Great Pacific Northwest

Made a trip out to the Oregon coast to see what I could see.  First time I had been on the coast north of Lincoln City.  Wasn’t much swell and I didn’t have any of my gear, but took the trip anyway to just poke around.

Traveling to the coast was beautiful and the closest thing to it in California is probably up near Crescent City and Del Norte.  On arrival was awe struck by the sheer scale.  The roads to some of the neat little coves had full on coastal rainforests that looked Jurassic or like something out of a movie.  Really incredible. Big ferns, and moss hanging off trees like spooky halloween costumes, green green and more green everywhere you looked.

We found some empty beaches that looked like they could keep me busy for hours.  Driftwood treasures, unique shells and who knows what else.

The local surf shop told us that it’s often just too big and gnarly.  The summer they just get windswell since the souths don’t make it all the way up there, but the fall, winter, and spring it goes off.  The types of boards I saw reinforced that it can get pretty serious.  The locals in these parts have quite the reputation as well.  We ate at a killer little joint called The Relief Pitcher up there.  I highly recommend their albacore sandwich and burgers.  Some of the friendliest people around…but who knows how that changes when you start taking waves.

This summer has been the foggiest I can recall in years here in SF and so I felt right at home cruising the coast up north.  It was 80 degrees inland and as we came within ten miles of the coast the temperature started to drop and got down to 52 by the time we hit the beach.  Came across beautiful scenes like the one above.  I plan to go back in September or October to sample some of the spots I stumbled upon.  One in particular reminded me of a set up you’d see in Taiwan, a real thigh burner, except a lot colder and more consistent.

Topped it all off with some local brew.  Looking forward to getting my real session in.