10/24 Tillicum Beach, Yachats, OR

I've spent the last few days here at Tillicum Beach on the Pacific Ocean.  I have been here several times before, but this is the chilliest weather yet.  We had cold and drizzle the first couple of days, followed by cold and windy, followed by one fabulous day that was cold, but sunny with no wind, so it was comfortable to walk on the beach or be outside.  Today, we reverted to really cold and really windy, though it was sunny.  Almost no one ventured onto the beach because of the strong wind and cold.  

There is a big rainy area heading towards Oregon, so tomorrow is going to be the last halfway decent day for several days. I have to go out tomorrow to dump my tanks in the nearby town, so I take advantage of the weather by stopping at the visitor center south of Yachats for some pictures from one of the high cliffs.  After that, I will have to head back to the center of Oregon again to get some medical tests done.  

There are quite a few state parks near the beach along the Oregon Coast, but only one of them is directly on the ocean like this U.S. Forest Service Campground is.  At the others, the campground is located in the woods a substantial walk to the beach.  You can hear the waves, but not see them easily as you can here.  

My favorite site here is one of the larger sites that is more open to the south so I can get a good view of the satellites so I can can good TV service!  Most campers don't care about getting good television because they are on vacation, but I live in my motorhome year-round, and really enjoy getting the news stations and my favorite channels.  This site also has electric and water hookups, but I have to drive out for a dump station because almost no Forest Service campgrounds have such things.  Because I am alone, it is just a once every three or four days trip and costs $8, so it is well worth staying here with an ocean view!  

The other advantage to this campground is that the sites are a bit small and only about half of them have hookups.  Also, it does have several restrooms, but no showers unfortunately, which makes it a bit hard on tenters and RVers whose units are not self-contained.  

Here are some photos of this beautiful place.  My rig is on the right, and directly across from me are three non-hookup sites.  Usually these have tents in them, but they can also fit small RVs dry camping.  The little boy is rinsing his feet and getting some water from the water tap.

The sites across from me have terrific views from areas that they can use to set up tents or just use for campfires or picnics. 

 A view looking the other direction at some other small RVs parked along the ocean. 

 

 

 

Some of the hookup sites are tucked back into the woods, but it is dark and chilly back there, so I prefer being in the open with at least a small view of the ocean.

 

 

This is what happens when you leave stuff around your campsite while you go to the beach.  Luckily, there was no food left out for these crows, but they did check everything out thoroughly. 

I could not resist taking photos of these tiny little fungus things on this tree root back in the woods.  They look a lot like tiny mushrooms.  Note: I looked these up, and apparently they are called "Cat's Tongue" and are actually an edible fungus, though I would not eat them unless I verified this with an expert.  Here is web page about this fungus:  https://cascademyco.org/2018/02/the-cats-tongue-mushroom/

And some bigger mushrooms.  The large white one was about 6" i n diameter and the little pink ones were about an inch in diameter. 

This large mushroom was pushing itself up through the pine needles on the forest floor.  I would not even consider trying to eat any of these, but they were interesting!!!!

Almost directly across from my motorhome is one of the two stairways down to the beach.

 

 

It was the start of low tide.  I love to walk on beaches at this time because the beach is hard and there is always interesting stuff that has been washed up.  

 

 

 

There was a really bad storm several years ago that washed away part of the cliff, so the Forest Service added rocks to prevent losing any of the campsites above.   

 

 

There are always a few dead jellyfish on the beach.  Best not to touch, however. 

 

 

This log has been here a very long time. 

 

 

Down about half a mile, a small stream flows across the beach and enters the ocean.  You can see the highway bridge in the distance.  And, as you can see, the water is crystal clear. 

 

 

Even on a non-windy day, the ocean can have a lot of big waves.  

I thought it was interesting to look at the various types and colors of sand that is shown where the storm cut through the bank.  

 

 

 

This middle layer looks like rock, but it is just a different color and texture of hard sand.  Maybe from an ancient tsunami??

 

 

Back to the stairs up to the campground.  The first couple of steps are a little rough, so I try to get help here if I can.  I am very careful not to fall at my age.  

 I've enjoyed my week or so here, but hopefully I will come back next fall when it is a little earlier and warmer.