Pacific Coast Tour – Day 17 – 18; Cape Disappointment, WA to Cape Lookout, OR

Day: 17
August 3, 2021

Distance: 61 miles (664 total)

Cape Disappointment, WA to Nehalem Bay, OR

We had quite the day today. We set our alarm pretty early (which is to say we set an alarm period) so that we could get to the dreaded Astoria bridge just after rush hour to minimize traffic.  Our plan worked! Well that and we had the help of some nicely timed construction stoppages on the north end of the bridge. We had a surprisingly easy ride across the bridge with next to no traffic heading south bound. Even at the dreaded uphill we only had three cars pass us.  Just as we were getting off the bridge, the line of backed up traffic seemed to be let through.

Honestly our first tunnel of the day (and trip) before the bridge was actually scarier. It had been a mostly empty tunnel, but as we got half way we heard the engine revving in what sounds like a car speeding up towards us unaware of our presence! I think the sound was just the nature of the echo on the tunnel. And for those that don’t know, the tunnels come with a button for cyclists to push so that there are flashing lights alerting drivers to our presence – so they probably knew we were there, and PROBABLY weren’t speeding up to get to us.

In Astoria we decided to celebrate our successful bridge crossing with second breakfast at the Astoria Coffee House, a local café. We had veggie egg sandwiches, a strawberry tart, tator tots, and fancy coffees.  After eating we stopped in at a bike shop to buy some new gloves (mine had worn out, and Andrew wanted a second pair so he can swap them out and wash them from time to time).

We had also started to run low on fuel, and the only store that seems to sell white gas (our normal cooking fuel) in sizes smaller than a gallon is Walmart (if you know of others please share!). The only Walmart along the Oregon coast is in Warrenton, a suburb of Astoria. Andrew had had the forethought to buy their only small can of white gas ahead of time online, and they were supposed to hold it for us… Instead they canceled our order. So we shook our fists at them as we rode past, and are now on the hunt for white gas – preferably not a whole gallon of it.

Riding out of Astoria was pretty boring, but once we hit Seaside we had great views of the coast.  Seaside was an adorable beach town, that we plan to return to some day. While there, we ran some more shopping errands including buying a butane canister to hold us over until we find liquid fuel before enjoying a late lunch on the beach.

Next we rode through Cannon Beach. Since we’d been before, we didn’t spend too much time dawdling there, but it’s also a cute beach town.

After Cannon Beach our ride really started getting hilly. We had our second tunnel of the day, and this time it was at an uphill! We took a mental and snack break before tackling it. While riding the nicest driver wound up behind us, she kept a nice comfortable distance between us, and when we pulled off after making it through, she rolled down her window, gave us a thumbs up and shouted “you guys are amazing!” What excellent motivation.

We had the rest of that climb followed by a rewarding downhill. I thought we were done climbing for the day, but sadly I was mistaken, as we still had one more big climb. This one at least came with amazing views of Nehalem Bay.

Tonight we’re camping at Nehalem Bay State Park which is full of other bike packers (and one hiker) We all seem to be going different directions, but it’s still cool to see so many people, most of the campsites previously have just been us in the hiker/biker sites. Oh and this campsite has free showers, electronic charging boxes, and bike maintenance stands, which may be fairly standard in OR so that’s exciting!

Day: 18
August 4, 2021

Distance: 46 miles (710 total)

Nehalem Bay to Cape Lookout

Today’s riding was mostly easy (we must be getting strong!) It was our first sunny morning in a while so it was very pleasant riding. We were some of the last people to pack up from the hiker biker area (most of the others got up super early and were heading in to Portland). We had lots of scenic views and several cute beach towns along the route.

The highlight of our day was the Tillamook creamery. As a couple of tourers always on the hunt for calories, this was the perfect place to stop. We learned about the cheese process in their self guided tour, and enjoyed grilled cheese sandwiches and ice cream for lunch. Yum.

After leaving Tillamook, the ACA route had us leave the coast and follow this super empty road. It was nice to get away from traffic, but also a little eerie being the only ones around for miles, through mostly clear cut areas. The road was in pretty bad shape as well, switching from pothole laden to gravel, so Andrew had to be on his A-Game. The hill plus gravel was a little too much for us, so we ended up pushing the bike for a bit as well.

Just after we made it back to the highway and were zipping down the hill, I realized I hadn’t strapped my sweater down, because I had taken it off while we were pushing the bike. Which was about 2 miles ago, back uphill. We debated for about 5 min on the side of the road about whether or not to go back for it… Mostly I was hoping a car would ask if we were okay, and then I could ask their help to get it, but no overly friendly people here. Since I only have a limited number of shirts, losing one is kind of a big deal, so back for it we went. That whole gravel road was completely empty the first time, but on our way back we passed at least 5 cars! We parked the bike at the top of the hill we had climbed earlier, and continued on foot. As we rounded a corner my sweater was miraculously there, and appeared to be unscathed. Reunited and it feels so good!

We had about 7 miles to go after the sweater fiasco. We found ourselves back on the coast with a wonderful view of cloud covered mountains. Right where we were heading and to be camping. It quickly turned to white as we rode into the cloud but not too bad. Our campsite, Cape Lookout has been very foggy since arrival. I jokingly said it’s not “lookout like lookout to sea at the view” it’s “lookout like, aah look out there’s land there!”

So as we were finishing up dinner we noticed a familiar looking hiker at the site next to ours. After staring for a couple seconds I asked “you weren’t at Nehalem yesterday were you?” He was. It was the same hiker from yesterday! But before you go thinking he’s super powered or we’re exaggerating our challenges (I was a little concerned at first haha), he had taken a bus/shuttle most of the day today.

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