Day 8

Our destination today is Washburn State Park between Yachats and Florence. Forecast is sunny, mid-60s with mild winds from the NW. Looks like a typical mid-April day along the Oregon coast.

A few days ago I noticed some large basaltic rock exposed in some of the road cuts we rode through. I didn’t think much about them until I stopped at Boiler Bay Viewpoint, Rocky Creek Viewpoint, and Otter Rock. There is basalt everywhere. It’s quite a contrast to the smooth sand beaches to the north and now here in Newport to the south. Basically, this huge arm of basalt juts into the ocean from just south of Lincoln City to just north of Newport. The flows forming this basalt are related to the shield volcanoes that released lava from the central basin of Washington. This an impressive map showing the Columbia River Basalt Group and the various lava flows starting from 17 millions years ago, https://hugefloods.com/Basalt.html. I was familiar with the Grand Coulee country and the Moses Lake region, but never thought about all that lava exiting toward the ocean, paving the way for the Columbia River channel. Extraordinary stuff.

Now that we’re into central Oregon, fewer are the large cedars and Douglas fir, and developing into more coastal strand. Lots of sand and beachgrasses, shore pine and western hemlock. I haven’t stopped to identify everything, but did enjoy seeing a Spotted Towhee (red-eyed) pecking at my scattered granola on the picnic table this morning. Last night we could hear sea lions barking from Yaquina Bay, just south of Newport. I’m not in Kansas anymore.

I am using the pronoun “we” because Tom and I met up again at the South Beach State Park. He got his bike fixed! It cost him $70 which will set his peanut butter budget back a bit I suppose. We also gained another new traveling companion, Jake. Jake lives in Santa Cruz, and retired the day before me! His daughter is attending Oregon State and she’ll drive over today. He plans to connect with her once we get to our campground this afternoon. For those of you keeping score, two retirees to one 20-year old.  

After I set up my campsite, I returned up the road toward town and stopped at an auto body shop where I procured a couple of used shop towels and a pair of nitrile gloves from a lumber yard, free for the asking. I immediately went to work on my chain, chainwheel and derailleurs, cleaning them and giving them a new coat of chain lube. I’m ready to hit the road! It’s going to be an incredible day.