Yachats
2 October 2011
I went to The Green Salmon for breakfast and ate an awesome croissant that had a deliciously excessive amount of glaze.
The stretch from Yachats to Florence wound along the coast, and the shoulder was quite narrow in a few places. It's said this is one of the most harrowing segments of the Oregon coast, and I was glad I hadn't tried to do it in yesterday's rain.
At Devils Churn, I parked the bike and walked down a short trail through the trees to an observation point. (I love the smell of the firs.) You can see the water crash on the rocks as it flows into a narrow channel.
Shortly after is Cooks Chasm Bridge, which had been aging and was recently replaced with a near-exact replica.
After Heceta Head lighthouse, one reaches the second tunnel of the Oregon Coast Bike Route. (Like the first one, cyclists can activate warning lights before entering.) After passing through the tunnel I was treated to a vista point where I could look back on the lighthouse.
There are some sea lion caves, and at one site there is a tourist attraction where you can take an elevator down to (or close to) one of the caves.
I ate lunch in Florence.
The afternoon ride deviated from the coast (there are huge sand dunes right along the coast here). The rain started mid-afternoon and continued for the rest of the day.
I stopped in Winchester Bay and bought a slice of pie. There is not much in the way of real food or anything else in town, though.
Near Umpqua Lighthouse State Park you can see this huge structure jutting out into the water. It's a breakwater to protect Winchester Bay, but has the secondary purpose of being an oyster farm.
I crossed the bridge into North Bend and stopped at the Itty Bitty Inn, almost the first motel I saw when I entered town. The place is spartan but super clean. And a fantastic deal ($49). The manager is a very friendly and nice guy, to boot.
It is about a 10-minute walk to any of the downtown dinner places; I ate at Yeong's, which is somewhat surprisingly, a burger joint.