Day 5: To the Rogue River

August 5, 2005

Today promises to be a great day. Sunny all day. Temperature in the 60's along the coast, then much warmer inland. Highway 101 hugs the coast for most of the route and I have a tailwind all day. It doesn't get much better.

After leaving the Humbug Mountain campground highway 101 climbs a big hill to go around Humbug Mountain in a lush forest. Then after 3 miles the highway drops back to the coast and stays close to the coast all the way to Gold Beach. I stopped often to enjoy the great coastal views. Some of the best views are in places that don't have a turnout for parking a car. But it was easy to lean my bike against the guardrail, enjoy the view, and take pictures.

I was most of the way to Gold Beach before Humbug Mountain is finally out of sight. It dominates coastal views for many miles on either side. I stopped and enjoyed the views at Otter Point Recreation Area which is accessible from the designated bike route (an old road that is now bypassed by a wider, straighter highway 101). It was exhilarating to walk out on a tall rock formation surrounded by crashing waves on 3 sides. The sun felt warm on the red rocks. I was the only person there - everybody else was whizzing by on highway 101.

Otter Point Recreation Area. My wide angle lens barely captures the scene.

The bike route returns to highway 101 at the north end of the long bridge across the Rogue River. The old art deco style bridge was being renovated so I had to wait 5 minutes before southbound traffic could cross the bridge. The river is a mile wide with many fishing boats on the river.

Across the bridge is the town of Gold Beach where I stopped for lunch and to stock up on groceries. It's a thriving but not particularly charming town. The main tourist attraction is jet boat rides up the Rogue River. After taking care of business I backtracked 2 miles to the Rogue River and turned on the county road that goes up the Rogue River. It's a long "road to nowhere" with very little traffic. The road has a monster climb to get across the Siskiyou mountains. I had no idea how big of a climb is ahead but the road looks extremely wiggly on my map (photocopies of my Benchmark Oregon Recreation atlas which has a scale of 4 miles per inch). A sign at the turnoff said the road is closed ahead but it wasn't clear if that applies to my route or not.

For the first 10 or so miles the river is very wide, straight, and slow, and the road stays 50 feet above the river (perhaps to prevent the road from being washed away by a tsunami). Then finally the valley closes in and the river becomes more winding. And of course the road becomes more hilly. I prefer the hilly road because it has better views of the river.

Paddling on the lower Rogue River near Gold Beach.

I passed this hidden waterfall just after entering Siskiyou National Forest. It's the typical unmarked waterfall that only bike tourists notice. Bike tourists can see or hear the waterfall or feel the cool damp air nearby. Motorist whiz by without noticing.

Typical roadside waterfall that only bike tourists notice.

14.5 miles upstream from highway 101 I turned into Quosatana campground. I got the last campsite that has a view of the river. No hiker/biker area at National Forest campgrounds. I arrived at 5:30PM and had plenty of time for a shower using my water bag and shower hose. The temperature warmed up to 80F (27C) when I got away from the coast and it was still fairly warm in the evening. I enjoyed the coast but it's nice to get back to a warmer, drier, and less windy climate. And it was also a relief to get onto a no-traffic road after several days on the busy coastal highway.

Today was about as good as it can be on a bike tour. Great weather, great scenery, great roads, and tailwinds. My gluteous muscle is feeling much better today but I'm wondering if the muscle will get sore again on tomorrow's huge climb. The evening was very quiet except when noisy jet boats went by on their way back to Gold Beach.

Distance: 40.7 miles (65.1 km)

Climbing: 1620 ft (491 m)

Average speed: 9.4 mph (15 km/h)

Maximum speed: 41 mph (65.6 km/h)

Hiking: none

Today's ride: 41 miles (66 km)
Total: 212 miles (341 km)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	1
Comment on this entry	Comment	0