Gold Beach & Langlois, OR (4/10 & 4/12/2020)

After a long rainy period, I'm extremely happy to report that coastal Oregon has been experiencing a nice string of brilliantly sunny days, with mild temperatures ranging from overnight lows in the mid 40s to afternoon highs around 60.  Morning cloudiness burns off early and the remainder of each day is generally "perfect".  What a treat to be able to get out and enjoy the wonderful scenery.

On Friday I drove to Gold Beach, stopping at a few of the highway overlooks.  Most of the views are typical of what I've been showing you recently.

In this next photo, notice how eons of receding waves have eroded grooves in the rocks, similar to what you sometimes see in the beach sand.

And here's a pattern formed in the sand.  Just an observation of the ocean at work, always changing our landscape.

Visiting a small residential community on the shore, I didn't find any outstanding homes to show you, but there were a couple garden areas that were very nice.

The real reason I went to Gold Beach was to drive along the Rogue River, since I was unable to take the jet boat tour.  I had been told to take the southern road to the town of Agness, then cross a bridge and return by way of the north bank road.  Along the way, I saw a sign advertising "Historic Old Town Agness", so I was looking forward to that.

The Rogue starts near Crater Lake and passes through several mountain ranges on its 215 mile journey to the Pacific, losing more than a mile of elevation in the process.  In past trips to Oregon, I've seen many of the waterfalls, cascades and rapids created by such drop in elevation.  Unfortunately, there are none of these in the 35 miles from Gold Beach to Agness.  I have to say, however, the Rogue is a beautiful shade of green, and is obviously popular with fishermen.

Agness was a major disappointment.  Other than a few houses, I saw several resorts (presumably attracting mostly fishermen), and one old country store that was closed (probably due to coronavirus concerns).

On Sunday I drove north toward Bandon with the goal of driving all the side roads I had not been on before.  A small farming community called Langlois is more or less central to the area I explored.  There are lots of cranberry bogs here, as well as plenty of pasture for both cattle and sheep.  Logging is also an active industry here.  From high on the mountains, there are good views of the surrounding land toward the ocean.

I found one farmhouse in particular that I liked, not only for its style but for the plantings in its yard.  There were other places where trees and shrubs were blooming profusely, too.

 Along the way, I saw quite a few birds and managed to get off several shots.  I've grouped them here at the end so folks not interested in birds can stop at this point.

Golden-crowned Sparrow

American Kestrel

White-crowned Sparrow

Red Crossbill (Female)

European Starling