Day 6 - 7/21: Nehalem to Neskowin via Slab Creek Rd

A day of great adventure and beautiful sights not to be missed! Wait... but not until we spent an hour drinking coffee in Manzaneeta -- a cool small town off the 101 worth visiting. At the crazy early hour of 11 AM we finally hit the road with big plans.

Our plan was to take a detour South of Tillamook around Meare’s Point and ride the three heads. In Oregon a head or cape means a big climb, but also outrageous views of the coast. We like to climb, so it was no question that we would hit every cape and head we could find on the coast. We were not in a rush. We wanted to take it all in.

When we go to Meare’s Point Road, the entry to our 18 mile loop to the heads, the sign said that the road was closed. We went anyway, knowing that the chances were very good that we would be able to get through, and if so, we would have a breathtakingly beautiful road to ourselves. And... we were right. After fighting a headwind for six miles we turned South and then starts a climb up to the head. At the top we found a path to the largest Sitka Spruce in Oregon, measuring 38 feet in circumference and 12.5 feet diameter. Wow.

The descents here are delightfully long and smooth, with hardly any breaking needed as they wind down through banked curves. 

We landed in Oceanside where I saw a sign for a bake sale. “You know you want some baked goods!” I yelled up to Todd. He hardly hesitated as he turned around. And, after making friends with all the ladies, ate 3 pieces of cake and one cookie.

After that pit stop we cruised along the coast to view upon view of stunning stacks and cliffs and wild surf.

Miles buzzed by with a strong wind until we found ourselves hungry for dinner, but still no where we wanted to be. So we found a storage area out of the wind and cooked up a quick meal of tuna, cheese, rice and peas. Yum. Nice ambiance:

Fortified we decided to milk the day by taking another detour from 101’s traffic and just find a place to sleep on the side of the road. We turned East onto Slab Creek Rd south of Niskowa. Ten miles or so up a beautiful quiet road we silently rode through beautiful rich Oregon valley, eventually leading to a school that offered he perfect place to camp: a flat grassy corner of a field bordered by a cool creek to wash off.

With dark fast approaching we set up the tent and scrambled down to the creek. Todd slipped and fell, really slamming his ribs resulting in what we thought would be a big bruise, but several days later discovered was a cracked or broken rib. Ouch. More on that later.