Day: August 5, 2018

Friday I drove north on Highway 101 from where I had been staying near Florence to the little town of Yachats.  Here are some of the things I saw along the way:

This is the town of Florence as I approached before crossing the bridge you see on the left.

I had stopped in Florence the day before (when it was overcast) and got this sign in the “Old Town” area which shows the distances to other towns in North America named Florence.

This is from the hill which Highway 101 climbed (to about 450 feet) before descending to the Heceta Head lighthouse.  This is looking at the beach and ocean southward, towards Florence.  This is beyond the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area so this is mostly just flat, sandy beach.

Here is another picture of the beach area about 15 minutes later with different areas getting sunlight (it was mostly overcast over the inland area but mostly clear at the beach itself)

From the other side of the 450 foot hill this is the first overlook from which you can see the Heceta Head lighthouse in the distance.  I took similar pictures when I was here before but it was overcast and now it was mostly sunny.

And here is a zoomed-in shot of the lighthouse:

This is a 3-shot panorama, left to right, of another beach a little further up the road (from back down at beach level).

 

 

 

Friday I spent some time at various parts of this area just south of Yachats, Oregon.  One of the most popular spots seemed to be Cooks Chasm, a long area with rough rocks and narrow inlets.  This is a VERY popular place at high tide as the water crashing against the rocks puts on quite a show.

One of the spots near the bridge which carries Highway 101 over the deep inlet (seen below) has a naturally developed hole which, under the right conditions, shoots a geyser of water high in the air at high tide.

Another area just north from Cooks Chasm is called Devil’s Churn, and it also puts on a show at high tide.  Look closely at the bottom of the photo and you’ll see some people.

I just enjoyed the incredible beauty of this area because I was there at low tide (of course).  While it turns out to be just down the road from where I am staying in Yachats, the small parking areas were already full at low tide and I imagine it gets incredibly crowded at high tide so I never came back.  I’m sure there are videos on YouTube.

After looking at things from highway-level I took a two-mile road up a mountain to around 850 feet above sea level which gave me a very different view:

When I first got there I was a little nervous about the view:

But all I had to do was take a dirt path a short ways out towards the ocean.  Friday was the exact opposite of coastal weather I have experienced during this trip.  Today there was a heavy cloud deck inland but the coast was clear.  (Hmmm… “the coast was clear”… that seems to be a neat phrase – maybe I’ll trademark it).

Much better.

I soon came to a little rock cabin, which had an amazing view of the ocean:

Before I went back down to the highway I took one last look south:

And north, towards Yachats:

And when I got back down to the highway I stopped at the Visitor Center and had this view of the ocean from their deck:

 

This little church and museum is in the oceanside town of Yachats, Oregon.  It was built in 1930 in the shape of a cross.

As the size of the congregation grew it outgrew the building (the sanctuary only holds about 60 people) and a new church was constructed nearby.  This building was converted to a museum, which underwent a complete restoration in 1993, still has an operating 100 year-old pump organ, and there is a very nice garden area behind the building.  The property may be rented for weddings or other events.

I walked through the building looking at old photographs and memorabilia but was most interested in a large cabinet displaying a variety of colorful shells and other items:

 

Friday I drove north from Florence and my next stop which was in this little town by the ocean.  It is spelled like yachts but with an extra ‘a’ near the end.  When you say it the ‘c’ is silent (like the ‘p’ in urine).  Put the emphasis on the first syllable and people will think you’ve lived here all your life…     YA-hots.

This was the view of the beach and part of the oceanfront from the Yachats State Park, about a half mile from where my Airbnb for the next two nights was located.  These were taken early afternoon, at low tide:

After walking around town a bit I drove about 9 miles inland to see one of the many covered bridges in Oregon.  I was surprised to learn that there are actually still quite a few such bridges in the southwest part of the state.

I drove back in to town to see some other sites (and had to tend to a car repair issue which ended up taking the bulk of the afternoon).

At high tide, a little before 6pm, I walked back out to the little park to take pictures of the beach area and that part of the oceanfront again: