Oregon's Famous Myrtlewood and the Port of Port Orford

The next day was drizzly, but we went into town anyway. Drizzly days are perfect for visiting shops, and we'd seen this myrtlewood souvenir shop on our way into town. Myrtlewood is a popular souvenir because this tree is native only to the Oregon coast. We enjoyed browsing for some time but really don't have much use for souvenirs or even beautiful myrtlewood bowls and so forth, living in a travel trailer as we do (and besides, we don't really have a budget for souvenirs). We did buy a little saltwater taffy, though.

Next, we went to the port, which is remarkable because there are no boats bobbing at their moorings. Instead, the boats are hoisted onto wheeled dollies until it's time for them to be lowered back into the water. I learned that this is quite unusual, as there are only two ports like this in the US, the other being in California, and only six in the world.

Because of the fog, there were no boats entering or leaving the water while we were there.

There is a restaurant-tackle shop-seafood store-souvenir shop-museum (yes, all in one) among the boats, where I took this picture in the museum room.

Later, the sun came out, so Jan left me (happily) at the trailer and went back to the beach to look for more agates. I love his enthusiasm about rocks. I don't share that enthusiasm, but I love how his face lights up when he shows them to me.

We've really enjoyed our stay here. Not only is there a lot to see around Port Orford, but the RV park we stayed in has a nice clientele who make a lot of effort at community and made us feel welcome and wanted. We would like to come back.

An Amazing Coincidence

When we arrived at Port Orford, we promised ourselves we would treat ourselves to some clam chowder at a local restaurant. Port Orford is a small, artsy community. I read somewhere in the tourist literature I picked up that there are no fast food places in town, and I believe that is true, as I didn't see any. I would have liked to have had our chowder at the “Crazy Norwegian” restaurant, just because of its name, but it was closed on Monday, so we chose another restaurant. For budget-conscious people like us, who think a splurge is the value menu at (insert favorite fast food franchise name), the clam chowder seemed scandalously expensive at $4.95 a cup, or $5.50 a bowl, but a promise is a promise, so we each ordered a bowl. They were still making it, the server said, so it would be a few minutes wait, and freshly made.

A couple sitting at the next table said hello and asked where we were from. We gave our now standard answer, “Mostly Montana, but for the last couple years we've been Washington residents.”

“We're from Wenatchee,” the man offered.

Well. Jan has several relatives in Wenatchee, so he asked the man if he knew any of the family. Did he ever! It turned out that the man's sister is married to Jan's first cousin, who shares our last name, so we know his sister well. There's no reason these people would have gone to any of Jan's family reunions, so we'd never met them, and probably never would have if we hadn't decided to have clam chowder at that restaurant on that day as they were passing through town on their way back to Wenatchee from Arizona and decided to stop for a bite to eat.

It was some time before the clam chowder was ready, so we had a wonderful conversation and exchanged contact information. They left about when the chowder arrived, which was indeed delicious, and we decided it was a bargain, considering the wonderful bonus we received.

Hughes House & Ranch Plus a Walk on the Beach

Where the Sixes River meets the Pacific Ocean is an unbelievably magnificent setting for a farm and ranch. This beautiful place became home to Irish settlers Patrick and Jane Hughes in the early 1860s. Like many who came to this area, young Hughes had dreams of gold, but turned to ranching. They prospered in children, welcoming nine, and also prospered in their dairy ranch. Eventually they owned over 1800 acres, numerous farm buildings, an orchard, and a large garden. Their butter was shipped by sea to San Francisco.

The Hughes became prosperous and were local philanthropists. For themselves, after thirty years of hard work, they hired local builder Pehr Johan Lindberg to build them a large, modern house with money they had saved.

Although most of the outbuildings are gone, the house survives as a museum, lovingly staffed by volunteers. The Hughes family story comes alive on the free guided tours.

After touring the house, we checked out the Cape Blanco campground and walked down to the beach. You can see the Cape Blanco lighthouse in the distance.

We had to show you this crude beach shelter. Jan and Claire have moved right in.

What a beautiful day we had!

Cape Blanco Lighthouse

After leaving the lifeboat station, we went to the Cape Blanco State Park. Our main goal was to visit the Cape Blanco Lighthouse. The lighthouse, Oregon's oldest continually operating one, is located at Oregon's westernmost point. Cape Blanco is thought to have been sighted by Spanish explorer Martin de Aguilar in 1603. Tours are available.

Originally, the light burned oil. Later, electric lights ran from a generator, and still later, electric lines were brought to the lighthouse. Here is an oil can; the lighthouse used to have eight. Now the light runs automatically, but in early days, maintaining the light was nearly constant work.

The walls are very thick at the bottom of the tower and gradually become less so as they rise. I couldn't resist taking this shot of the spiral stairs.

Just before reaching the light, there is a little machine that, via a shaft running up to the giant Fresnel lens, rotates continually.

In the top of the tower, the lens encloses a 1,000 watt bulb and a backup bulb.

The lighthouse and adjacent gift shop are staffed by volunteers. Here, our guide is explaining about whales that not only pass by but often stay in the area to enjoy rich food sources.

The lighthouse originally was part of a compound that included housing, garden, and livestock facilities, as the early keepers were expected to care for many of their own needs. Those additional buildings no longer survive. Well, I could stay up here for hours, but it's time to head back downstairs. Love these spiral stairs shots.

Next, we'll visit the historic Hughes house and ranch that we passed on our way to the lighthouse.

Port Orford Lifeboat Station

The weather was beautiful today, perfect for a day of exploring. First, we made our way to the Lifeboat Station.

The Oregon coast is known as being a treacherous one, and frequent shipwrecks led not only to the construction of lighthouses, but also prompted the Coast Guard to build a lifesaving station at Port Orford Heads. Coast Guard "Surfmen" kept watch over this stretch of Oregon coast from 1934 until 1970. There was an observation tower, now gone, a boathouse, which burned down, and, more than 500 steps above the boathouse site, a compound. There were quarters for the crew, a residence for the officer in charge, a storage building, a pump house, and a garage, all still surviving. This diorama shows the station as it used to be.

 The station's 36-foot self-baling unsinkable lifeboat was legendary.

One is on display up at the compound.

Inside the museum, you can see one of the ship's wheels.

Other displays tell visitors more about these amazing boats.

There was originally also another boat.

Crew lived at the station, ever ready.

The dangers the Surfmen faced for the sake of others were staggering. I won't soon forget the slogan posted outside: "You have to go out. You don't have to come back."

Upstairs there is a room in which you can watch videos (several hours of video are available, although I only watched a few minutes). The one I watched had old black-and-white footage of the boats in heavy seas. I cringed each time a wave completely engulfed the lifeboat, but each time it emerged, somehow, safe and sound.

There are several short trails around the head. We were able to see Nellie's Cove, where the boathouse used to be,

and the site of the 37-foot tower, which once was manned 24/7.

We went out to the head, hoping to see migrating whales. This is a good time to see them, and a couple we passed said they had seen some, but we had left the binoculars in the truck and didn't see any whales, but then, we don't really know what to look for.

We could see, up the coast in the distance, Cape Blanco Lighthouse, which I'll tell you about next time,

and to the south, Humbug Mountain, which we passed on our way to Port Orford.

On to Port Orford

We followed Highway 101 up the coast some 70 miles to Port Orford, Oregon, our base for the next three days or so. We stopped for a break by this big rock near Gold Beach. I think it may be called Turtle Rock, as there is a resort on the other side of the highway named "Turtle Rock." That's our trailer in the photos.

The dogs were excited by the white foam that came in with the surf.

 They would chase little bits of foam that blew about in the breeze.

Here at the RV park, it has been raining, but we hear that the weather should improve in the next couple days. We hope so, but rain won't keep us housebound.

California Redwoods and a Lighthouse

Yesterday we parked the trailer at a waterfront RV park in Smith River, California. We fell asleep last night to the roar of the Pacific and the lashing of the rain. It's overcast this morning, but threatening to rain again. Here's the view looking to the right. We're on Salmon Harbor, and beyond that spit of land is the open sea.

Looking to the left (that's the fish cleaning station in front):

We set out to see the redwoods, intending to see the parks south of Crescent City. There are several parks at different governmental levels, and at some point they have decided to work together rather than separately to preserve and share these national treasures. Much of the drive, we overlooked the ocean. I asked Jan to pull over in a turnout so I could capture this beautiful sight.

After I snapped the picture, I realized there was a caller, a young woman, using the call box a few feet away from me. There are call boxes every few miles along this California highway. It turned out she wasn't having any luck with the call box, nor was she getting cell phone service. I asked her about her car, which I didn't see, and she pointed to two black marks on the highway 25 yards or so back. It seems a car had crowded her and her car had gone over the edge. The other driver apparently never looked in his rear view mirror. Her car was barely noticeable and we wouldn't have seen it if she hadn't pointed it out. She was uninjured, thank goodness, as were her two dogs which were still in the car. She had AAA but, as I've said, was unable to reach them. We took Felicity back to Crescent City so she could call AAA, and, after some frustration trying to reach the appropriate people, left her in the hands of the tow truck driver. All this had taken some time, so we quickly decided to visit the Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, which was much closer to Crescent City, instead of retracing our steps south.

We couldn't resist taking some pictures to show the sheer size of these old growth redwoods.

 The forest, being so close to the ocean, is lush with ferns and mosses.

 These majestic giants shaded us with a high overhead canopy.

 There was plenty of room in the base of this giant.

 The dirt road wound for miles over the hills and through the woods. There were frequent turnouts in case of oncoming traffic. It wasn't crowded, but we did have to use the turnouts several times.

 Back in Crescent City, we spent an hour or so in the Del Norte Historical Society Museum, where photography is not allowed, but here is a picture of the outside.

We enjoyed the museum very much. It was WELL worth its $3 suggested donation admission.

Afterward, we headed over to the Battery Point Lighthouse Museum. I was glad that I had checked on details ahead of time, because the lighthouse is only accessible during low tide, and only between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., if the tide permits. There is an isthmus you can walk across at low tide, but at other times the lighthouse is on an island. I had learned that low tide was going to be just before 4 p.m., and that there was a couple hours window each way, so our arrival at 3 p.m. was perfect. This was the main reason we didn't go back south after rescuing Felicity this morning.

There are tours available for a $3 suggested donation. Photography inside the lighthouse, which has been continuously occupied since it was built in 1856, is not allowed, except up in the tower. The lighthouse is a Cape Cod style with two-foot thick walls. It is amazingly quiet inside.  It is now privately owned and occupied by volunteers who sign up for a month of service at a time. Currently, volunteers have signed up into the year 2015, so it you want to be a lighthouse keeper here, you will have a wait. It still operates as a lighthouse and answers to the Coast Guard as regards the light.

Here we are up in the tower.

I've always wanted to go inside a lighthouse!

Shortly afterward, the rain began again. We were happy to return to the trailer.