Part 27: Bend, OR to Coos Bay, OR

20190703-09

The Trip

We called our mog-buddy Mark in Grants Pass to see if he had plans for the 4th.  Since he had nothing scheduled, we hopped in Thor and headed out to Grants Pass.  It was an easy cruise with no issues.  When we arrived, Mark had a place all set up for us in the front driveway.

The Photos

The photos below are what we saw.

When we arrived, we found Mark's 1017A, AKA "Mammut", hiding in the bushes, lurking, watching Thor drive into his territory.

We spent a few days at Mark's place on the Rogue River just hanging out.  When we finally decided to leave, Mark suggested that we head to the river to a parking lot that would allow some comparison photos of Thor and Mammut.

The body styles are similar, but not exact.  I think Mammut is a 1978 model; Thor 1988.  Mammut came from the factory in the "fire truck" configuration, Thor in the military configuration.

Mark has his stuffed mammoth as the dash ornament.  Not sure what the sticker beside his head means, other than the obvious.

Once we got the trucks moved to where there was no perspective distortion issues, it is easily seen that these are the same wheelbase.

As we left Grant's Pass, we headed west along the Rogue River toward the Pacific.  From the cliffs along the river we spotted these kayakers.

Mark suggested that we take the scenic route that gave us the best views.  From the top of the pass at about 4500 feet we had a great view to the north.

The road was steep, narrow and rough and therefore pretty slow going.

We arrived at a campsite named Quosatana and decided to stay the night.  One night turned into two, so it was a relaxing stay.  Near our campsite we spotted this tree with a fungus shelf.

Quosatana was right on the Rogue River and had a nice gravel bar for swimming and water sports.

The gals on the paddle boards must be locals because when they heard the noise from a high-powered boat, they started paddling to the opposite shore.  In 30 seconds the boat arrived at about 45mph and filled with tourists.

Since we stayed at Quosatana for more than one night, Kathleen made me fried chicken and zucchini boats with creamed parsnip filling.  Dinner was awesome, particularly since we were sitting in a campsite next to a beautiful river.

We rolled out of Quosatana and headed toward the ocean and crossed the Rogue River on the way.

Once we hit the coast road we pulled over for a few photos.  There was some kind of nice flower in bloom on the roadside.

Another roadside bloom.

A nice shot of the rocky Oregon coastline.  Note the house on the cliff at the center-right of the photo above.

The house looked nice, but access must be terrible given that it is right next to the coast highway.



Based on a suggestion from a local we met at the grocery store, we stopped at an Oregon State park at Bullard's Beach south of Bandon, OR.  Near dusk, Kathleen got the great idea of walking to the beach.  The distance to the beach was never listed on any map, but was listed on trail signs.  The trail was only 0.75 miles, but went over hill and dale, over sand dunes, though the trees and past ponds thick with feeding mosquitoes.  We hustled up to prevent being eaten alive and when we arrived at the final dune crest before the ocean, I shot the photo above looking to the east.



The sun had set leaving muted colors.  Looking south we could see rocky heads at the shore.



To the north, the beach disapears into the coastal haze.



The following morning we broke camp and visited the lighthouse at the park.



The sign speaks for itself.



The story here is the large amount of huge timber at the base of the lighthouse.  The storm surge must have really been cranking to throw these logs so high up the jetty.



Looking up the Coquille River from the lighthouse.  Plenty of stone was moved to make the jetty and seawall.



The automatic lighthouse is on the south fork of the jetty.



More storm-tossed debris on the beach.



From the state park, we headed north toward Coos Bay, OR.  From there, we decided to head into the coastal dunes to find a camp site.  A buddy once told me "on sand, you can air-down before you get stuck or air-down after you get stuck, but in either case you WILL air-down.  True advice.  We were at full street pressure (about 80 psi) and even though we got about 1/4 mile into the dunes, we sank anyway.



The next steps were as predictable as they were annoying: take the time to air down all 4 tires from 80 psi to 30 psi.  Kathleen agreed to help.  Of course, it was raining outside so we both got wet and sandy.  Once the pressures were correct, we rolled on our way without any further impediments.



We did not find an acceptable camp area near where we got stuck, so we headed south a bit and found an area next to some small brackish lakes among the trees.  Note the large dune in the distance.



We picked a random level spot for our camp.



It had drizzled all day.  The wet sand stuck to our hands, feet, clothes and shoes making a sandy mess in Thor. 

Photos and Text Copyright Bill Caid 2019, all rights reserved.
For your enjoyment only, not for commercial use.