Since I had nothing better to do this weekend, I decided to spend a few hours making the drive to see the ocean. I hadn't been on the American coast of the Pacific ocean in several years, and I figured today, although rainy, would be a good day to see it again.
Even though Medford is actually only about 80 miles from the coast, to drive there you have to take a circuitous route that involves going into and out of California. The good news is the drive is everything a leisurely drive should be--winding roads over mountains, next to rocky cliffs, and full of some of the best views I've seen in a long time. See some of my pictures from the trip here.
The drive starts by taking the freeway from Medford to Grants Pass. As freeway drives go, this is a good one. Lots of verdant hills full of evergreen trees. Just enough windiness to keep things interesting, and not enough to make you sick of the turns.
Once you get off the freeway in Grants Pass, you see what is the ugliest part of the drive. Typical small town sprawl with supermarkets, fast food, and every other business to meet your needs. As you leave the town, you pass through a speed trap where you see 3 cops in 1/2 mile. Then, you are on your way.
I feel bad about it now, because I found the drive to be beautiful, but I'll ignore the stretch of the trip from Grants Pass to Cave Junction. It was great, but it's after you leave Cave Junction that things get really interesting. As I was scoping out the directions on google maps, I noticed a large amount of the California part of the trips was in "Smith River NRA." As it happens, NRA is not National Rifle Association here, but National Recreation Area. I have just two words for it--holy crap! The area is amazing. You have 10 miles of very winding roads as you follow the Smith River. Then, just as you get onto a faster part of the road, you start seeing redwood trees. Out of the blue. 10-12 feet in diameter. Right next to the road--literally. As in asphalt touching bark. It was just seriously amazing and beautiful.
It made getting to the point where I could see the ocean feel less impressive. But it was still pretty amazing, even if it was raining pretty good the whole time I was down on the beach. And of course, after I had been rained on for about 45 minutes and finally had gotten back in the car with dry clothes, it started to clear up.
Fortunately, the drive back was so amazing it made up for the rainy time I had on the beach. On my way to the coast, I had kept thinking, "sheesh there are a lot of creeks and rivers." So on the way back, I made a list of every body of water I passed. Here goes:
Pacific Ocean
Winchuk River
Gilbert Creek
Smith River
Rowdy Creek
Middle Fork (Smith River)
Hardscrabble Creek
Mary's Creek
Patrick Creek
Little Jones Creek
Siskiyou Fork
Knopki Creek
Elk Creek
West Fork (Illinois River)
Rough and Ready Creek
East Fork (Illinois River)
George Creek
Holton Creek
Lake Selmac
Deer Creek
Anderson Creek
Clear Creek
Butcher Knife Creek
Slate Creek
Waters Creek
Applegate River
Rogue River
Bear Creek
Okay, that's all of them. Mrs. Floporama and I will definitely be taking this trip again once she comes out here.
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