PanAm 10: Oregon's Beautiful Coast

This time we're traveling through Oregon along the beautiful, rocky coast to the Redwoods. Naomi and I are meeting up with Noah, Bailey, Keane, and Iza and will be joining them for part of the trip.

Please excuse the delay in this newsletter. Since arriving in San Francisco, I unfortunately haven't had much free time or internet access to write. I hope to catch up in San Diego or Ensenada with a few days' break.

Rocks and sand dunes

Our first night in Oregon at Fort Stevens Campground was quiet and restful. We were able to pack up in the dry, but set off cycling in a light drizzle. Thankfully, it didn't last long. After a short time, we reached Seaside, where Naomi bought herself a coffee and I got a hot chocolate. We were also offered the option of staying in an apartment complex after a tour, but unfortunately, we didn't have time for that.

It was wonderful to stand on the same beach where Lewis and Clark began their journey home. After a short climb, we reached Cannon Beach and Haystack Rock. Of course, like everyone else, we took a photo there.

The road was already heavily trafficked, and I was approaching my second road tunnel of the trip so far. Since I still didn't have a taillight, a kind gentleman stopped me and gave me one.

The day also involved climbing a few more meters to the next campsite. There, the first night would have cost us an extra ten dollars instead of the usual 20 per site. We didn't see the point in paying that extra, so we drove a little further and camped on the beach, even though it was getting tight with the rising tide.

On day 107 of my trip, I was woken up by fishermen sailing back and forth right in front of our beach. This gave me plenty of time to call home again. We reached Tillamook, with its dairy of the same name, later that morning. We took a short tour there and, of course, bought some cheese.

For lunch, we were back on the coast and were able to watch whales and surfers. There were also lots of rabbits in the parking lot, and we had to protect our food from them. After that, we still had two big hills to climb. Before we reached our campsite in Lincoln City, the Google Street View car overtook us. We'll see when the pictures go online. At the campsite, we met a couple, Bailey and Keane, from Vancouver, who are cycling to Guatemala, and we had a lovely evening.

The next morning we spent a lot of time chatting and didn't get going until after ten. It was quite cloudy again on the coast, but I reached my 7,000 km mark. To celebrate, we had delicious pancakes at Pig and Pancakes for lunch. Afterwards, we were so full that we couldn't go any further and called it a day at the town's campsite at 3 pm. This gave me time to write my blog on the beach. We also enjoyed a beautiful sunset there.

Day 109 began a little differently after a night with temperatures only 9°C, as other cyclists who had spent their last night there invited us for breakfast. So, we had pancakes again. With a tailwind, we continued along the coast, cycling up and down hills. Our lunch break, however, was in one of the most beautiful spots. With sun, sand, and sea, I enjoyed my typical lunch: bread with cheese, ham, and cucumber. Then another one with Nutella.

Shortly before my third road tunnel of the trip, we encountered a traffic jam caused by road marking work. While stuck in the jam, I caught up with a trailer, which I used to pull me up the next hill. I'd always wanted to do that, even though my arm ached afterwards due to my sports injury.

Just before reaching the Sea Lion Caves, I was able to watch some sea lions playing in the waves before heading back down to Florence. Shortly before the city limits, we met up with another cyclist, Noah, who is cycling from Vancouver to LA, just as his parents did 30 years ago. We stayed with him at the Jessie M. Honeyman Campground.

For dinner, we hiked up the sand dunes, which are common along this stretch of road. At the top, we enjoyed a melon for dessert. Bailey and Keane didn't reach the campground until 10:00 PM and unfortunately missed it.

The five of us had a nice breakfast together the next morning and agreed to meet again in Sunset Bay in the evening, which we then did.

We also met Isa, who's cycling from Fairbanks to Mexico and only ended up at the campground because she didn't have a GPS and took a wrong turn. All Oregon State Park campgrounds cost only between five and ten dollars. However, most showers cost an extra dollar.

Naomi and Noah wanted to attempt a 200-km hike to California in two days. Therefore, we decided to do a short 30-km hike as preparation. That suited Bailey and Keane too. And so we had plenty of time on day 111. After a brief rain shower in the morning, the six of us had breakfast/lunch at a café before heading the few kilometers to the next campsite. Unfortunately, the nearest supermarket was another 4 km further on. So, an extra 8 km.

Long-distance journey to the Redwoods

On day 112, I was woken up early in the morning by Noah's alarm at 5:30 a.m., as he and Naomi had set off that early. I didn't want to do the 200km challenge, as I knew I wouldn't enjoy it. I took it easy and had a quiet day, which was cool and cloudy. On the plus side, I mostly had a tailwind.

I didn't get going until around ten, after searching for my already opened bottle of chocolate milk. Apparently, a raccoon had dragged it into the surrounding bushes, where Keane had found it that morning. For lunch, I found a brief break in the sun and realized that Naomi and Noah were already 60 km ahead of me. That's roughly equivalent to the 3-hour difference.

At the 95-km mark, it was only 3:30 pm, and the next campsite wasn't for another 140 km. Despite my low motivation, I decided to keep going, as it was too cold to call it a day so early. However, this meant climbing 300 meters to reach Cape Sebastian. Unfortunately, the viewpoint was even higher and shrouded in clouds. Shortly before Brookings, I stopped at the rocks of Secret Beach and Natural Bridges. It was definitely worth it, but with darkness approaching, I couldn't linger too long.

I arrived at the campsite at 6:30 pm and met Isa again, as well as Miriam, who is also cycling solo from Canada to Argentina. She'd been planning the trip since she was two and a half years old 😅. It was also the first campsite that was really full of other cyclists (10). I had to cook in the dark, and unfortunately, my clothes didn't dry after a hot shower.

Conclusion

I really enjoyed Oregon's coast. Unfortunately, there were several days of fog, which made it rather chilly. However, this didn't detract from the beauty of the coast, which remains one of the most beautiful stretches of coastline I've ever seen.

It was also great to have reached the coastal route and to meet other cyclists. It's simply pleasant to talk to people about the same daily experiences and not have to keep telling the same story.

I hope things will move along more quickly with the next blog posts so I can catch up a bit. The next installment will take me to California and through the Redwoods to San Francisco, where I had time to take a few rest days.

And now, visible only to my sponsors, a picture of my pizza from San Francisco. Thank you all so much 😊