Later Crater - Coastal Wanderings, Part 1 of 2, 10.11.18 - 10.14.18
After our hike up Mount Garfield, Harry said his goodbyes and headed back to Sacramento. Mike, Bridgit and I went top check out the namesake for our campground (Natural Bridge). Right near the entrance to the campground is a short trail leading to an area where the Rogue River plunges through an ancient lava tube for about 200’. There is a lot of basalt in this area which makes for some cool patterns as the river carves through it.
Natural Bridge lava tube
We left in the late afternoon and drove up around the national park to Highway 138 which follows the extremely picturesque Umpqua River down out of the mountains. First, we passed by the impressive needle of 9,182’ Mt. Thielsen.
Mt. Thielsen
Along the way we also stopped at the pull off to Toketee Falls. This was a short trail up a hill and down the other side to a viewing platform. I’m really glad we stopped there as this was a particularly exquisite waterfall. There are quite a few waterfalls along the Umpqua and I could definitely see us going back to just spend a couple of days checking out all this area has to offer.
Toketee Falls
As if I haven’t preached enough about the virtues of October sightseeing, let’s not leave out the incredible amount of color the Cascades display during the fall season. Everywhere we went was just a treat for the eyes. Even driving along the highways we were surrounded by great autumn color.
Fall reflections
We had not made a single camping reservation for this trip which can be a little hit or miss but we found the forest campgrounds to be completely empty. We picked a campground along the Umpqua and were the only ones there that night. The next morning we continued to Reedsport and got on Highway 101 heading north. With no particular agenda and armed only with a few suggestions from friends, we first stopped at Tahkenitch Dunes Trail. I wanted to see big sand dunes leading to the ocean. We started out on the 5.5 mile loop trail and right near the beginning we came across some cool dunes across a creek from us. The trail turned out to be a bit of a bust as it simply stayed in the coastal forest the entire way and never presented any views of anything. Bridgit and I did scare something very large in the woods next to the trail. Whatever it was shook large trees and bushes as it ran off. We figured it had to be something fairly large like a deer but a sign at the trailhead said to watch for active mountain lion activity so I’m glad I’m still alive to tell you this story!
The one dune view on the Tahkenitch Dunes Trail
Continuing north on 101 we came to Sutton Campground which even had partial hookups so we snapped up a site before moving on. Once secured, we drove just a short way further up 101 to the iconic view of the Heceta Head LIghthouse. This is one of the famous American viewpoints and I was glad to be there in the late afternoon when the light was good. I had been here once before when our band had traveled 101 from Seattle all the way to San Francisco, but that was back in 1981 and it was pouring rain when we got to the viewpoint.
Heceta Head Lighthouse
Heceta Head Lighthouse
Oregon Dunes