We were lucky and had no pressing tasks to complete today so we went exploring. We left South Jetty TT and jumped onto northbound US-101 for a bit. In the town of Florence, Peggy got a sudden inkling to go to the north spit of the Siuslaw River. Without hardly any getting lost at all, we soon found ourselves parked at the end of the north breakwater where we got out to check out the river. There was a stiff breeze today so there were whitecaps out in the ocean and in the river/estuary. It is beautiful out there.
After the north spit, we headed east into the coast range. Our eastbound route took us up the north fork of the Siuslaw River. Close to town, there are some homes and ranches built in the flat parts of the gorge but as we continued northeast, the buildings sort of crapped out and the valley got skinnier. The road has ample curves; 10 miles up the road only means about 4 miles as the crow flies. About an hour into our route we ran out of pavement so we turned south on Mapleton Hill Road which also soon ran out of paving. We wound our way up the ridge on switchbacks that made Peggy nervous. Eventually we came out on top and started the descent down into the valley of the main fork of the Siuslaw River. We emerged at OR-36 where we turned east again toward the dinky town of Swiss Home where I did some logging back in the old days. The return road back to Mapleton and Florence passes through what must be some of the most naturally beautiful territory in Oregon. It is spectacular.
Once back in Florence we went to Bi-Mart for supplies and filled up with diesel because we are headed into the Willamette Valley tomorrow.
Check out some Oregon views by clicking here