Chetco River Trip Part 2, Chetco River, Harris and Meyers Beach

Sunday's Pic of the Day
Sunday, 07-02-2000. Sunny with clear skies this morning. We continue our journey to Brookings and the Chetco River with a stop today at Cape Sebastian and Pistol River State Park. We arrived at Cape Sebastian at 1:00 PM. The headland was sunny with patches of fog.

We first drove to the north overlook and snapped the picture above showing a hazy Gold Beach and the top of Humbug Mountain. When then drove to the south overlook and took the photo on the right of  Hunters Cove and Rocks with Pistol River State Park in the background.

The  image on the left is a north to south view shot from the same location as the one above but with a wide angle camera setting. In this photo you can see Hunters Cove and Rocks, Meyers Beach, Pistol River State Park, and Crook Point in the background.

Our next stop is at Meyers Beach and Hunters Rocks. Meyers Beach is one of our favorite stops when traveling south. The beach is easy to walk on and the views are spectacular with seastacks peppered throughout the cove and Cape Sebastian as a backdrop. The photo on the right shows Pistol River State Park (Meyers Beach), Hunter Rock and Cove, and Cape Sebastian in the background.

The picture on the left is a zoomed view of some seastacks at Meyers Beach with Highway 101 climbing the Cape Sebastian grade at the right.

The photo on the right is a wide angle view taken from the beach and looking towards the Cape Sebastian point with fog floating above the cove.

We leave Pistol River State Park and head south about 7 minutes or so and make our last stop for the day at Natural Bridges. The highway from Pistol River to Brookings is loaded with viewpoints and parks. You can spend a good day exploring all the turnouts, but we had to meet some clients at 3:30 and couldn't spare the time on this trip.

You view Natural Bridges by stopping at a turnout on the west side of Highway 101 and walking the short path to the wooden platform overlook. The trail is well maintained and seems to be wheelchair accessible.

There is a trail that leads to the bottom section for the adventurous types.

Tomorrow we visit the Chetco River.

Monday Pic of the Day
Monday, 07-03-2000. Our weather is foggy this morning with an early morning burn-off expected. Today we continue our journey to Brookings and the Chetco River. We met Norma's clients in Brookings at 3:30 PM and headed east on the Chetco River North Bank Road. The property is located just 5 minutes from town so the trip was a short one.

We arrived on site and I snapped a few pics while Norma reviewed the lot layouts. Our first photo above shows Norma and her clients on one of the lots with the Chetco River in the background. The picture on the right is a wide angle view of one of the developed home sites.

We spent an hour or so exploring the property and enjoying the spectacular views of the Chetco River Valley. The photo on the left is a wide angle view of the Chetco River and valley as viewed from one of the home sites.

The weather was hotter than we are used to and the river looked so cool and inviting (temps higher than 80 degrees seem unbearable to us since we're acclimated to the coast's cool climate). The image on the right is a zoomed view of the Chetco River with some south bank homes in the background.

We left the property and clients and headed east along the river road looking for a spot to enjoy the river. A few minute up the road we found Loeb State Park. We followed the park's river access road down to the river bank and found several groups and families escaping the heat. The two adjacent photos were shot at Loeb State Park. If you look closely at the image on the right you'll see a seagull on the sun-bleached rocks waiting for a snack.

Tomorrow we start our return leg home with stops at Harris Beach in Brookings, Pistol River State Park, and finish with a sunset at Gold Beach. Wednesday's Pic of the Day will feature pics and stories from Tuesday's Port Orford Jubilee days celebration!

Tuesday's Pic of the Day
Tuesday, 07-04-2000. Overcast and misty this morning. Our Pic of the Day page is publishing late because we attended the Port Orford Jubilee Days Parade. Parade pics and stories tomorrow but today we finish up our trip to Brookings and the Chetco River. After enjoying some time at Loeb Park we drove back to Brookings and visited Harris Beach State Park. Harris Beach is Norma's favorite place to visit in Brookings.

We arrived at the beach at 6:00 PM, parked the car, and hit the beach. The fog was rolling in so the temperature was fairly mild, a welcome relief from the earlier inland heat. We walked the beach for an hour or so while watching the pelicans swoop and splash into the ocean in pursuit of fish.

We left Harris Beach and drove north 10 minutes before making another stop at Meyers Beach and Pistol River State Park. We visited this beach earlier in the day but now the sun was low on the horizon giving the beach a new look with the seastack shadows and golden colors. We sat on the bluff and watched a mom and her daughter ride their horses on the beach. We thought one of the horses might be an Arabian mare that we sold to a fellow who lives near Bandon, but unfortunately it wasn't.

We left Meyers Beach and drove for about 15 minutes until we reached the south end of Gold Beach.  We found a secluded spot and sat on some rocks and watched the sun set into the Pacific Ocean. The setting sun gradually turned the clouds into shades of red, gold, and yellow colors. We watched the show for 15 to 20 minutes until the glow had subsided. A perfect ending to a wonderful day on the Southern Oregon Coast.

This concludes our Trip to Brookings and the Chetco River. I hope you enjoyed our trip as much as we did. Tomorrow we will have pics and stories from today's Port Orford Jubilee Days celebration.

Click here to visit June 27-July 1 (the first part of our Trip to Brookings).

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