Tommy Takes On: The Oregon Coast Day Five
Hey everyone, Tommy here again to break down our day five adventures on the Southern Oregon Coast! Now that we covered our journey down there in the previous blog... We can get to the good stuff!
Evergreen and I got up nice and early, as always, so that we could catch our first Southern Oregon Coast sunrise. We spent the morning exploring Harris Beach State Park and as usual, we had the entire place to ourselves. We were able to witness the very first golden light of the morning touch down on the many different rocks in the ocean and Evergreen played HARD. She was very excited to be playing instead of driving.
After thoroughly enjoying this start to our day, we hopped back in the car and began heading north again. We stopped at the Lone Ranch Picnic Area to eat some breakfast. On mornings like these the last thing you want to worry about is going somewhere to get food so I always pack easy and healthy snacks like peanut butter and jelly, hard boiled eggs, and cold pressed juice. This little picnic area was gorgeous in itself though with blooming flowers and beautiful details everywhere. You could really tell that spring has arrived and that filled me with excitement and energy.
After re-charging here, we hopped back in the car to head north again! We received word that a crab boat would be unloading in a couple of hours in Winchester Bay, and although that would be a bit of a drive for us, we started headed north in hopes to not miss it. A big part of this trip has been to document crab fishing and working harbors along the Oregon Coast and since tides change every day and you never know which boats will be going out vs. not going out, it is tough to pinpoint an unload. We knew we needed to jump on it.
We arrived in Winchester Bay just in time. The truck that was coming to pick up the crab was coming all the way from Los Angeles and I was told this particular crabbing vessel had one of the best reputations in the area. They have a great deal of experience and are known for delivering nothing but the best. Once again, I was warmly welcomed by the crew and was even invited on-board by the captain. I have said this in previous blogs, but getting to know these fisherman, hear their stories, and briefly step into their shoes has been an incredible experience. They have gone out of their way to help me, encourage me, and push me further. I have a great deal of respect for them as fisherman and as people.
The crane operator below is 78 years old and when I asked if I could take his photo he jokingly said yes, but having a photo of him will probably ruin our entire project, haha. :)
After finishing up here in Winchester Bay, we loaded up to head back down towards Gold Beach, which was our destination for the night. We stopped at the Port Orford Harbor to try and catch any other crabbing unloads that may be happening there, but unfortunately nothing was going on. We were still able to enjoy the harbor and Evergreen was able to run and play again on the adjoining beach.
After this stop, we were coming close to sunset and knew it was going to be gorgeous. We headed over to Otter Point and were once again were the only ones there. The golden light was unreal and some of my favorite photos from the entire trip were from right here. I couldn't believe that we were able to soak up such a sunset without another person in sight.
And that's a wrap on day five! What an action packed day from sunrise to sunset. After this amazing sunset, we grabbed some food, headed over to our hotel in Gold Beach, and promptly fell asleep.
More to come soon, thank you for following along!
@mrtommyblades @pnwonderland @thepeoplescoast