Dear Friend,
Have you had a good and busy week? Maintenance? New creations? Harvesting your first radishes? What is going on in your garden today? Any Gnomes calling it home? When you have a moment, please write and catch me up. It is always nice to hear from you!
Well, we are back on the road. It has really been a beautiful week along the southern coast of Oregon.
Our first day of driving was longer than we expected, thank Frank’s desire to find a cool place to camp. We could have used better cell reception but, we serendipitously wound up at a great campground just North of the California / Oregon boarder off of Highway 5 N to 96 W.
Tree of Heaven Campground is along the Klamath river. The river, less than 30 yards from our campsite, high in its banks, sounded that constant river whoooosh, as it rushed along, snow-melt cold. The campground was clean and quiet (if you enjoy the sound of the river, which we do)… the evening mosquitos were minimal, thanks to several very busy bats that came out as the sun was setting. At one end of the campground, you’ll find a nicely manicured trail with postings that tell about Neotropical Migratory Birds. See the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Program.
These are birds that travel back and forth seasonally between North and South America. Tree of Heaven Campground in the Klamath National Forest is part of an ongoing study to monitor populations of all kinds of creatures dependent on the river, especially the migratory birds. This ongoing effort is to track changes in populations and to try to determine whether or not / and how these changes can be traced back to people. Findings will help people understand how to make choices that benefit every creature involved. Make good choices. Douse your fire. Pack in – Pack out. Don’t share food. Adopt a dog. (I threw that last one in).
In this campground, there are several well-maintained pit-toilets, trash dumpster, and the campsites have fire rings, asphalt parking, and plenty of space to pitch a tent. Be careful if you bring kids or dogs, there is poison oak and there are ticks!
As far as continuous quiet goes, just across the one lane road from our campsite, #3, is one of the main Put-In locations for river-rafting. We left the campground at 8:00 am, an hour before the first crowd was expected to arrive to take their guided, half-day trip down the Klamath.
Our second day of driving brought us to Brookings, Oregon, where we’d reserved four nights at Harris Beach campground. We had campsite D1.
Lovely!
The scenery: moss-covered trees, tall pines, shrubs, ferns, flowering rhododendron, daisies, berry vines, so much greenery and color and lushness – (there is some very healthy poison oak growing around so just watch where you’re going). It felt like we were in a rain forest! It did get a bit too drippy-damp for our camping set up, so, we didn’t pitch the tent – it would be difficult to get the damp stuff dry.
Right from the campground, the trail(s) take you to beaches and tidal pools. It’s a little over a mile, one-way, to walk into town for shopping, (and two miles, one-way, to the Chetco Community Library).
The campground bathrooms are clean, as are the showers. If you need RV hookups, you can reserve spaces with great ocean views. Our “tent” space included a picnic table, a fire ring, asphalt parking, and room on the ground for pitching a tent. So far, in Oregon State Park campgrounds, we have found that there are plenty of water-bibs, sink-waste-water-disposal-stations, and trash cans for everyone to use. AT>T cell coverage was 3-bars LTE at our campsite.
Those five days and four nights seemed to zip by. Our last morning there was exceptionally cold and damp, and though we were sad to go, we hoped for better weather ahead.
Onward along 101 North to Gold Beach to do our laundry, and then up the coast toward Port Orford. We’d reserved a campsite at Hum Bug Mountain Campground. It’s a very clean, two-section campground. The North section has a large grassy area surrounded by forest and campsites. Perfect for groups, lots of families are camped there – both tent camping and RV. The bathroom/shower facilities are plenty to accommodate large families. A pathway to the ocean runs through that campground and leads right to where Hum Bug Creek meets up with the ocean. We walked the trail last evening from our campsite in the Southern section of the campground. Sunset was spectacular!
As you most likely know, and I’m learning, the Oregon Coastline is dotted with hundreds of rock formations, oddly-shaped islands across tide-directed waters from mainland cliffs, beaches of rocks and sand, and plant-life everywhere, all under ever-changing skies. We’ve had a chance to hike the beaches and mountain trails.
And we’ve met some very interesting friends. For a visual: Drum-Roll, please… here’s what we’ve all been waiting for… more of Frank’s photos! Thank you, Frank, for sharing!
Thank you, again, my Friend, for checking in to read, Tracks by the Post! We are grateful for your thoughts and care!
Gently Be,
Leslie (and Frank)
To view more of Frank’s work: fbphoto.com