Day 17 Newport, OR to Brookings, OR - Kevin

"The Great Seal Hunt"
A ride along the Oregon coast on Hwy 101 aka The Pacific Coast Highway. Awoke in the fabulous campground of Beverly Beach to the usual sounds of the camp terrorist.... SQUIRRELS!!! Cute little Chickaree squirrels this time, hard to hate something having that much fun chasing each other about. Strolled to the deserted beach to dip my feet in the Pacific Ocean we traveled so far to see. Cold and windy to boot, no wonder the place was deserted. Not like the warm Atlantic I'm so used to in the south. Wandered back to the tent took some pics of the terrorist and a Stellar Jay.. Also took some pics of the Sitka Cedar that has a root system like the Banyan trees of the southern swamps. These are second growth forest were the stumps of the original cedar sprout anew around the stump that eventually rots away.
Stopped at a lighthouse and saw Harbor Seals bobbing in the water along the beach.  The beach was made of egg size smooth stones with a high angle to the water line. When the waves crashed high on the beach the receding water makes this bizarre sound that made both Stephanie and I stop in our tracks the first time we heard the sound. She video recorded it and I hope she put it on the blog. The seals we were told were on the beach moments before we got there, that set the pace for the day to find beached seals.
Numerous stops along the way and long stretches of the "Pacific Coast Highway" that were not near the coast, produced no beached seals just the occasional seal bobbing in the water. The coast here is definitely different. The huge pine/spruce/cedar forested hills come right down to the coast, with cliffs dropping down to the ocean and large rock formations all along the coast. Again nothing like the Gulf of Mexico of the Southern Atlantic coast. Interesting day with beautiful blue skies and temps hovering around 70 degrees.
Maybe tomorrow we will see the seals... Great Day!

Chickaree Squirrel

Stellar Jay

Sitka Cedar