natjwest
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We wanted to partake in Whale Week on the Oregon coast so got a boat ride scheduled out of Depoe Bay for Friday the 25th of March. But it was canceled due to rough waves in the bar crossing. The Coast Guard puts the kibosh on boats leaving when the waves get bad. That was a disappointment since we saw no whales. But we enjoy tidepooling a lot and had fun in that regard.
We camped at site D26 in Beverly Beach campground. That's an okay park considering it's the only option in that stretch of coastline. And our site was pretty good. I'd pick that spot if you have to reserve one site unseen. D28 and D24 were good-looking too. Great skunk cabbage blooming everywhere.
We played on the beach at the campground a bit. It was an okay beach, if a bit crowded. No tidepooling.
The next day we went up to Depoe Bay, visited the Whale Watching Center which was a decent introduction to the activity, waited for the aforementioned canceled boat, then went tidepooling at Otter Rock. Saw a seal up close.
On day three, we left the coast, heading up in to the woods to visit the Valley of the Giants "Outstanding Natural Area". It was pretty outstanding, but we were sure glad to have the camper's furnace and hot chocolate to warm us up when the extremely rainy hike concluded.
The VOG is really in the middle of nowhere. About 20 miles of gravel roads no matter how you approach it. We didn't see too many other vehicles on the road, but we did see about 15 white-butted elk right at Valsetz Lake, a huge red-tailed hawk and a pheasant. (Maybe quail? I call it a forest chicken.) The truck and camper are going to the car wash tomorrow. They really need it.
For more info on Valley of the Giants, check out this thread on pnwadventures.com.
We camped at site D26 in Beverly Beach campground. That's an okay park considering it's the only option in that stretch of coastline. And our site was pretty good. I'd pick that spot if you have to reserve one site unseen. D28 and D24 were good-looking too. Great skunk cabbage blooming everywhere.
We played on the beach at the campground a bit. It was an okay beach, if a bit crowded. No tidepooling.
The next day we went up to Depoe Bay, visited the Whale Watching Center which was a decent introduction to the activity, waited for the aforementioned canceled boat, then went tidepooling at Otter Rock. Saw a seal up close.
On day three, we left the coast, heading up in to the woods to visit the Valley of the Giants "Outstanding Natural Area". It was pretty outstanding, but we were sure glad to have the camper's furnace and hot chocolate to warm us up when the extremely rainy hike concluded.
The VOG is really in the middle of nowhere. About 20 miles of gravel roads no matter how you approach it. We didn't see too many other vehicles on the road, but we did see about 15 white-butted elk right at Valsetz Lake, a huge red-tailed hawk and a pheasant. (Maybe quail? I call it a forest chicken.) The truck and camper are going to the car wash tomorrow. They really need it.
For more info on Valley of the Giants, check out this thread on pnwadventures.com.
