Labor Day Weekend in Port Orford

Wednesday, 9:00 AM, Port Orford, Oregon.

The sky is yellow with smoke. Not a good day to go hiking!

We stayed in the Alfa over the Labor Day weekend in order to avoid people from other places who came to the coast for the cool air. In general, the local people seem to be practicing good preventive behaviors by wearing masks and keeping social distancing. You cannot enter a store without a mask.  In many stores, if you do you are given one. There have been no deaths in this county. I wonder why?

On Friday, after a hike in the woods, we drove past Battle Rock Wayside and I notice there were a lot of people there, some without masks. Tourists? Or just people who felt safe outdoors? We always carry masks, but I admit, we only put them on outdoors when other people are near. It is really hard to know what is the best approach.

Our hike was up the Amphitheater trail in Humbug Mountain State Park. It was short, just two miles, but the first 1/2 mile was a pretty steep climb.  We learned that the trees with lots of side branches are Grand Firs.

 

 

One of the little things we have seen on our walks.

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday was a bit smoky. The sun was a big red disc when it was just over the trees in the morning, but the air did not seem too bad. 

We went over to the Battle Rock Wayside and went for a walk on the beach.  The weekend crowd was gone. The temperature was warm, and best of all there was no wind.

 Not a pretty blue sky, but pretty good ROCKS! We learned that 20,000 years ago the coastline was ten miles further out. The stacks and rocks are the result of erosion leaving harder rocks exposed. Someday they too will be gone. 

It did seem strange that there were very few seagulls on the beach this day. We did see a mob of crows, and two of these red billed Black Oystercatchers. 

 

 

 

We also went to the "port" of Port Orford. 

Unlike many places it did not have a marina full of leisure boats.

The boat storage area was quite high over the water. Two large cranes are used to lift them into the water. There were about 20 fishing boats on the dock. 

We plan to enjoy local fish and chips from the "Crazy Norwegian's" for dinner tonight. We pick them up and bring them back to the Alfa to eat. Just trying to stay safe, and we hope all of our friends and readers are doing the same.

'Til next time ....

First Few Days in Port Orford, Oregon

On Tuesday we took the "long" drive down the coast to Port Orford. All of 24 miles! We are staying in a tiny RV park on highway 101called Camp Blanco RV. It has all of 25 sites, and most of them seem to be filled by seasonal or long term residents. But, unlike many similar places the units are not terribly run down, nor are they the big flashy class A's found in what I think of as the "La-De-Da" parks. 

I found it in mid-May when after all of our Canadian plans were cancelled, and I started looking for a cool place to escape from the hot late summer weather. At first, I could not find anything available in August, including here, but after some thought I called back to check on September. Bingo, we got a month reservation at the great price of $395. 

"Cool" is a good description of the weather so far. While our home base (Jojoba Hills) in Southern California is looking at temperatures well over 100° this week, Port Orford has been in the 60s. Yesterday the fog rolled in at about 5 PM, and cleared about 11 AM this morning.

I Found several short but interesting walks near our park. Today we went on the first, on Coast Guard Hill.

It started out with a ferny forest path that was nicely level.

 

 

 

 

 

The fog was just starting to clear when we got to the first overlook.

This bench was located where you could sit and watch the fog lifting for the day.  

An interesting tree.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have been very lucky to see so much beautiful scenery in our travels, and are looking forward to much more in our month here in Port Orford. We are always looking for suggestions of places to see or hike, so if you know of any hidden gems in this area, please comment!