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Celebrating our two-lane highways of yesteryear…And the joys of driving them today!

Cape Perpetua Scenic Area


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I recently returned from camping trip with my daughter and son near Florence and during one of our day trips we ventured north on 101 to the Cape Perpetua Scenic Area. While we where there we checked out the tidepools at low tide and then waited until later in the afternoon to view the spectacle of Thor's Well and other features that become active as the tide comes in. Cape Perpetua is a few miles south of Yachats and easy to miss if you're in a hurry. It's fantastic views from the visitors center and paved trails are worth a stop if you are passing through the area.  

The ocean's water rushing back into Thor's Well.

Thor's Well
 

Churning tidal action as the sea makes it's way down a chasm on the shoreline.

Cape Perpetua Rainbow and Churning Waters


 

US 101 passes over Cooks Chasm

SC120810-5D09304.jpg

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Rick,

Fantastic photos...as always!!  Your image of Thor's well is the best I have ever seen!

We enjoy Yachats and that section of the Oregon coast.  Your photographs make me want to pack up and head down 101 for a weekend.  The Drift Inn has live entertainment and good meals, and we have always enjoyed our ocean front accommodations at the Adobe Lodge....and those are not the only great places there to eat and stay.  As much as I enjoy your  California coast north of San Francisco, 101 along the Oregon coast is a national treasure.

Summer is a nice time to travel it, but I have also found that the Oregon coast in winter is just plain spectacular, and my experience is that the prices are low, and the tourists fewer.  And if one likes spectacular light houses and freely accessible sandy beaches, US101 in Oregon is unsurpassed any time of the year!!

Dave

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Great photos! One aspect I am not sure was covered at the visitors center were the emergent coastline features. In the bottom photo at Cooks Chasm, you may note the larger bench extending out into the sea. That bench was partially formed during an earthquake that raised the land, most likely from the earthquake in January 1700.

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Michael,

Interesting!  I did not know that. 

Ergo tsunamis escape routes are clearly marked! My advice….avoid the Oregon Coast when the megaquake hits. It could spoil your whole day. :) It has a cycle of about every 500 years on average, with the intervals ranging from about 300 to 900 years. (Wikipedia, not my expertise.)

One of my best friends was a noted Princeton educated geologist who I knew in the mid 1960’s when plate tectonics was still just a possibility. He had a cabin up the coast at Neskowin. There is a ghost forest on the beach there with stumps over 2000 years old as the result of another earthquake changing the land’s level.

The Oregon coast is open to the public and very accessible because of US101.

Dave

Keep the Show on the Road!

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