Oregon!

I made it to Oregon Thursday night. I had a feeling this might be my last chance to have a campsite for a few days since they’ll all be full for the 4^th of July. I wanted to do a long run on Friday morning so I hoped to find a place with trails and a shower. Humbug State Park was my place. It had hot showers, the trailhead for Mt. Humbug, access to the Oregon Coast trail, beach access and a few open spots.

In true Oregon style, it rained all night. Rain hitting the van roof is pretty soothing. I was up by six, excited to explore the trails. The ascent up 1700 foot Mt. Humbug starts like this:

I was just hoping the river didn’t flood while I was out there.

I’m not even sure quite how to describe the run up Mt. Humbug. It’s sort of like running in the rainforest only about 100 feet from the beach. Ferns line the trail, creeks trickle down and every so often there’s a view like this:

Except the view was from about 1000 feet higher on the trail. I didn’t have my camera with me while running so I took this from the road later.

After Mt. Humbug, I headed out for another 2 or so hours on the Oregon Coast trail. The snails had come out to enjoy the wet trail, so every descent was a challenge of avoiding rocks and roots while also trying not to squash any critters.

The few fleeting moments I’ve had on this trip of, “Oh my God, what have I done? Am I crazy to leave my job and home?” were pretty much completely erased during this run. I think I smiled for the whole 3 hours and 20 minutes.

I was showered by noon and headed into Port Orford. I’d heard they hoist the fishing boats out of the water with a crane and I was curious to see this. I wasn’t disappointed.

I headed to Banton, where I made dinner on the beach at the State Park. I stayed for hours and enjoyed the place all to myself for sunset.