No brass band, no press. Fini!

I'm at Crissey Field, a very nice state welcome center on the border.  Diane will soon arrive to pick me up.  A long drive for her. The Welcome Center lady said the actual CA border was about a mile down the beach  "where the houses start" so I did the walk down there and took a picture to mark the occasion although there is no sign or marker of any sort.  The sand was hard all the way but on the way back I took a trail that started well but soon turned squishy.  I can't catch a break!  Like I said there was no cake or ceremony but the welcome lady did rustle around in her supplies and found a limited edition hat pin which has a sneaker on it.  That was the closest she could get to anything having to do with a trail.  I wasn't expecting anything so was honored, honored I tell you, to receive it.  As W used to say, I misunderestimated on miles to go and did 23 today instead of the 15 or so I was thinking.  It's because I didn't have internet access when figuring and had to use an inaccurate paper map. At least that's my story.  Wasn't too bad though, except getting through Brookings-Harbor, which is strung out on the highway for miles and miles.  I started out this morning in woods then after a couple of Miles moved to the highway and stayed on it for a good long while before finishing on a bike path and then the beach again.  Like yesterday I actually chose to walk 101 in places for fear of hitting soft sand on the beaches.  Soft sand was NOT in the brochure!  Best part of the trip was the people in the hiker/biker camps and the deserted beaches. . Worst was- wait for it- loose sand.  It didn't start until Bandon but each day after that I had some or a lot.  As for equipment, Anita's Go Lite Pinnacle pack was great, as was my REI quarter Dome Tent.  I didn't even use the thin upper and lower base layers I brought, and only had to zip up my Down bag one breezy night on a beach.  The most important piece of equipment was my sun hat, followed closely by sunglasses.  I don't see how the old timers did it without shades.  Having no stove worked well too but this post is getting too long to go into that.  If you've read this far or if you've read any of my other posts thanks!

 Not a problem any more but I did have to delay because of it.

I'll bet there's an interesting story to this one.



A fitting end to a non-wilderness trip.  The end is "down the beach where the houses start."

The Unofficial end.

No fire in sight but lots of signs around town thanking the firefighters.

Out front of the Wild Rivers motel in Brookings.  I think the middle one was a Grumman.

Oh ho-hum another spectacular Vista.

Last night!

Had to climb a hill to get 4G tonight.  You're welcome.  I am in a stealth site just south of the Pistol River North of Brookings.  It's right by 101 and only a little screened but I'm so tired I don't care.  The traffic ebbs a lot at night and I have ear plugs.  I started this morning with three miles on decent sand to the Rogue River North Jetty at Gold Beach.  Then it was walk up the jetty and a road to the highway bridge -not bad- and over, then through town with a stop for a Supermarket deli sandwich and  to fill my water bottles before returning to the beach.  I did four long miles in the dread
ed loose sand before finding, with difficulty, the trail up Cape Sebastian.  It was steep and four and a half miles long but the last part was really very pretty.  It put me out on a beach that was hard sand almost to the Pistol River. The literature said it was sometimes really challenging to cross but today the river ended before even crossing the beach sand.  I guess it went underground.  A couple miles of road walking after that and I took the first site I found.  This must be what it's like to be homeless. Searching for a site hidden off the road.  All and all I must have done 17 miles.  The hard sand beach was spectacularly beautiful and deserted as always but there was a very stiff tail wind blowing, the kind that blows up the sand low to the beach and sends it skittering. It was so hard I had to work to keep my balance and it took a bit out of me.  Diane is picking me up tomorrow at Crissey Field, the southern trail terminus at the CA border.  I'll do one more post after that and then it's over!

 The view at lunch today below Cape Sebastian.

A little glass work will fix that right up.

Crossing the Rogue at Gold Beach.  A pedestrian-friendly bridge.

Near Gold Beach

No internet last night so no post.  This will cover yesterday and today.  Yesterday I did close to 20 miles from Floras Lake to Humbug Mountain S. P. south of Port Orford.  Again there was lots of loose sand and some road walking.  All was pretty though.  I was happy to get a .75 mile ride up from the beach at Port Orford what's the local retired logger who brought me to the town's one grocery store.  I also enjoyed a strawberry shake at the coffee shop there in town. I had to double back a mile when the beach ran out because of a too-high tide just south of there putting me back on my nemesis, Highway 101. It really wasn't that bad though. Traffic was light and the scenery was good. nonetheless I stuck my thumb out and was lucky to get a ride to take me to last three miles to Humbug Mountain State Park.  The Hiker Biker Camp there was full of cyclists who all knew each other because they've been meeting up at camps like this each night from their points of origin far to the north. They were all going way South into California and even Mexico.  First thing this morning had me back on the highway for five miles to Arizona Beach State Wayside.  There was surprisingly little traffic though and the scenery was fantastic with a clear flowing stream on one side and forested slopes on both.  Several of my cycling friends from the night before called out hello since they passed.  When I got to the first beach access I gave it a good look and actually chose to walk the highway instead. By now I have a pretty good idea for what sand looks like and I can tell whether it's loose or hard. This was definitely loose and I didn't want anything to do with that anymore. The highway again was still sparsely traveled and the scenery was still great so it wasn't bad at all. At one point I had miles of wide shoulder and was above the beautiful beach the guide said to walk on so had the best of both worlds- t

Sixes River.  Doesn't look like much but was flowing out fast and was almost up to my waist. I put everything in a trash compactor bags inside my pack, which I brought for this purpose or heavy rain.  I also  unfastened my hip belt and got a stout walking stick from a nearby pile of driftwood. Trekking poles would have been handy today but I chose to go without them.  Shortly after this I have to cross the Elk River, which was only knee-deep.  Still had a strong current though.

Leaving Port Orford at Battle rock with Humbug Mountain, my destination, in the background.

Prehistoric Gardens.  A well-done old-fashioned tourist attraction on the highway.

he beach and firm footing!  About 19 miles of Road, Beach, and Forest Trail put me just north of Gold Beach here this afternoon for a stealth camp in the woods off some County Road near the beach.  From Gold Beach to the border is only 34 miles so I plan to be finished on Tuesday.  Apologies for the spacing on the pictures here. It's hard to manipulate this tiny phone screen.