Bark or Roar

Florence, OR November 14 - 17, 2012

We left Cannon Beach on a beautiful sunny day and drove down the Scenic Oregon Coast Hwy 101 to Florence  - home of the largest sea cave in the world and to Stellar and California Sea Lions.  We arrived at Heceta Beach RV park just north of Florence.  The northwest coastline is known for high winds, rain and fog especially this time of year and the Heceta Beach RV park has these beautifully protected sites with bushes all around.  We were all alone in the back of the park - it was great.

The dogs were loving their freedom and the first night caught a scent of something and both went running and howling, chasing whatever it was.  I got them back and went trapsing into the woods with a flashlight to figure out what it was much to Peg's chagrin and I didn't even have the bear spray with me.  It didn't matter because whatever it was was long gone.

The first full day we drove to the Sea Lion Caves the major tourist attraction in the area.  It is privately owned and they have a walking path and elevator down to the caves where the Sea Lions make their home for parts of the year.  It was a gorgeous sunny day and we watched the sea lions frolic about inside and outside the cave for a couple of hours.  There are two very distinctive sea lions here:  Stellar that roar like a lion and are brown and California Sea Lions that bark like a dog and are black.  They do not like each other and have separate territories in and out of the caves.  It also had a beautiful view of the Heceta Head lighthouse - the most photographed lighthouse in the world.  One of the workers said they had seen a migrating whale the day before, but we didn't see any darn it.

We then drove to the Cape Perpetua visitor center to find out what hikes were available.  It was a really great visitor center and one of the volunteers told us we shouldn't miss the drive up to the top of Cape Perpetua - the highest point on the Oregon Coast.  There was a 2.5 mile hike to the top, but after we drove the very steep, winding road we decided the drive was good enough.  The view from the top was really beautiful.

 
We drove back to Suni to get the dogs for a walk on Heceta Beach around the corner from the RV park.  This part of the Oregon coast has completely different beaches covered wtih sand dunes.  It was a beautiful sunset walk to end a beautiful sunny day.

 

 We used our next day to take a great 3 mile hike through the dense forest along a ridge with a view of the ocean and then down to the beach.  It offered great views and was just strenuous enough.  We learned that mushrooms are a huge business in this part of Oregon picking them requires a permit and there are limits on how many you can collect.  Have I mentioned how much we love Oregon, this trail was so perfectly marked that even Peg and I couldn't get lost.  We then drove into the town of Florence to find the ever illusive liquor store which always seems to be next door to a gun store here in Oregon.  Doesn't really seem like a good combination.

 

 

I tried to take a picture of the trees that grow completely sideways from the high winds in this area.  It's crazy.  We are heading out tomorrow and there are high wind warnings for the next few days.  It should be an interesting drive.  Good-bye Oregon.

Coming soon... Crescent City and Garberville for the Redwoods.