Made It to California!

Our next stop going down the coast was Crescent City, CA. The big attraction for me here is Battery Point Lighthouse. Completed in 1856, it was one of the first lighthouses on the California Coast.

But don't go at high tide, unless you want to swim...

Nearby was a cute hippie vehicle, so my trip had some reward...

We went back the next morning when we could walk out to the lighthouse.

We got to meet the lighthouse keeper, which is a one-month long volunteer job. They give tours, but we weren't there at the right time.

There are some unique trees on the property.

Fortunately, the tide stayed out long enough for us to get back.

We are close to the redwoods, so we went on a hike through Stout Grove in Jedediah Smith State Park.

The redwoods have a lot of "burls." This one looked like an old guy with a very big nose.

And this was a monkey with a nice head of hair...

Their root systems are very shallow, so a lot of the trees get too big and fall over.

Ferns grow on the fallen trees -

In addition to desperate new trees.

Some trees require doing the limbo!

While doing our little hike, we happened to run into the lighthouse keeper that we had met the day before! He invited us to come the next morning for a private tour!!! Sign me up!

So early the next day, I'm back at the lighthouse for a third time!

The weather was beautiful.

I loved the carvings out of the old trees.

And the spider webs filled with the early-morning dew.

We had a great tour, but weren't allowed to take any pictures until we got up to the light tower, since this is their personal residence. Getting up the ladder was a bit challenging!

Made it!

Afterwards, we had time to wander around and take photos. Careful, Max!

Walking back, I saw something suspicious out in the distance.

64 Miles on the Rogue River

Moving south along the Oregon Coast, our next stop was about 5 miles up the Rogue River from Gold Beach. This is the view out my front door!

This was a very short stop, so the only thing I did was a jet boat trip up the Rogue River. Here we are getting started, passing under the Hwy 101 Patterson Bridge.

We saw lots of birds. This Great Blue Heron was at our dock.

And many Cormorants waved to us as we went by.

I got a blurry picture of these Common Mergansers. I didn't think they were common, but pretty special!

We saw lots of Great Egrets.

All before we passed our campsite, just 5 miles upstream.

But here's the big thrill - we saw a couple of Bald Eagles. This one was giving me the evil eye...

Upstream, we went under another bridge, and the sun came out!

There were some wildfires in the area, and the Forest Service was constantly pumping water out of the river.

This is a big salmon fishing area, and we saw lots of fishermen.

They were always happy to show off their catch, and I was glad our captain stopped frequently to see them, and to talk about the river.

We're still having fun!

When we got up the river towards our turn-around point, you could see smoke from the wildfires.

We stopped for lunch 32 miles upstream, in Agness. This route used to be the old mail boat route on the Rogue River.

Our trip back to Gold Beach was sunnier and warmer!

We met another proud salmon fisherman.

Back at our dock, we saw a great piece of rusty stuff! My day was complete!

A Beautiful Spot in Port Orford

Headed south from Florence, I stopped to try to see another lighthouse, but couldn't find it.

Unfortunately, in my quest, I wandered into some muddy quicksand, almost ruining my favorite shoes. But they survived after a few washings.

Arriving in Port Orford, we parked near the marina on a hilltop overlooking the ocean. A gorgeous spot for $10 a night!

Our first day there, we went to see Cape Blanco Lighthouse, the oldest standing lighthouse on the Oregon coast. Unfortunately, we were there the only day of the week that it is closed, so I had to make do with a zoomed photo.

Nearby is the Cape Blanco Pioneer Cemetery -

And one of the many unusual rocks on the Oregon Coast.

We also went on a short wetlands trail.

It was pretty cool!

The next day we went down to investigate the marina. We saw some interesting boats, and the lifts that are used to get them in and out of the water.

I even caught a photo bomber!

We saw a lot of crab pots -

And could see our rigs up on the hill.

And how do you know you are on the Oregon Coast? It's a little windy!

Good night from Port Orford!