Port Orford

More ocean time

One of the reasons we wanted to spend time in Oregon this springs was to ride their scenic bikeways. We arrived in Port Orford with the intention of riding most of the 60 miles of the Wild Rivers Coast Scenic Bikeway. The strong winds had us thinking that this was going to be one long week if the winds didn't change.

When a person sees this painted on the road, it seems like a good thing to check out.

Yep, that's an ocean view.

We woke the next morning to sunshine and calmer winds. The first three miles going north were into some fairly strong winds. Now we understand why most people ride the Pacific Coast Highway north to south.  

Once we turned off the highway onto Elk River Road, the wind was blocked by the trees and the beautiful valley kept us smiling and pedaling

 The only problem was that the beautiful rivers and waterfalls kept making us stop and take pictures. Finally, we had to just ride.
 One rule of bike riding is that your bike follows where you are looking. I kept that in mind as we would find ourselves glancing down to the river in the gorge as we pedaled along. Fortunately, our handlebars didn't follow our eyes.

Turning around at mile 16 seemed like a good plan even though the river and valley kept calling us ahead.

We stopped at the fish hatchery on the way back down to see some huge trout for the lakes and tiny steelhead salmon that will be released in the Chetco River near Brookings, OR in the fall.

 

Piloted in 2014, the Tag Team Program helps ODFW fish biologists better understand the effectiveness of stocking efforts. It’s also a chance for anglers to participate in fishery management and, perhaps, come away with up to $50.

 

By releasing a known number of tagged fish into lakes, and totaling reports from anglers who caught a tagged fish, ODFW biologists can accurately estimate the percentage of the total population of stocked fish that were caught. With this knowledge, biologists can better stock the correct number of fish and the most desirable species. Not every tagged fish will be reported, so to sweeten the deal, some tags come with monetary rewards.

We were sure hungry after 34 miles of riding and headed over to the Crazy Norwegian.

The giant coconut shrimp went well with the great clam chowder and sour dough bread. All I needed was to ride the mile back home and take some Tylenol.

 

We broke up our hiking and biking days with visits to local museums and parks. 

Coast Guard Museum

 

 A lifeboat from the early 1900s at the Coast Guard museum.

The lifeboats were launched from Nellies cove over 500 steps down from the Coast Guard station.

A walk out on the Headlands Trail from the Coastguard Museum.

At the end of the trail looking down on agate beach, we could see the lighthouse way out there on the tip.

Cape Blanco Lighthouse

 

On the lower work level of lighthouse, a volunteer gave us a tour before we climbed the stairs up to the light.

 The stairs were not attached to the wall but felt very sturdy. I guess they would have to be for it to still be in service.

The 18 second light is specific to Cape Blanco. Every lighthouse has its own pattern to help the captain of the boat or ship know where they are in foggy conditions.

The Hughes house built in 1898 was not far from the lighthouse. We stopped for a tour here also. The couple were from Ireland. After operating a successful dairy ranch for more than thirty years, the couple was able to pay a pioneer builder to design and build the comfortable, two-story home It is always interesting to glance back into the past.

I can't imagine milking 100 cows twice a day by hand. But then again, I have never milked one cow but Mike has.

It was also good to visit with the volunteers at these places as we consider where we could like to volunteer next summer or spring.

 

Who knew there would be more of Port Orford to share coming up?