Over the last few days, the terrain has gotten progressively more hilly. The places where we've stopped have given us beautiful views of the Pacific ocean since the route brings us up onto high, volcanic, black rock cliffs. We climb hard through cool forests and then emerge to see a lighthouse and and then look down to the churning deep blue ocean smashing up against rocks in wide curving coves and capes. Around here the rocks often have seals and sea lions who have claimed the places to sleep and sunbathe. At first there we could only spot one or two from the road, but moving further south, the groups have gotten huge. I can now hear them calling and barking before I can even see them. Just this morning at Cape Arago I was about 300 meters above a group of 50 animals, close enough to see their whiskers and teeth. From afar, they are really strange-looking creatures and sort of remind me of slugs, but up close they are comically maladroit. Awkward only until they get off the rocks and start swimming around in the powerful currents gracefully and effortlessly. Then I get a little envious at how warm they appear to be in the frigid water.
When we're not up above the ocean we're often next to it walking on beaches. While careening down the highway to Florence, you can see the pale yellow ribbon of the Oregon Sand Dunes Area stretching out along the coast for 65 km. Incidentally, while careening down the highway to Florence, you might, like us, also be stopped by a couple of photojournalists who are interviewing "interesting" people that they encounter while driving the highways of America. Their site is under construction but if you check under www.fullframeamerica.com you might find a little footage of Mariana, Misty and I answering questions about our trip standing in the rain. Anyway, the dunes run along the highway and rise up a good 10-15 m high. They are often hidden by forest but sometimes spill over onto the highway as they advance. They are beautiful but inexorable: even large pine trees are engulfed by their advance.
In this section, the dunes lead to the beach and so at the Siltcoos Dunes Overlook, we spent a couple hours just walking along the isolated beach. Just us, a couple of people and a group of hawks soaring on the strong winds. Walking barefoot on a beach is something that I think I am getting hooked on, since every time I see a beach now I feel compelled to take my shoes off and walk on it. I suppose there are worse habits.
Janius Tsang
