3 Days on the Oregon Coast

[betoney]

Last week we had an unseasonably hot heat wave, 100 degrees in places in the Western half of the state and noticeably hotter in the Eastern half of the state.  I decided to escape the heat and rode down the Oregon coast to escape the heat - Almost.

Oregon has some amazing coastal highways zig-zagging inland between HWY 101 and I-5 going down to the California border, most places out on the coast ranged from cold and foggy to comfortable (55-68F) but once I ventured inland even 20-30 miles I saw 104F on my dash reading several times.

The original route was 4 days including a quick trip over the California border with an overnight stay in Crescent City but the wildfires had other plans.  Prior to leaving I was constantly monitoring the wildfire reports and Google Maps for road closures, sure enough at one point there was a wildfire on 101 south of Coos Bay resulting in a highway closure followed by several new wildfires between Crescent City and Yreka Ca. resulting in complete closures of CA199 and CA96 all with massive extended detours.  My riding time is too valuable to be worrying about detours and avoiding fires and smoke, so I cut out California all together.  There was still smoke to contend with in Oregon.

I am hoping the smoke clears soon, I'm planning another 3-day ride in Eastern Oregon just after Labor Day.

Waldport, Oregon

Near Florence, Oregon

Near Toketee Falls, Oregon OR138

This smoke makes it look like a foggy November morning

Even cutting the trip short I still managed 1200 miles.  Trip computer says 47mpg but real world calculations were actually 44mpg.

 

[Rick123]

Wildfires? The same as in Alberta, Eastern provinces and BC in Canada, Spain, Italy and of course Hawaii. It has nothing to do with wild.

[piotrek]

Navigating closures and detours is a PITA on a good day, never mind in the wildfire chaos happening this year. A 3-day getaway still ain't bad. Hoping for change in the weather for the sake of all those truly affected.

[2and3cylinders]

15 hours ago, Rick123 said:

Wildfires? The same as in Alberta, Eastern provinces and BC in Canada, Spain, Italy and of course Hawaii. It has nothing to do with wild.

And Greece!