River View Trail – 2nd Week at Loeb State Park

At Alfred Loeb State Park, Brookings Oregon

Our first week at Loeb State Park was a bit different than the past three years…it was not busy until Friday.  One could have pulled in and grabbed a spot without any trouble. 

I was beginning to wonder if less people were traveling this year.  Well, Friday was full, and it has been full every day since then.  Tuesday (two days ago) all the spots were taken by 10 am!  WOW!  So now things are back to how I remembered it…I guess there was just a lull after the long 4th of July Holiday.

   

The picture above-left was taken last week…only one vehicle along the river.  Today, the picture above-right was taken, along with the larger picture below these two…a good dozen or more.  With day use being free, many locals from Brookings come up, along with people who are camping.  Yep, things are back to summer normal now.

Yesterday I finally did the River View Trail in its entirety.  I say “entirety” because two days after doing the Redwood Grove Trail, I walked about a quarter of the River View Trail just to get my legs going again.  Didn’t have a camera or even any water on that day…it was just a stretching of sorts.  Very quickly on the River View Trail you come upon the one and only bench ‘on the trail’.  At the start of the trail are a number of picnic tables, with many more at the day-use parking area nearby.  Yep, I used this bench…on my return.  Nice cool river breeze, shade, and peace and quiet from the folks down river swimming and listening to their boomboxes. 

The River View Trail is very gentle, wide enough path that you don’t fight the bushes, and that tree over the trail is an optical illusion…you don’t even have to bend your head to go under it unless you are 7’ tall.

Here is the first, smaller bridge passing over a dried up stream. 

On the bridge you can look up towards the roadway…but you can’t see it.  You can hear cars pass by if you sit there long enough, probably see the top of large trucks...but most of the path is free from the traffic noise.  That picture sure shows the thick growth within this Myrtlewood Grove.

  

It seems that there is always something to photograph along the trail…but I have to admit, the further I went, the less pictures that I took.

It is called River View for a reason…it has numerous river views, hindered by the thick brush most of the times.  But you typically get a nice river breeze to help keep you cool in the 78 degree temperatures.  (Oh, today hit 80, so we turned the AC on for awhile.)

  

Even halfway up the trail I saw a couple of vehicles (white car in upper left picture) along the river…both anglers, but I have no idea what they were after or if they got any.  Also, I saw numerous floating devices, like this yellow raft in the upper right picture.  (Remember, if you click on a picture you will see a much larger picture)

Here a dad and young son (I can only assume) were enjoying an easy, lazy float back down the river.

  

The only real hazard on the trail is this tree you ‘can’ go under if you choose…if you choose not to, than take the trail that leads ‘up’ and around it to the left.  I went under on the way, and above on the way back…it is not that steep and going under required me to brush cobwebs off my head.

When you get to the larger bridge, where the water passes through this pipe that you cross over with the bridge, you know that you are close to the end.  I like this bridge, it is a place to sit again!  Made it this far with just a few ‘lean on a tree’ moments, so I enjoyed a few minutes sitting after I crossed the bridge.  When I got to the road at the entrance to the Redwood Trail, I turned around, crossed the bridge and sat again for just a few minutes.  Made it all the way back to the bench shown in picture at the start of the trail where I took good long break.  Overall it was a nice, cool day, passed a handful of people (including one lady who looked to be in her 80’s…not sure they made it all the way), and it was just a wonderful hike.  Not nearly as sore as with the Redwood Trail, even though this is .7 of a mile one way, so nearly a mile and half round trip.  Today, my legs feel fine, but I do wish I had remembered to take my hiking stick (cane) with me...but when I realized I had forgotten it, I was already headed down the trail so I just continued on.  Didn't need it, but it would have been nice to have.

Today (Thursday) we took the motorhome into Brookings to dump our tanks again.  Tomorrow is laundry day, and Saturday, Sunday and Monday is something we will think about with the time comes.  We sure are enjoying our time here at Loeb State Park.  Thinking on staying here again on our way back to Citrus Heights...perhaps for the Labor Day Weekend...which means we might just come through a week early just to be sure we can grab a spot!

RV Block Party Weekend, Memories of the Longest Day

At Alfred A. Loeb State Park, Brookings, OR

I have sat outside for hours each day we have been at Loeb State Park.  On Thursday I noticed that there were lots and lots of people who seemed to know each other…there were many “locals” in the park, and they stayed all weekend.  The number of children on bicycles increased three fold, and on Friday and Saturday there were few turnovers within the campground.  (It is hard to see, but Bubba is looking down the street at about seven kids and three adults…at this point, most of the kids were down at the river swimming/playing.)  I commented to Marcia Saturday evening that it was like one huge old fashion block party…people talking, laughing, kids playing, everyone having fun.  It was like stepping back in time for me…we lived on a block where kids played outside all the time, football in the street…even baseball if we could get all the parked cars moved, and basketball was always at our house.  It was a time when kids could be kids…as long as we watched for the occasional car coming around the corner, all was well.  The same here at the park…it was nice to see.  By noon today, half the park cleared out…and at 3 pm, there were still 15 sites open.  This afternoon, only two children on bikes.  Amazingly, the noise level over the weekend was very reasonable. 

   

One day I went down to Brookings to get some groceries, check on getting the motorhome oil changed later on, and I decided to get some pictures of the Ocean in the Brookings/Harbor area, including a shot of the boat harbor along the Chetco River.  As you can see, the skies were clear…as they have been nearly every day that we have been here.  In fact, we had to run the A/C three times in the eleven days we have been here…but I never felt hot outside as long as I was in the shade.

I also did another walk…returning to the Redwood Trail that I struggled with on Father’s day.  No, not to walk this trail again…I am not a masochist…I just wanted to get better pictures of the scenic bridge that is at the start of the walk.  So I walked the couple hundred of yards up to and onto the bridge. 

When I went on the walk that Sunday, I turned left away from the bridge to start my walk.  By the time I got to the bridge at the end of the hike, I was just ready to get into the car and some air conditioning.  So Friday I drove back over and got these pictures.  It really is a very scenic, quiet place.

I could not decide which picture I liked the best…so you get to see the top three.  After I got my pictures, I returned to the car and drove over to the start of the Riverview Trail.  I was determined to do this easier walk again, but at a faster pace…so I left the camera in the car, and off I headed with my bottle of water at 12:20.  Made it to where the Riverview and Redwood trails meet by 12:50.  Around 1:05 I headed back to the car, and got to the car at 1:35.  That was about 20 minutes faster than the first time.

Thursday was the 21st, the longest day of the year.  As I sat in my chair outside, I see the moon rising over the trees on the hill to the east.  It reminded me of our night in Alaska…midnight as the calendar turned from the twentieth to the twenty first….camping at the Seward Waterfront RV Park.  The nights in Alaska are long during the summer…and though it was midnight, it looked like it was just dusk, and it had looked that way for a couple of hours already.  I look out the motorhome window, I grab my camera and was out the door.

A full moon just coming over the mountains on the other side of Resurrection Bay.  As I take picture after picture, I see this small fishing boat coming from the left headed out of the bay.  I see that the boat is going to pass right over the reflection of the moon on the water, and I got this shot above.  It is my favorite shot, I even have it as the wallpaper on my computer.

Later that same day, we realize that Skruffy is one sick dog…the Vet in Seward has gone on vacation, and off to Soldotna which was 90 miles away…it took three hours.  That is where the Soldotna Animal Hospital, Dr. Meezie Hermansen in particular, saved Skruffy’s life.  It was then that we found she was diabetic.  Since her recovery, she has been fed twice a day, 12 hours apart, with an insulin shot for dessert (she actually gets it as she eats).  Skruffy is doing GREAT now. That was one long day…a day which could have turned out much differently had it not been for the Soldotna Animal Hospital.

Took Me a River Walk, 1 1/2 Miles

At Alfred A. Loeb State Park, Brookings, OR

One would think that after Sunday I would not be up for another hike…but I was.  The Riverview Trail is a 3/4 mile hike from the campground to the Redwood Trail along the Chetco River.  The Chetco River is only 56 miles long…so I walked around 1/60th of the length of the river.  The river drops over 3,200 feet over those 56 miles, but thank goodness the drop is very slight for the Riverview Trail hike.  However, this trail is also NOT an ADA trail…so I would be by myself again.

The good thing is that I found the brochure on the Redwood Trail…at the start of the River Trail, and it covers both trails.  Unfortunately, of the 12 spots of interest, marked on the trail A through L, there were only four trail posts along the path…A, B, C and J…so the brochure did not help me much today.  And although it was a Tuesday, I saw three times the amount of people today than I did on Sunday doing the Redwood Trail…but 8-9 people is still not that many people.  And the noise level was only broken by a young child crying out for mom and dad until they found each other…and that was at the end of my hike.

Above is the start of the trail…the brochure was in a box on that larger sign to the left.  There is a small picnic area here, free to use for day use, along with parking very close by.  I walked to this point from the RV, and that was probably 1/10th of a mile extra…but we will just call it a 3/4 mile hike each way for a total of 1.5 miles.

   

The trail was very similar to the Redwood Trail, except for the lack of elevation change, it was only a slight change here and there.  Yes, I did sit on that bench, (picture right above) but not until I had finished the 1 1/2 mile hike (and yes, I did sit in other areas before I sat there, but no real huffing and puffing today.) Today was also much cooler, and…

…I remembered water….Arrowhead Sparkling Water, Triple Berry flavor.  We love this sparkling water…it has zero carbs, zero sodium, zero calories…and it tastes good, just a hint of berry, for this one, or orange, lemon, lime and cherry for other flavors we have.  You can see the water is 3/4 of the way gone, and I was headed back at this point…

   

    

The river walk trail is very pretty.  Very few great views of the river, but you see it through the trees much of the way.  My only trouble was going through this “hole” shown in the bottom right picture.  A tree is over the trail, so they dug a path under, and this big boy squeezed through… actually, I fit ok, but seeing down while walking and not hitting my head is hard with transition trifocals.

For some reason, the water was glistening with green in this area…especially along the far bank.  In other areas, the water was very clear…don’t know what is up with that.

Thought this was a bit strange along the pathway, but they needed to funnel water from one side of the road to the other, and this pipe did the trick, and the stairs, which go up, over, then back down, made a nice bench which I readily used on the way there, and the way back. 

When I got to this bridge, I wondered just how old it is compared to that downed tree which could also be used as a bridge…when I was much, much younger, like a teenager, I would have walked across the tree bridge…but I am slightly wiser now…just slightly.

Was happy to see this yellow sign up on the roadway…knew I was getting close to using the non-existent crosswalk across the roadway over to the start of the Redwood Trail…and a nice place to sit for a bit before I headed back.

Yep, I was right…and the lady and man I passed near that bridge I sat down on…they were wrong, telling me that I wasn’t even half way done yet.  I did not argue, but I knew I was pass the halfway point, and my estimation now is that I was over 2/3rds done.  Don’t know why she kept saying, “No even halfway yet!”, but she said it over and over.

Sat there long enough that all the cars left…maybe 10 minutes max.  Very discouraged seeing a older man, in his 70’s for sure…perhaps upper 70’s…coming down off the Redwood Trail.  “Did you make it the entire way?” I asked.  “Of course, why do you think I wouldn’t?” as he walked by and go in the car.  I just smiled, thinking to myself, “…because it nearly killed me two days ago….”   Anyway, today’s hike was 1.5 miles, the degree of difficulty was easy to moderate according to the brochure. (It says the Redwood Trail is Moderate to Steep…I think they should emphasize the word STEEP.)  All in all, I was back to the motorhome in 2/3rd of the time it took me on Sunday, and I was not tired out like I was on Sunday.  We paid for another 7 days here at the park…I might just hike this trail one more time…

For Nancy….

In answer to your question of the other day…here is a motorhome about your size with a truck much larger than your tow car…so YES, there are places you can park your rig here at Loeb.  In fact, a couple came by Monday night and could not get in, came by today and did find a place…they have a 40’ and a jeep, they fit just fine.