This parks boasts the most scenic beach of anywhere we've stayed on the coast thus far. There are sea stacks and a big island right off shore, and wonderful tide pools. Yesterday morning at low tide, Ellie tried to introduce herself to a red rock crab, but he was not interested in making new friends. The island right off shore is called Goat or Bird Island (it seems to have two names). The person owned the land used to run goats on the island before he donated the land to the state. Now it's a bird sanctuary; thousands of bird go there to breed and nest, including the rare tufted puffin. Some of the campsites have ocean views (ours doesn't), and it's just a short walk down to the beach. It's a small park, family-friendly as all the state parks in Oregon seem to be. This one has a little laundromat right on-site; an ice cream truck from nearby Brookings rolls through the campground twice a day, ringing its bell, selling bagged ice and ice cream bars.
The Samuel Boardman State Park and Scenic Corridor begins just north of here, and stretches for 12 miles along the coast. It roughly parallels Hwy 101 along the ocean, and there are many picnic and view areas along it, which also link the southern segments of the Oregon Coast Trail. Samuel Boardman is called the father of Oregon state parks, because he worked tirelessly to preserve coastline for the poeple of Oregon. The deal on this particular 12-mile stretch of extraordinarily scenic coastline was sealed on the eve of his retirement in 1950, and was named in his honor after his death 3 years later. What a legacy! We hiked from Lone Ranch Picnic Area, over Cape Ferrelo to House Rock Viewpoint--about 4 miles roundtrip. It was gorgeous, as you can see from the pictures. Meadows of wildflowers, deep woods, spectacular ocean views.
Tomorrow we have another "1000 Things to See Before You Die" adventure--a jetboat tour of the Rogue River. The Rogue River begins in Crater Lake and tumbles its way through the wilderness to the ocean. It's famous for its wild whitewater rapids, as well as the salmon fishing on its more placid lower end. The whitewater trip is a 3-dayer--not an option for us. Instead, we're doing a 6 hour, 80 mile jetboat tour starting at Gold Beach. The lower part of the trip is in the calm part of the river where we ought to be able to see a lot of wildlife, and then we'll get into about 20 miles of Class 2 rapids. Not big rapids, but it should provide a few thrills.
On Monday, we'll leave the coast and stat heading east. We had originally planned to drive south-ish, possibly visiting Crater Lake first, then heading into California, picking up I-80 in Truckee and coming home across Nevada. Change of plans. Ted and Molly are doing the Spudman Triathalon in Burley ID next Saturday. They don't have a babysitter for 19-month old Jackson, and wondered if we'd be available to meet them there and watch Jack while they swim the Snake River, cycle 20 miles, and run a 10K. Of course we would!
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