Chetco River Trip Part 1, Sisters Rocks and Gold Beach

Tuesday's Pic of the Day
Tuesday, 06-27-2000. Clear, sunny, and warm again this morning. For the next few days we will post pics and stories from our Sunday journey down to Brookings and the Chetco River.

We left Port Orford at about 9:00 AM and made a quick stop a couple of minutes south of town to snap a few pics. The picture above shows the beach that's located just south of Rocky Point. This beach is a good spot for clam hunting and tide pool exploring during low tide.

The picture on the left shows Red Fish Rocks, these seastacks sit just offshore of Rocky Point. Red Fish Rocks is a prominent feature that marks the south end of the Port Orford cove. Divers and fisherman are often seen working these rocks.

The photo on the right is a view shot of Nesika Beach as seen from Rocky Point. The tip of Humbug Mountain is seen at the upper left portion of this image with Rocky Point beach in the foreground.

The photo on the left shows the Port Orford Heads and Cove with the tip of Rocky Point in the foreground. The Port Orford Cove is a pleasant place in the summer months when the winds pick up from the northwest. The winter months is a different story, often strong southern gales will blow in from the south turning this calm cove into a raging sea. The Port Orford Cove claimed several ships in the earlier years. Divers often recover artifacts from the shipwrecks that now line the bottom just off Battle Rock Beach. 

Our next stop was at Prehistoric Gardens located about 12 minutes south of town and adjacent to Arizona Beach. Prehistoric Gardens is a privately owned coastal rainforest consisting of Old Growth Spruce and Fir trees with large dinosaur models scattered along the trails. We stopped here to snap a couple of pics of the new paint job their T-Rex just received. He used to have two-tone brown covering, but he was now looking out of fashion with all the current movies depicting dinosaurs with bright multi-color hides. 

Tomorrow we stop at the 3 Sisters located south of Humbug Mountain.

Wednesday's Pic of the Day
Wednesday, 06-28-2000. Foggy with an early morning burn-off looking likely. We continue with pics and stories from our Sunday journey to Brookings and the Chetco River. Today we stop at Sisters Rocks located about 15 minutes south of Port Orford and a few minutes north of Nesika Beach. Our first picture shows the view looking north with Humbug Mountain and Port Orford at the upper left. This photo was shot just off Highway 101.

I walked towards the ocean to find a better vantage point for photos and turned towards Sisters Rocks and shot the photo on the right. This shows the view of the rocks from the north side looking southwest.

The photo on the left is a zoomed image of the largest rock with the north cove of Sister Rocks in the foreground.

I turned to the north and shot this wide angle image of the view looking north along the coastline with Humbug Mountain on the left and Lookout Rock on the right.

This next photo is a zoomed image of Lookout Rock shot from the same location as the one above.

I turned to the west and took this picture of a large rock formation directly below where I shot the other photos. If you look closely you'll see a tunnel in the rock with the ocean peeking thru from the other side. A couple of these images also show the large collection of wildflowers that are currently covering the hillside.

Tomorrow we'll have pics from the south side of Sisters Rocks.

Thursday's Pic of the Day
Thursday, 06-29-2000. Sunny and breezy this morning. Today we visit the south side of Sisters Rocks. Our first photo is a wide angle view from the south looking north at Sisters Rocks with Thunder Rock Ranch in the foreground. Thunder Rock Ranch changed ownership a year or so back for a reported 1.75 million. That price seemed high at the time for property with only a greenhouse, small log cabin, and an existing permit for another home.

The new owners first improved landscaping and access, then started construction on a home as spectacular as it's location. With Southern Oregon Coast land values escalating, the price now seems fairly reasonable for this one of a kind ocean front property with private beach access and these panoramic views.

The photo at the upper right shows Thunder Rock Ranch, Sisters Rocks, and the Port Orford Headland in the distant background.

I turned to the south and snapped this photo on the left showing the view of the beach adjacent to Thunder Rock Ranch with Nesika Beach in the background. Our last picture is a zoomed image of the headland rock with Nesika Beach just beyond the Ophir Cove. I think the rock looks like a monkey's face in profile. What do you think this rock looks like? A seastack in shadow is like a psychiatrist ink blot drawing, each individual sees something different from the next.

Tomorrow pics of Nesika Beach.

Friday's Pic of the Day
Friday, 06-30-2000. Sunny and windy with scattered clouds this morning. Today we continue our journey to Brookings and the Chetco River. We left off yesterday with some pics of a rock off the point that I thought looked like a monkey face in profile. We walked back to our car and snapped this picture of a field of Foxgloves growing below a tree line on the east side of the highway.

We moved south to the next turnout that has views of Nesika Beach. The photo on the right is a view shot of the Ophir and Nesika Beach coastline as seen from the north looking south.

I moved to a better location closer to the ocean and turned to the north and snapped this photo of the rock with the monkey face as viewed from the south looking north.

The picture on the right is a zoomed image of the same rock and cove. We saw several Turkey Vultures, Seagulls, and Osprey swooping in this cove.

I turned towards the south and took the photo on the left showing a zoomed image of the beach at Ophir in the foreground, Euchre Creek on the left, and Nesika Beach in the background. Windsurfers often use Nesika Beach as their playground. There is a nice Rest Station on the ocean side of Highway 101 with easy access to Nesika Beach. This level beach is easy to walk on and is often deserted.

Tomorrow we stop at Gold Beach and the Rogue River!

Saturday's Pic of the Day
Saturday, 07-01-2000. Overcast skies this morning. We have a quick site update to report. Our main web site, iLoveOregon.com just surpassed the 200,000 hit mark! I will put extra effort into today's feature as a special thank you to our daily visitors who love the Oregon Coast and tell all their iLoveOregon friends about our site!

And now back to our journey to Brookings and the Chetco River. Today we visit Gold Beach, our neighbor 30 minutes to the south and home of the Curry County government offices. We arrived in Gold Beach at about 10:30 AM and made a quick stop at the Wedderburn pull-out that overlooks the town and mouth of the Rogue River. Our first photo shows the south jetty, the beach at Gold Beach, and a foggy Cape Sebastian in the background. The picture on the left features the Gold Beach airport and Rogue River in the foreground.

We stopped at a pancake house on the south side of the Rogue River just in time to hear the hydroplane racers take-off. The high-pitched whine of their 2 cycle motors could be heard throughout the Rogue River Valley as they made their way upstream to the turnaround. The picture at the upper right shows the hydroplane racers with the Rogue River Bridge above. 

These hydroplane images are a little blurry because the races were just starting when we arrived there and I was a little harried in my setup. The photo on the left is a zoomed image of the racers yanking on their starting cords with the Rogue  River bridge in the background. The image on the right shows one of the racers passing our picture spot.

I moved closer to the river and snapped the photo on the left showing a dock on the south side of the Rogue River. I then turned to the west and took the photo on the lower right of the Rogue River Bridge with Wedderburn on the right and Gold Beach on the left.

We next stopped at the Port of Gold Beach and snapped several photos of the port and old tug that is slowly rotting away into the sea. The image on the left is the old boat covered in green moss with the Rogue River Bridge in the background and the tip of Tom Cat Hill on the right.

I then turned to the west and took this last photo showing the Port of Gold Beach with the fun to visit Bandon Port mall on the left. There is a restaurant, ice cream shop, art galleries, Jerry's Jet Boats office and much more.

The ocean going boats leaving the Port and hoping to reach the Pacific Ocean have to manage a sometimes difficult and dangerous Rogue River bar crossing. Port Orford has no bar crossing because the boats are hoisted directly into the Port Orford Cove.

We also saw what looked like a Bald Eagle and Osprey soaring above the fishing boats working the waters west of the Rogue River Bridge, unfortunately they were too far away to be able to capture a good image of them.

Thank you again for pushing us past one of our hit count goals. This site is a labor of love for us and we receive no outside advertiser support so your continuing participation is our only reward. Increased visitor counts spurs us in our goal to become the most popular website on the Southern Oregon Coast. Watch soon for a new Free Oregon Postcards page with updated photos (mainly Curry County scenic pics).

Tomorrow's Pic of the Day visits Cape Sebastian, Meyers Beach, and Natural Bridges. You won't want to miss this one, we captured some great pics! The photo above is Norma watching some horses on Meyers Beach that I snapped on our return leg home.

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