When we left Whiskey Run, we were floundering a little bit for a plan. We wanted to try to find some tide pools somewhere, but other than that, we felt like we were ok with how much coast we had seen. We did a quick run out to Cape Blanco, but it was so windy that it was quite cold and it seemed like it was just going to be like that on the coast for a while.
If you haven’t gathered yet, we are doing this trip on the cheap as much as possible, so we were also finding it a little hard to have to pay for camping pretty much anywhere along the coast. After trying to explore Cape Blanco, we headed inland for a night, hoping to find a spot at one of two campground that were on BLM land. The drive along Sixes River Road was beautiful, but we were unable to get into either campground as they were gated off, maybe for the winter? Instead, we meandered along a one-lane road that eventually had a pull-off wide enough to park in for the night. We called it good!
We scouted out a couple of campgrounds in the area, but didn’t think there was much bang for the buck. Luckily, the road we were on followed the Rogue River and all along the lower stretch, there were rocky peninsulas. We drove down to a boat ramp and then were able to follow a peninsula to have a nice river view. We spent a couple of night near the Quosetana Campground before heading out again.
When we came back to the coast, we finally found some good tidepools near Rocky Point. The sun was shining, the wind was blocked and we were happy as we found mussels, hermit crabs, anemones, and more.
Having found a tidepool, we once again floundered a bit. We decided to head inland with no real plan, other than my thinking maybe we needed to get to a bigger city to find a chiropractor for Mike’s back, which was still giving him significant problems. We decided to consult the atlas and chose a road that seemed to go pretty directly east and was marked as “closed in the winter.” We headed east and soon got to the part that went over the mountains. Signage told us that trailers were not advised, but we went for it anyway! When I say “we,” I really mean “Mike.” He still tends to be the designated driver of the iffier roads we encounter. This one was a bit of a doozy. Quite narrow for most of it with significant inclines and declines. We pulled over at a view point (to let the engine cool) and watched three trucks with trailers go by in the opposite direction, feeling quite grateful that we were not on the road having to pass them!
On the way down, we had to take another break, this time to let the brakes cool and then we made it back to normal roads. We waffled some more around Medford, stocking up on groceries and other needed items and eventually made our way to a Pilot truck stop for the night. I pulled us up next to a curb in a giant parking lot and we tried to figure out if it was an ok spot or if we should try to back into the line of semis on another side of the lot. Mike gave it a go, but after a few corrections that didn’t really help, a very nice truck driver told us that we would be fine where we were originally parked. Mike is now a pro at turning and getting the trailer situated in just the right spot, but it is a beast to try to back up straight!
In the morning, we decided to forgo any more inland adventures and instead head southwest into northern California and the Redwood National Forest.