ChrisBurkard

Sun rays blasted through the tall Sitka spruce & shore pine in Florence Oregon as we loaded our rafts to kick off day five of the Oregon Coast Trail. We were joined by heaps of seals as we paddled the Siuslaw River toward the south jetty & Oregon Dunes. The beauty of this crossing shot morale through the roof. The Oregon Dunes OHV area is capped by the Siuslaw on the north and the Umpqua on the south, forming an almost whale tail-esque geography, which meant we didn’t see town or road for two river crossings.

For the Umpqua, we got lucky with a hiker/ biker ferry. We restocked food in Winchester Bay & continued south, into the fog, on a long stretch of isolated beach that would spit us out at the mouth of the Coos River & the massive Coo’s Bay. We paddled once again before rolling into Sunset Bay State Park at dusk & made camp in the beautiful yurts, that are housed at the campground there.

The morning featured a carb load at a local cafe & resupply since racoons got into some of our food overnight. Then, we pinned it south to Bandon! With a gusty paddle across the Coquille River, we landed in the sunny, busy town of downtown Bandon, grabbed great coffee & lunch and road south with the wind at our backs through the Lord of the Rings like sea stacks on the Bandon Beach. It was another beautiful moment on par with the sun rays from the morning prior, though a whole lot more moody with the fog rolling back in. 20 miles south through dropping temps and worsening fog, we reached Floras Lake and decided to call it a day. The soft sand was relentless on this stretch & we were starting to feel the wear and tear on our bikes and bodies. With two days to go, we were feeling good about our mileage and looked forward to the morning ride through Cape Blanco instead of doing it in the fog & dark.

@traveloregon @thepeoplescoast

📸 by @masoncasey & @shredskyy