The Long and Winding Road

Today was supposed to be an easy day. Get up late, have a leisurely breakfast, saunter down to the beach, and walk 8 miles to the Umpqua River. There I would call Winchester Bay Charters (WBC) and a boat would be dispatched to pick me up and ferry me across. Two more miles and I would be at the Umpqua Lighthouse SP campground. Done!

I had already called WBC when I was zeroing in Eugene and was assured a pickup would be no problem. You see, if one gets the boat ride one avoids a 15ish mile road walk to the nearest bridge on 101 and then back.

There is another wrinkle. The junction with the only road that takes you east to 101 is 6 miles north of the river. So if you walk all the way to the river and then find out you can’t get a boat, you have to walk 6 miles back up the beach to the junction and then start the 15ish mile detour.

I got up late, had a leisurely breakfast, and decided to call WBC to make sure my estimated 2PM arrival at the river would work for them. This being a one person operation, John answered and told me he had had a family emergency and was in the Willamette Valley. He was sorry, but he was unable to do any ferrying today. He offered to see if he could find someone to maybe get me a boat ride, but in the end I decided to walk around. If his substitute failed to show I would be much worse off, having to backtrack 6 miles. 

So I packed up right away and hiked back down to the beach. 2 miles down to the junction and then along the gravel road out to 101 for 4 miles. It was a pretty nice road. Cut through the deep woods with zero traffic, it meandered eastward finally intersecting the Highway. 

101 was its usual busy self, but at least there was a reasonable shoulder. I hiked into Gardiner, a tiny town dating back to the 1870s, but fallen on hard times as it’s sawmills closed years ago. Then it was over the Smith River onto Bolon Island. Apparently it is famous as the site of a skirmish between the Umpqua Tribe and Jedidiah Smith in 1827. Then I crossed a huge draw bridge over the Umpqua River itself, which took me into the bustling town of Reedsport. There a MacDs was waiting for me to have lunch. Thus fortified, I continued my relentless march to Winchester Bay. From there it was 2 more miles to the Umpqua Lighthouse campground where I am for the night.

So instead of a moderate walk on the beach and a boat ride it was a long road walk with deep forest, some interesting history, and a cheeseburger. So not all bad.

Happy Trails…