A visit to Gold Beach, OR

We loved the coast highway, US 101, which travels right up the amazing coast of the Pacific. This route offers some of the most magnificent scenery we have ever seen.

 There are quite a few viewpoints next to the road and we took full advantage of them to explore the area. Fortunately, we had a beautiful day as we headed about 25 miles north of Brookings to Gold Beach.

 One interesting sight is Arch Rock, named for the obvious arch way that has been cut through the rock by the endless wave action of the sea.

 There are huge rocks that extend out well into the Pacific, making for a beautiful contrast with the ocean.

 Rick thought this was great and wondered how this must look when the large waves pound in during the pacific storms.

We saw some signs that warned about high winds that blew in from the ocean. Soon, we began to see trees that were pushed over by constant wind -- we could only imagine how hard and often the wind has to blow to make a tree grow like this. 

Once in Gold Beach, we went down to the dock area and saw this wreck of a tugboat. A bit of investigation revealed that it was the Mary D. Hume, built right here in 1881. Interestingly, after almost 100 years of service in 1978, the ship came here under its own power and was donated to the City of Gold Beach. Unfortunately, a short time later, the ship was lifted out of the water for maintenance, but a sling broke and the ship dropped and was damaged beyond repair. The tug has sat here ever since. 

The sea was not the only thing that provided a great view. We saw many beautiful flowers like this on our drive, as well as incredible ferns and other plants. We had a great day on the southern coast road.