Day 64 & 65 - back to the coast

Distance: 69.35mi & 66.7mi| Time: 6:39 & 5:41 | 2759 & 2337kcal | 4183 & 2228 vertical feet

131014-cold-morning-in-oregon-fahrenheitYesterday we left our warm nest in Gladstone on blue sky and sunshine. Since Crater Lake National Park is still closed due to the shutdown, we decided to ride back to the coast. Via a small Highway at Carlton we crossed over towards the coast. We tried to reach the campgrounds along this road but could see anything because it was already becoming dark. During the day we still ride with tshirt but in the evening we wear almost everything. At 37°F we started the ride today – It’s time that we get down to the south! At the coast we first gave us time for a good lunch and of course a good beer in the famous Pelican Brewery in Pacific City. Tomorrow we will continue on Highway 101 towards south!

Day 66 - One of the coolest campground ever

Distance: 40.23mi | Time 4:06 | 1426kcal | 2073 vertical feet

Today we found the coolest campground so far on this trip. It's directly next to the beach on a little flat surface on the sand-cliff, where we set up out tent to be safe of the high-tides. From there we watched the sunset next to a little fire built with driftwood. Here's what we've seen: 131016-camping-at-the-oregon-beach-2 131016-camping-at-the-orgeon-beach-1

Day 67 - Sea lions fighting for the best spots on the rocks

Distance: 48.87mi | Time: 4:40 | 1771kcal | 2387 vertical feet

sea-lions-at-the-sea-lion-cave-in-oregonWe must realize the days became much shorter than we used to. If we didn’t get up right away, we have a hard time reaching our daily goal. Riding further along the coast next to some of the most beautiful beaches we’ve ever seen. The Highway 101 follows endless sandy beaches with some lonely rocks lying in the water a bit further out in the ocean. On low tides it is possible to cross over to some of them and on high tides they are sometimes under water. When we walk on the beaches we find sometimes remains of crabs or mussels which died in the strong waves hitting the rocks. Later this day we came to a place, where a family of sea-lions is living. We would have passed by if these animals would not make their very loud noises. Some of them were sitting on a rock and some were swimming in the water, trying to get to the rock. But it seemed only the fattest were allowed to sit on this certain spot. We finally arrived at our campground at the Jessie M Honyman State Park, which is not affected by the US government shutdown at 6PM.oregon-coast-splash-waves

Day 68 - A desert directly in Oregon

Distance: 55.34mi | Time: 4:58 | 1741kcal | 2480 vertical feet

bridge-coos-bay-oregonSand dunes for miles in Oregon??? Yes this state has a variety of different landscapes and down in the South there is a spot of about 20mi long and 3mi wide were there’s nothing but sand. We took the opportunity and went for a hike on one of these dunes. It amazed us, how fast the landscape changed from trees and bushes to only sand and a few grass piles. Far west we could see the deep blue Pacific Ocean. We followed the 101 further south and rode directly next to the dunes and crossed an amazing bridge just before Coos Bay until we arrived at the Sunshine Bay State Park.dunes-oregon-coastoregon-dunes-landscape

Day 69 - Bandits during the night and myrtle wood trees

Distance: 99.37mi | Time: 8:46 | 3645kcal | 5602 vertical feet

Yesterday evening we had once more some visitors on our campground who tried to steal our food. But this time we were prepared for these little bandits and locked away all food in a nearby RV of the camp host. While writing the blog Caro first thought it is Mathias but after looking backwards she saw four raccoons sitting behind her picnic table, only waiting for her to leave the food unattended. Since two of these thieves got caught in a trap, prepared by the ranger, we heard them scream for quite a while but soon we were to tired and just fell asleep. myrtle-wood-bowl-handmade-oregonmyrtle-wood-tree-leaves-oregonBill offered us to stay in his house in the South of Oregon, so we had a tough day, since we were still almost 100mi away from it. We started early as usual and came until a shop, where they sell dishes and especially salad bowls made out of Myrtlewood. This special type of tree grows only here, at the Oregon coast and in Israel, in the “Holy Land”. The leaves of this tree have a very spicy smell and etheric oils can be made out of them. Even down here these trees are very rare to find, but we rode our bikes through a small forest of these trees. Mathias gathered about 40 seeds, so maybe we will have our own Myrtlewood tree in Germany soon. Very late and tired at about 8:30PM we arrived at Bills house. Now we’re only 20mi away from the border to California. Tomorrow the giant Redwoods are on our program.riding-along-oregon-coastsunset-oregon-coast