10/14/2023: Eugene to Brookings, Oregon South (223 miles )

October is a typical month to mark the beginning of the rainy season in the Pacific Northwest. I stayed in Eugene with my friend Aparna for a couple of days while it poured. Aparna and Jamie, her husband, kindly helped me prepared for the next section of my adventure. Jamie recommended me to take a backroad called Lower Smith River Road which diagonally goes southwest from Eugene to Reedsport. “It’s a beautiful and quiet road that you’ll hardly see anyone,” said Jamie.

As Jamie mentioned, this backroad was incredible. I saw a few logging trucks and cars go by occasionally and otherwise, I could take up the entire lane of the road almost all the way to Reedsport. I enjoyed listening to the sound of river instead of traffic, bathing in the forest fresh air instead of inhaling pollution from the car and riding with ease instead of feeling tense in my body and mind.

There were so many green tunnels like this one at Lower Smith River Road

I could take up so much space and ride with ease!

Blackberries are ready to be harvested in October

Despite the fact that this route required 6,000 feet climbing elevation gain over 87 miles, I made it to the coast and continued south right in time for a beautiful sunset at Umpqua Lighthouse State Park. Again, I noticed and loved how light-weight bike packing set up allowed me to go far and with much more ease on the climb. I continued to Tugman State Park to cover more miles, knowing that the weather forecast seemed to predict less rain in the further south the following day.

Umpqua River Lighthouse, the first lighthouse in the Oregon territory, was originally built in 1857 near the mouth of the river. It was destroyed by flood in 1864, rebuilt at the current location in 1891. It shines a guiding light to all mariners. The illumination was changed from oil to electricity in 1934. Its lens weighs 2 tons and prisms 616, hand cut in Paris, France. It has 2.7 million candle power visibility. 19 miles seaward signal has 2 white flashes followed by 1 red (from a description at the lighthouse)

A view of the Pacific Ocean from the lighthouse

The next morning, as I pedaled and watched the sunrise over Coos Bay, it sprinkled a little and I was given a gift of a morning glow in the clouds and a rainbow. The early mornings and evenings have the best light and I enjoy watching the illumination of natural lights against the clouds.

From North Bend, I took 540, a less busy highway which led to Seven Devils Road, a bike route. As I was climbing up the hill, I caught up with cyclists and one of them was Robert. He thought I was ahead of him so I told him that I was in Eugene for a few days. For the rest of the day, I leapfrogged Robert and Caleb, another cyclist, who has been traveling with his cat in the front basket. We ended up camping together at the hiker/biker site at Humbug Mountain State Park and I enjoyed their company in the evening.

Robert from New Zealand is on his way from Alaska to Argentina

There was a lookout under trees and I was able to stay dry for a couple of hours when it poured

When I rolled into the Humbug Mountain State Park, Robert was talking to the ranger about the solar eclipse on the following day. “It’s less likely that we would be able to see it but just in case, you can have this,” said the ranger, and he gave me a pair of special glasses to watch the eclipse.

Unfortunately, it was cloudy the next day so I missed the eclipse. Since it was Saturday, the early morning road of 101 was empty. I enjoyed a rare quiet ride on 101 for a couple of hours, stopping at a cafe in Gold Beach and Natural Bridges viewpoint, and continued to Brookings, the last town before crossing over to California.

To commemorate the end of the entire Oregon Coast ride, I stopped and had fish and chips for lunch at Fat Irish Kitchen and Pub, the southern most restaurant that participates in the Wild Rivers Coast Food Trail. This trail connects people to local food on the coast as a way to support communities, producers and crafters. I like to support businesses that are rooted in communities when I can and I thought it was a perfect way to leave Oregon. It was delicious. I was content. I was happy.

I hopped back on my bicycle and soon, I saw the sign that said, “Welcome to California.” I was back to my home state! I smiled, stopped, took the last look at Oregon and said out loud, “That was amazing. Thank you!!”