October 13–16, 2022 Short Move, Cape Perpetua Peninsula, Thors Well, and Hanging Out

October 13, 2022

I have truly fallen in love with this area.  We initially signed up for 3 nights at the Elks and that was up this morning.  (I could not extend due to previous reservations.) But, I did find another park south of town.  Using our RPI membership, it was only $10/night.  So we now have reservations for six more nights here in Florence and this morning we moved seven miles south to South Jetty Campground and RV Resort.

The park is nice.  The sites are set up amongst the trees.  Even though we are close to our neighbor, we have the greenery that separates us. After setting up, I did grocery shopping.  Our supplies were getting low and we can only carry so much in a motorhome.

I did find where I stayed in 1981.  It is now called the Lighthouse Inn.  I did find out that there are new owners since 2019.  Maybe before we go, I will stop in.

This evening we relaxed and made plans for tomorrow’s adventure.

Stats for Today:

Miles Traveled: 7 Miles

Routes Traveled:

Oregon: Mercer Lake Road; US-101; South Jetty Road

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October 14, 2022

We wanted to spend more time at Cape Perpetua seeing the sites and the visitor center so that is where we headed this morning.

A little info:

“Towering 800 feet over the Pacific Ocean, the Cape Perpetua headland is the highest viewpoint accessible by car on the Oregon Coast. From this high point, enjoy views of the Cape Perpetua Marine Reserve and the rugged and rocky shore where visitors can witness the power of the ocean as it meets the coastal temperate rainforest.

Cape Perpetua Scenic Area encompasses 2,700 acres of coastal habitat and was set aside for its exceptional ecological characteristics. A 26-mile trail system offers many opportunities to experience this lush and diverse temperate rainforest.

People have been part of this landscape for at least 6,000 years and Cape Perpetua bears evidence of this rich history. Archaeological sites provide hints into village life of the Native American Alsea people, who called this area Halaqaik. When British explorer James Cook saw the headland in 1778, he named it for Saint Perpetua. Many of the trails we find here today were first constructed by a unit of the Civilian Conservation Corps as President Franklin D. Roosevelt sought to provide work for young men during the Great Depression. Their camp occupied the area where the visitor center is today.”

More information can be found here:

https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/siuslaw/recarea/?recid=42265

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Perpetua

https://www.themandagies.com/cape-perpetua-oregon/

We thoroughly enjoyed the museum where we learned about the history of the Cape, how it was created (volcanos), the different trees, animals, birds, insects of the shoreline and forests.  They had a number of great movies and we saw a couple of them: Cape Orientation and History, Shifting Dunes, CCC, etc.  Always love the National Forest and Parks Videos.

One of the things that had been on my bucket list was Thor’s Well.  After talking with the docents, off we went on the trail to see Thor’s well.

“Thor’s Well is an old sea cave that has collapsed, creating almost a “drainage pipe” to the ocean. It’s a seemingly bottomless hole that thrashes and sprays water as the waves crash in and out.”

https://oregonisforadventure.com/thors-well/

The trail went past the CCC camp.  All we could see was a platform and steps.  All the foundations are now covered in trees and bushes:

The trail took us under US-101:

Past Cape Cove:

The trail:

You can tell how windy it gets here – Check out those trees:

The “beach”:

The waves are coming in – high tide will be about 3 hours from now:

Cook’s Chasm – This is where the “blow hole” is at high tide.  The sound of the waves crashing thru this chasm is amazing.

Lots of tide pools:

This is Thor’s Well – Center of picture (notice the wave coming in):

The wave hits the rocks and fills the hole from underneath:

Crashing and spouting:

Going down:

Going out of its banks:

Flowing out and back into the hole:

   

Isn’t that amazing!  I just couldn’t stop watching it fill and empty.  I was told that at a very low tide, you can walk out on the beach and into the hole.  Hmmm – nope, not for me.

I could have stayed there for a very long time – it was so beautiful and fascinating.

Love this picture of Andy:

From there we went back to the visitor center – there were a few more films that I wanted to see plus go thru the gift shop. 

We found out that there was a rock shelter on the hill above the cape so off we went to find it.  We got to the top and the views – WOW!  This was looking down at where we were:

   

I never did find the shelter..  May need to try again.

Moss on the trees:

As we came down the hill, we noticed the wind picked up and the marine fog coming in.  It was amazing.  Almost like driving in a snowstorm – without the snow.

Since it was near high tide, we made one last stop at the overlook to see Thor’s Well:

Now..Should those people be there?  There are signs all over the trail about how dangerous it could be especially around high tide.  One rogue wave and “poof” .. you are gone.  (I lost a classmate that way.)

Side note:  At Crater Lake, we watched a father walk his young daughter over the wall, put her at the edge, just to take her picture.  Sheesh…   I have no words…

It started to get rough and WOW!:

 

 

Beautiful… At high tide that whole area will be covered.  If it wasn’t so windy and rainy and getting colder, we may have stayed.

With the tide coming in, we stopped at the “Spout” and it was spouting.

On the way back, we stopped to do the “Hobbit Trail”.  I had heard that this was a really cute trail to do that ended at a nice little beach.  We started on the trail:  

Check out that moss:

We did not finish the trail.  The fog was getting bad and we talked to a woman on her way back who told us that the fog is very thick on the beach.  So we decided to turn around and leave it for another day.

What a great day.

But we are now exhausted and on scenery overload so we are taking a day or two off. 

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October 15, 2022

We woke to cloudy, damp, and cold and were so glad we decided to stay in today.  I did the blog and some computer stuff while Andy watched football.  We had leftover casserole heated in the oven so we stayed cozy warm.

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October 16, 2022

Our initial plan was to do laundry today.  Well, one of my kitties got sick on the bed at 5 AM this morning so we had more wash that we wanted to have.  Spent the morning at the laundry and, sheesh, is it getting expensive.

Back home, I am finishing up the blogs, emails, and now looking at what we will be doing the next few weeks.  The weather was a little warmer but still very cloudy, rainy, and foggy.

Tomorrow we are going to play tourist again so hopefully we will have sunny skies.  Stay tuned and enjoy today.