70 miles of Oregon coastline. We hiked down to the tidal pools whilst the tide was still out, although it was very windy and sea quite rough and we narrowly avoided being soaked several times. We then hiked around the cove to the Spouting Horn and Devil’s Churn. Devil’s Churn is a long crack in the coastal rock that fills with oceans waves and occasionally explodes as the incoming and outgoing waves collide.

Cape Perpetua

Picnic Lunch

Narrowly avoiding a soaking

Mussels and Anemone in the tidal pools

Devil's Churn

Our last stop for the day were the Oregon Dunes. These extend for approximately 40 miles along the coast from Florence to Coos Bay and are the largest expanse of coastal sand dunes in North America. The landscape feels quite bizarre; the sand dunes are about 150m high and have been sculpted as a result of millions of years of wind and rain erosion on the Oregon Coast. It was brilliant fun to be able to run down them and straight into the ice cold Woahink Lake below.

Oregon Sand Dunes

Tim at the top of a dune

Oregon dunes with Woahink Lake below

Woahink Lake

I understand now why Highway 101 is called the Pacific Scenic Highway, every place we passed was so beautiful and it was difficult to concentrate whilst driving as you just wanted to look around at the scenery.

Oregon Coastline

Our motel for the night is Villa West in Florence….and it is just about as grim and budget you can get. We were greeted by two Indian children who spoke no English, but we somehow managed to communicate that we were there for a room and I handed over the credit card. (Will be checking the bill later). The town’s saving grace is the little historic downtown area on the Suislaw River. We ate at Waterfront Depot which is an absolute hidden gem – the food was amazing and Tom the barman plied us with free port and a traditional Oregon berry cake.