So this morning I felt a real need to escape TV, Twitter and the entire shitstorm in DC today. Whatever side of the argument you prefer, I think we can all agree it's a shitstorm. After a very small amount of consideration I decided upon Newport, north west of here. Not the closest place to find a beach or a coastal town, but the one I felt a need to drive to. After a couple of hours on the road, I arrived here. Not shabby. I took a path down to the beach, removed my shoes and started walking north to just past where that building on the beach is, where I'd head back up the cliff. The sand was so hot I ended up putting the shoes back on, which was surprising. But if felt good.
I found the restaurant I wanted, though the fish & chips were little more than average. And the serving was huge so I'm still stuffed. It felt good to be on a beach again, free and happy.
Rather than head back the way I came -- through Corvallis -- I opted to drive south to the little town of Waldport, where I lived for awhile, and cut inland from there. En route I passed so many beaches I explored so often during those days, finally gave in to one in Seal Beach, just a tad north of Waldport. I finally got my feet on a beach again! Nice, wet beach that's easy to walk upon.
Looking north back towards Newport. Lovely day on the water. Nice breeze, warm sunshine. The tide was very calm -- perhaps ebbing, perhaps neap, perhaps beginning to edge back to shore, but calm and peaceful and easy to walk in the waves without fear of being swamped. Just gentle waves washing my ankles. Lovely.
I walked south for awhile, hated to turn back but I was still a good distance from home. That headland in the distance is Cape Perpetua, which is just south of Yachats, which is just south of Waldport.
The Alsea River bridge in Waldport. Once at low tide I walked through this area and under that bridge around and up the river a good bit before I could find a place to get out. My first and only exploration of mud flats. It was sucky and stinky and it was raining, as I recall. And I was happy as I could be. I had just moved there.
From here, I followed the river on and off for a long while inland to the burg of Alsea. I'd consulted a map before leaving Newport and had found a 'shortcut' from Alsea over to Monroe that would save me from returning to Corvallis. I know it's unlikely, but if you ever find yourself looking for that road, suffice it to say that there is zero sinage telling where it is from the highway. After a few U-turns and consulting the map again, I finally decided that there was only one option, sign or not. A couple of miles in there was a tiny sign pointing to a road that branched off to the left. I almost missed it, even looking for such a turn.
This was an interesting road, though beautiful. Kept getting narrower. Finally a 'rough road' sign and then not much further a 'one lane road with turnouts' sign. Well, OK. I love to explore and it's not like mid-winter when such exploration might not be such a good idea. For the most part the road was wide enough for cars to pass, though I saw few of them. Largely wound through forested land, with arches of trees overhead in dappled sunlight. Quite lovely. I passed a sign to Alsea Falls Recreation Area or something like that, but nothing that specified 'Alsea Falls'. Turns out, that's where the falls are. I was getting itchy to reach home, so I didn't stop. But I'd already decided that Alsea Falls was a place I was going to explore soon, since in all my years here I've never done it. Now I know where it is and how to get there.
As promised, the road traveled through the burg of Alpine and to Hwy 99 at Monroe, where I came home through some vineyard and winery areas. About a 6.5 hour day, all in all. But worth every mile of it. I've promised myself to do a lot more of this kind of thing. I find myself in serious need of mental health days right now.
It's been so long since I've done something like this alone that I'd forgotten how much I enjoy it. Company is great, but there's something to be said about being alone, with good music and plenty of time to think. Free to go where I want, do what I want, stop when I want, come home when I want. Take off on BLM roads when I want and see where they go.
No comments:
Post a Comment