Can someone from this list fill me in on whether it's worth driving up to Oregon to shoot the coast during the end of Jan, beginning of Feb?
Jen's memorial service is on Jan 22, in Inverness, so I'm thinking of spending time out there, having gotten that far.
Is it clear, or rainy/stormy on the Oregon coast at that time of year?
What's the average temp? Can I camp or do I have to stay in motels?
thanks
Hi Emily,
A decade or so ago, I spent a lot of time camping up and down the Oregon coast. Never past Nov., though, so I cannot speak to the weather conditions when you will be there. I think you can count on it being damp, though.
But I can tell you a bit about some of the places that I remember as being quite nice.
My favourite camping area was the state park in Lincoln City. It is a 3 or so minute walk from the 101 coastal highway on the inland side. Despite its proximity to the highway, it was very quite. Lincoln City is itself about 1/3rd down the coast. I recall the coast along there as particularly pleasant. Nice town spread out along the highway, but despite that feels a lot like Northern California -- metaphysical bookshops, etc. I might be mistaking the location, but there are even odds there is an old skeleton of a ship-wreck embedded in the sand there. I've a number of ghostly seeming photos of waves crashing into it on grey grey days.
Coos Bay (southern 3rd of the coast at the southern part of the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area) was also very nice.
Astoria, near the mouth of the Columbia, was really charming, and an echo of a long gone way of life. (The canning and fishing industries all but disappeared.) I don't know if that persists, as the town has apparently been booming the last few years. The nearest state park stuck me as a bit dull, and every time I was there, the afternoons were reliably windy beyond belief.
If you are a book person and make it to Portland you owe yourself at least an afternoon in Powell's.
Sorry for the circumstances of your trip, but if you make it to the Oregon Coast I hope you have a great time. I've not been in years, but it remains one of my favourite parts of the world.
Best,
Brian vdB
