Temperatures in the 60s for highs, near 50 for lows.
Yachats has a really nice trail system south of town down to Cape Perpetua. The trail winds through Sitka Spruce forest and the Rhododendrons are currently in bloom.
Cape Perpetua is a really neat area. Cliffs abruptly descend down to the ocean. When the tide comes in, the water slams into these cliffs and rocks with amazing force, sending water cascading high into the air. The ground actually vibrates from the force!
I walked the beach for awhile before having to return to the road. Road walking is very hard on me physically and mentally. The repetition of the same exact step over and over, on a hard surface, for 7 to 10 straight hours on some days takes its toll on my feet. Having semis and other vehicles buzz by only feet away is mentally tiring. Road walking is also extremely boring, seeing a mile marker crawl by every 20 minutes.
A concerned motorist pulled over and offered me a ride a couple of hours into my walk. He gave me a ride to get me past the automobile tunnel. There was very little shoulder in that tunnel and I’m greatful for the 7-10 mile ride he gave me to get me past that tunnel!! The remaining walk was either uneventful road walking or featureless beaches.
I end up airing out my tent most days. The marine fog often rolls in in the evening and makes my tent wet. It drys in minutes in the sun.
Hiker hunger has set in again. Hiker hunger is when I almost constantly feel hungry and eat tremendous amounts of food when it’s available. For example, when I was taking a 0 day in Yachats, I bought 2 Red Baron frozen pizzas from the grocery store. They were on a buy 1 get 1 free sale. I figured I’d eat 1 today, 1 tomorrow. My motel room had a small microwave, and could only warm a slice at a time. After finishing the entire first pizza, I began to heat up and eat the second pizza, and ate an entire Pringle’s potato chip sleeve in between the slices of pizza heating up.
I was walking through Coos Bay and bought a box of honeybuns and ate the entire box in minutes, then ate 4 pop tarts immediately after. Neither the pizza nor the sweets made me full. It just subsided my hunger for awhile. My 36” waist shorts are now way too big for me. I’d guess my waist is now around 33 inches. I started the PCT with a 39 inch waist.
Thor’s Well is so cool!