Yaquina Head Lighthouse

July 23rd would turn out to be one of those epic days to be remembered. Therefore, I will break it into 3 separate posts to keep the gallery of images to a reasonable size…

We were sad to leave what would turn out to be the best room we had on the entire trip. We stayed at the SCP Hotel in Depoe Bay, OR. Our room, overlooking the cute little harbor of Depoe Bay, even had a hanging hammock chair! And the staff were some of the nicest people you’ll ever meet. On top of that, they had the best coffee and free laundry!

First on our list for the day was to explore Boiler Bay. Access down to the shoreline was pretty steep and sketchy. Even had a rope in place to aid climbing in and out! We got there at a low tide and were excited to check out some tide-pools. We thought climbing out over the rocks towards the ocean would be a good idea… Boy were we wrong! They turned out to be slime covered and slippery causing me to lose my footing and take a fall.

We had been wondering how Boiler Bay got its name but ended up finding a very large old rusted out boiler that obviously got completely covered during high tides. The story goes… In May of 1910, the steamboat named J. Marhoffer caught on fire when a crewman was trying to light an unfamiliar lantern and it exploded throwing burning fuel throughout the oil soaked engine room. The vessel was running at full steam and the crew was unable to get it shut down due to the fire. They abandoned ship and watched as the ship ran headlong into the tiny bay, crashed on the rocks and burned in a blaze of glory!

After spending some time exploring the area, we continued south and visited the Ben Jones Bridge. A very cool bit of architecture built in 1927, originally part of the US-101 until a stretch of the highway was relocated.

Next we checked out the Devils Punchbowl. A natural rock bowl that has an opening to the ocean. On higher tides the bowl will fill and the surf will cause a violent swirling and churning inside. Unfortunately tide was lower when we visited and we did not witness the phenomenon.

On to Yaquina Head Lighthouse… What an absolutely picture postcard perfect location for a lighthouse. At 93 feet, it is the tallest lighthouse on the Oregon coast. It was first lit in 1873 and is still active using the original lens that was built in Paris, France in 1868!

Next on to Cape Perpetua, to be continued…