Beachside State Park Tuesday Oct 20 to Friday Oct 23

Picasa photolink for this trip

The Oregon coast is beautiful any time of year, although cloudy skies and rain are always a possibility. I (Mo) usually try to spend a few days there in the fall. On Tuesday, October 20, I left (with Abby as my copilot and companion) at 8 am, traveling via Westside Road on the western edge of Recreation Creek and the Upper Klamath Lake National Wildlife Refuge. There was fog all the way from home, along Highway 97 through Chiloquin and Chemult to Highway 58, and over the Cascades. I took a few photos through the windshield of the fog and brilliant colors of turning leaves.

The entire trip only took 5 pleasant hours of driving. At Eugene, I traveled west along Highway 136 to Florence, and then north to Beachside State Park just a bit south of Waldport. When I arrived in the afternoon, temperatures were in the 60’s. In order to camp for 3 consecutive nights, I had to take one of the only five unreserved campsites available. The campground has a total of 33 electrical sites with no sewer or dump. Ten of those sites are right on the beach, but they were filled. I settled in to a site three rows back, but can still hear the ocean and a walk to the beach is “nothing”.

I stayed at the beach until Friday morning. I enjoyed sleeping in until 8am on Wednesday, good for both me and for Abby. My days were spent walking the beach, first toward the north on Wednesday, and then south on Thursday. The beach is long, open, and the sand is packed hard for great walking. There are no shells or rocks, but the waves and birds provide plenty of entertainment.

Wednesday was windy and while cloudy in the morning, ended in the warm 60’s by afternoon. I walked, read, and relaxed. Without the “toad” on this trip, my entertainment was all on foot. We walked the campground in the evening where Abby found a tennis ball. She loves to play fetch and often will find a stray ball on our walks. I enjoyed my evening with a hamburger cooked over the outside wood fire and shared a little with Abby.

On Thursday we again walked the beach where Abby found another ball on the return trip. We checked the USFS Tillicum Beach Campground
along the way. The campground is high on a bluff along the beach, although you could still hear the ocean and there was easy access to the beach. The cost was listed at $28 per night with electricity, but it would only be $14 with the senior pass. I made a tasty skillet breakfast of eggs, potatoes, and sausage upon my return, and then spent some time reading most of my current book. I walked around the campground again in the evening and noticed that many campers had left that day.

By Friday the rain arrived after wonderful weather all week. Got up at 7:30 am and left the park around 11 am. Traveled Highway 101 south to Reedsport, then Highway 38 to Highway 138 and ended up in Sutherland. Passing the elk reserve along 138, I noticed a great many elk in residence. The last time I drove this route there weren’t any elk visible. It rained throughout the entire route until I reached Sutherland. The Seven Feathers Casino is at Sutherland, and I arrived around 2, stopped in for a bit of time, and paid my dues. Traveling south on I-5 to Medford and then over to HWY 140 home, I stopped in at Costco in Medford for inexpensive gasoline before driving over the mountain. I arrived home around 6 pm, with plans to drive to Klamath the next day to take advantage of the available dump station at Moore Park.

I always enjoy the last October MoHo trip before the snow forces me to put her to bed for the winter. Sometimes late fall rains are part of that trip, however this time the weather was perfect and I was grateful for such a wonderful, relaxing trip.