Report from the southern Oregon Dunes

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Got in late yesterday afternoon to be met with the sound of chain saws axles and splitting malls. They are still cleaning up from the series of storms that came through the last couple of weeks. There still are a lot of trees down that were cut back or that were across the road that stick out close enough to the fog line that if you are trailering in you don't want to cut the corners and get surprised. There are places where there is cut wood or branches stacked along side the road. We saw the clean up crews working in several locations.

Where we have access to was not hit that bad but all around us there were spots of a lot of big branches and tree trunks still leaning out. There are still widow makers out there and with the rain still falling the ground can still get softer so be alert. For us, there is going to be several days of clean up some of which is due to... IT IS RAINING HARD changing in strength as the fronts come though! Notice that I didn't describe it as a cow pi$$ing on a flat rock type of raining hard or that the geese were flying over wearing SCUBA and a face mask but it is still coming down constant with little wind. The weather guessers are saying that light to heavy rain all week with Wednesday being the best day.

Good news, The Bug Germinator has a new owner and is staying open. We drove by the shop and it is stocked and looks to be open. The last owner had to relinquish ownership due to medical reasons. I think the new owner's name is Greg.

Lee

Updated to add some more information.

[sideshow]

So how far away are you from the Winchester Bay dunes?
Been thinking of a day trip to visit the area but I don't know what to see besides the rain.

[Ol'fogasaurus]

"... but I don't know what to see besides the rain." That is about it!

It has been raining hard the last couple of days. It poured this am but the sun is out now and the sky has high clouds and since I started writing this another front is coming though. The weather gussers say an 80% of precipitation with the chance of thunder-boomers then tomorrow the chance of rain increases to 100%.

We are not far from Winchester Bay, closer to Spinreel campgrounds in the Hauser area. We leave Saturday but it depends on things so it could be as early as Friday. We still have a lot of clean-up to do from the storms. Based on talking to the locals, it wasn't the 80 MPH winds it was the 5 inches of wet, wet snow that did all the damage. The snowflakes the size if soup can lids is what many people are saying. It snowed at a rate of about an inch of this an hour, the first snow here since ‘68/’69. At about 3:00 am all you could hear was the silence of the snow and the breaking of tree limbs and the falling of trees. Very weird! I have seen the big snowflakes like I said, just not this big. For those of you who haven't seen them fall, they come down very slowly and look like upside down parachutes and when they land the edges slowly finish lying flat. I think they also exceed the 10:1 ratio to water but I am not 100% positive either.

If you decided to come down PM me and I'll see if we can get together.

Lee

[sideshow]

Well the offer I have is 28-1 at a half moon bay camp/group area. To hang out at somewhat of a family reunion with plenty of rides available sand rail/Odyssey/Quads.
I've never been on the sand, but as a native oregonian I have seen rain before.

I have no desire to camp out of a ghia in the rain, but I wouldn't rule out spending the day on the sand. Considering it is way cheaper to experience the exact same rain in my front yard.

I'm guessing that this isn't the week to get a feel for why the sand is so great?

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Half Moon Bay camp grounds is a nice place from what I have been told; I think I may have dropped in there to see someone (there are several campgrounds in that area of the bay. If you go, send me your camp site number and I will try to get some time to drop by.

Right now it is you prototypical cow standing over a flat rock type of rain... stright down and making a lot of splashing when it hits the ground The wind has swung around from out of the West back to out of the Southwest ad now it is still with no leaves moving. A few minutes ago if you were out in it you stood at about 45° angle (like Buster Keeton) facing the wind in order to keep from getting blown away. Oops, the wind came up again and it is coming out of the South... now the West, it is that kind of a day. Hey, the sun is starting to come out again. You know, a typical day on the dunes.

If you can take the rain then go if you have the opportunity. Riding/driving on the dunes is much different than driving on the road or on trails. Better... no, not necessarily... just different.

Lee

[CentralWAbaja]

Half Moon is a gravel campground not asphalt. Gets a little muddy in the big rains but not sloppy. I have never been to the dunes where it was a total washout. Seems like the sun always makes some appearances. The fish and chips in the harbor are good and so is the pizza joint. Good Mexican joint in Reedsport 10 miles north of the harbor.

Wet sand is not ideal however you probably wont get anything stuck unless you hit the real low wet stuff at the south end of the dunes...that stuff will flat suck you in.

I say do it....even the rainiest day on the beach is better that a rainy day at home.

[Big Dave]

Winchester Bay is always a pretty spot. The lighthouse in the fog is just awesome.

[Ol'fogasaurus]

We finished the scheduled work for the day and had to go get a nut and bolt so we took a short tour of Winchester Bay, Spinreel and Horsfall.

CWB, your camping spot is under several feet of water. Most of that area as well as along the road are under water; there are two or three places where the road is under several inches of water (you can barely see the double yellow lane markers through the water). There are several other places where the park road is at least partly under water. Large portions of the Discovery Bay campground are under water. One of the inside the park campgrounds is now closed and I don't know what they are going to do about the rigs parked in there as we can see that there is water in the opening of the area and the Rangers are putting cones up. We saw a lot of damage there. We did see a few quads out on the dunes. We stopped and got some taffy and Ice Cream...Mmmm Strawberry Cheese Cake waffle cone.... Mmmm (add another 10#s on that cone)!

Spinreel, lightly populated with rigs. A lot of damage to the trees there.

Horsfall is just about empty, maybe 6 rigs there with quads and two wheelers. We went out to the parking lot at the point and the stepson went up the hill then quickly back down as he got sand blasted and didn't have any goggles with him. There is a tan haze out there and the tan is sand in the air. Saw a lot of damage on the road going to the point but not much in the campground.

Until about noon today, rain was coming down pretty straight and pretty hard. The wind is now up now; we had some blue sky for a while but it is now back to high clouds and wind. I think there have been flood alerts too.

Lee

[CentralWAbaja]

Hmmmmmmm???? On second thought....sounds like a great day to stay home and watch it rain

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Sideshow, you gotta post that picture; it puts a new meaning to the concept of water pumper! Gad!

Lee

[sideshow]

Well the post trip debriefing;
I made excellent time to the coast, it was pouring rain the entire time, no traffic.
At the campground there was about four encampments, with about 20% of the spots submerged in fresh rain water.
Nobody was out on the dunes, it rained constantly.
I was a little surprised to see that sand dunes are made up of vast bodies of water with minor rises of sand poking above. It was hard to see through all the rain.
We did get out on the dunes in the sand rail, it was pouring rain. Minor electrical problems and constant rain shortened the trip.
I called it a day after spending most of the time under a lean to at the camp site, in the rain.
Overall it was not a bad way to spend the day.

I missed it but the next day, in the late afternoon one of the brothers took the rail to the south end of the dunes and found quick sand.

[Ol'fogasaurus]

I've been stuck in the sand several times before, first time on the dunes I fell into a hole that was only lightly/softly filled after someone else had been dug out, to where I was sitting on the pan but never this deep; CWB, I think this is close to where you camp. Great piece of documentary photography Sideshow, I’m glad you posted it. Everyone seems to think that all we do is ride around, climb hills, throw sand and have a good time.

The little you got to ride, did you like it of did you get shut off by no windshield wipers (a windshield and wipers would have made it more miserable). I'm glad you made it if not just for this picture. Great shot!

Lee

[sideshow]

I arrived with some rain gear (jackets, gloves), several sets of pant/socks/shoes expecting to be in quite a bit of rain. I don't have any good helmets or goggles, but was able to borrow a set from the owner.

Had a good time, the rain wasn't an issue as it made the crowds non-existent. As far as being actually out on the sand, I still don't have an opinion as I only had a few moments of actually dune time.

40% commute, 59% standing under the tarp at the campfire, 1% attempting to get sand everywhere.

I'm ready to try again.

[CentralWAbaja]

That is an awesome photo sideshow.

I think I hit that same stretch once on my dirt bike. Cruising around in 2nd gear and WHAM!!!! all of the sudden I was over the bars. My left arm hit first and buried to the shoulder. Left side helmet and my goggles were 6 inches deep in muck. My buddies had to pull my azz out of the sand because I couldn't move. Bike was sitting straight up like I had parked it there. Buried to the front to the hub.

[Devastator]

OMG! You guys are F'ing nuts!