Day 6 2021 -Foggy Beaches

Like so many mornings when we woke up next to the ocean, it was foggy outside. We were on the Northside of Newport and as we headed south we needed to cross a bridge over a river to leave town. The fog was so thick that when we came to this bridge we almost didn’t even know it was there. I turned on every light on my bike and we waited for a break in the traffic, then we rode like hell. Ron had his sunglasses around his neck but I was wearing mine. Halfway through the Journey over the bridge my glasses were getting wet with condensation. If the fog wasn’t bad enough, now even my glasses were foggy. Because I am writing this now you can tell the we both made it across.

We arrived at our first beach access at Lost Creek State Park. The fog was still pretty thick and as far as I could tell the creek would still stay lost.

Seal Rock is one of my wife Becky’s favorite beaches and hikes along the coast. By this time the fog lifted a little bit. Although we got to see more of the ocean and the beach, even a hike wouldn’t have allowed us to see it as it looked in the sunshine.

We had difficulty deciding how far we should ride for lunch or second breakfast. After passing up a snack at a convenience store, we pushed on to Waldport. We crossed over an impressive long bridge. Stopping halfway across we could look out and watch people in small boats fishing and placing crab pots to catch their dinner. Our main eating of the day was second breakfast.

Our next stop took us to the town of Yachats. As usual we came in on 101 but then took a side road that led us along the shoreline. There, we had spectacular views of waves breaking against the rocks as foggy clouds rolled over the mountains in the distance.

Leaving Yachats, we had a long uphill climb that led us to many viewpoints including Cape Perpetua, Devils Churn, Cape Cove, Thors Well, Spouting Horn, and Neptune Beach. It was mostly uphill to get to these view points.

Along the way to Heceta Beach we encountered a tunnel. Ron hit the button to let cars know that there were bicyclists in the tunnel. We waited for a break in the traffic and still riding uphill, we had to sprint our way at the other end to preserve our lives.

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Heceta Head Lighthouse in the distance.

It was only another five or six miles to our hotel in Florence. The hills had done their work to make us tired. Although we were tired, the viewpoints and the beauty were worth it. More details of the ride are here.

The Not So Lone Rider