Hiking With Goldilocks

A surprisingly warm wind blew down the Rouge River canyon on Tuesday morning raising temperatures at Tu-Tu-Tun Lodge to the mid-80's by late morning. To get out of the unexpected heat, we climbed up the river valley into an old growth forest and hiked in the shade for an hour or so. We ran into a "local" who actually still lives part-time in Sacramento who clued us in to some interesting spots to visit in the area, and who told us the correct pronounciation of the lodge where we are staying ("Too Tootin'"). Our stroll was what we call a "Goldilocks Hike" --- not to steep, not too flat; not to warm, not too cool; not to short, not too long. And there were no bears (at least as far as we could tell).

After a quick lunch at a cafe by a RV park near the mouth of the river, we head north up the coast. As soon as we turned the corner from the mouth of the Rouge River, the wind kicked up to 25-30 MPH, and the temperature dropped down to the low 70's. The coast here reminded us of the stretch of the California coast between Santa Cruz and Mendocino, with high mountains falling into the sea, broad beaches with "sea stacks" lying just off-shore, and white-capped seas sending breakers into the rocky shoreline. Despite the wind, the fog bank lingered well off the coast and sunny skies prevailed.

At Cape Blanco, we turned off the highway and wound our way across the terraced landscape to the historic lighthouse which local volunteers have saved from oblivion. We struggled to remain upright in the strong breeze as we careened our way from the parking lot to the little vistor center, and then uphill to the lighthouse. Crawling up the spiral staircase to the light itself rewarded us with sweeping view up and down the coast and a respite from the nearly gale-force winds.

At the end of the afternoon, we returned to Tu-Tu-Tun to hang out a bit before the evening cocktail hour and "cruise ship style" dinner. The owners come down from their home to serve drinks at the bar and it seems like they are hosting a party for friends since they know every guest (as does the staff) on a first name basis. While Cindy "took off her face" after dinner and prepared for bed, Dick sat around the patio and had a glass of port with a couple from Florida who had sat at our table at dinner on our first night at the lodge.

Tomorrow morning we'll be headed down the coast and back into California for a two night stopover in Ferndale, south of Eureka. No matter how nice our hotel there proves to be, I don't think it will be able to match up with the Tu-Tu-Tun.