Day 10 | craggy cliffs, dunes and...seals?
Distance
70.4 miles
Elevation Climbed
3,729 ft
Landscape
Steep cliffs, intertidal rocks, lush forest, sand dunes
Weather
Sunny, 50 F
Kirsten’s Notes:
The 101 was constructed to guide millions of people up, down, over, around and through the steep coastal cliffs, caves, forests and dunes and man did they do it right. There are scenic overlooks, viewpoints and state parks/ forests galore to soak in the seemingly endless beauty. Some of my favorite moments are climbing to the top of a hill, watching the trees become more sparse/ replaced by blue skies and finally overtaken by the Pacific, or better yet, miles of cliffside and crashing waves on shore. Dad is usually in front guiding us and setting the pace and I love using him as a reference point to contextualize the grandeur of the trees, cliffside and ocean. We were very lucky to have blue skies without a cloud today but there was part of me that hoped for a storm or big swell so we could see how the rock formations unique to the area transform the water as it passes through naturally made spouts and wells. We saw a few dozen mammals lounging on a rock and the jury is still conferring on whether they are seals or sea lions – comment below if you think you know!
Legs and neck felt good as we cruised through the first 25 miles gliding over shallow hills at ~16-18 mph but our second 70+ mile day definitely caught up with us midway through today as the climbs tired our legs and poor visibility shadowy descents prompted us to tense our shoulders. Butt is sore nearly constantly at this point.
Lars’ Notes:
We had another beautiful sunny day. Temperatures cool in the morning and a beneficial tailwind for a good part of the day. When I turned on our GPS for the day’s ride, the directions were pretty simple; start, next turn 70.7 miles and then turn right! We traveled along the Oregon Coastal Highway 101 for the entire route. For most of the morning, we traversed the coastline, along the Cape Perpetua Marine Reserve to our west and the Cummins and Rock Creek Wilderness to the east. The ride was an amazing combination of lush, forested hills with steep cliffs and unique rock formations. We stopped many times along overlooks that included features like Thor’s Well and The Spouting Horn, where the tides crash into ancient lava tubes to create one of a kind water spouts and bubbling cauldrons. Seal Rock and the Sea Lion Caves were also points of interest where we saw amazing marine life. The ride included seven climbs for a total of about 3700 feet of vertical change. Kirsten and I continue to get stronger on the climbs, but neither of us are free from leg soreness. The landscape changed as we rode south, evolving to a very sandy landscape with huge sand dunes and vast white sand beaches. Lise was there to meet us at our end point. We drove back north and revisited many of the same features we enjoyed earlier so we could experience them together.
