The folks who run two of the most popular historical attractions in Port Orford get the jump on the tourist season by opening in May, giving savvy visitors and locals an opportunity to enjoy these and other possible activities.

The venerable Cape Blanco Lighthouse and the fascinating Port Orford Lifeboat Station Museum have both reopened for the season, and now is a good time to visit. As for the historic Hughes House, it’s undergoing renovations and is expected to be open by July 1, according to the Port Orford Heritage Society website.

The road to the lighthouse is still closed, requiring a short walk to the light. Once there, visitors can view artifacts, photos and other memorabilia, and tour of the ground floor workroom, but there’s no longer access up into the light itself.

Cape Blanco Lighthouse is Oregon’s oldest continuously-operating lighthouse, built in 1870. It’s also the most westerly lighthouse in the contiguous U.S., has the highest focal plane above the sea (256 feet), and had Oregon’s first woman keeper – Mabel E. Bretherton, whose tenure began in March 1903.

In addition to the lighthouse, Cape Blanco State Park has two campgrounds – one is for  equestrians and their steeds – as well as hiking and horseback riding trails. There are inspiring beaches on either side of the cape, and it’s fun to walk down South Beach to the mouth of the Elk River, where the sandy embankments are often strewn with colorful rocks and agates.

Other trails throughout the park lead to postcard-perfect viewpoints, and there are several potential loops.

Meantime, in town, the Port Orford Lifeboat Station Museum occupies former U.S. Coast Guard barracks, with displays, photos and memorabilia about lifesaving and coast-watch activities, as well as Port Orford history.

A 36-ft. motor lifeboat is on display outside the museum, and everything’s set beneath and amidst weather-wizened spruce, cedar and pines, along with vintage landscaping plants and trees, and a resident population of nonchalant deer.

Well-marked, chip-lined hiking trails lead to panoramic vista points, and you can look down to Nellies Cove, where lifesaving boats were kept at the ready. All in all, whether hiking a soaring headland trail or absorbed in museum minutiae, you’ll find lots of stimulus for mind and body on a fine Spring day in Port Orford.

Getting There

Cape Blanco State Park is about 5 miles north of Port Orford. Watch for signs along US 101 marking the park turnoff, and follow the access road, which passes the Hughes House in about 5 miles and reaches the lighthouse at about 6 miles.

Access to Port Orford Lifeboat Station museum is via 9th St. in mid-town Port Orford. Proceed west up Coast Guard Hill  until you reach the park

Both sites are open from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Wednesday to Monday (including holiday Mondays) and closed on Tuesdays.

Other Port Orford attractions include three significant beaches – Battle Rock at the south end of town, Agate Beach at Tseriadun State Recreation Site on the “west side” (Pacific Ocean) of town and Paradise Point State Recreation Site at the north end of town. There’s also a mid-town wetland interpretive area with raised wooden walkways and viewing spots, as well as historic Battle Rock Park, a designated scenic bicycle route, and the unique “Dolly Dock” on which fishing boats are hoisted and parked on trailers.

As might be deduced, there’s lots to see and do in pretty Port Orford. Spring on down!

(Shopper columnist Tom Baake is author of local guidebooks.)

‍

The appearance of Oregon beaches changes with the seasons. Some of the most dramatic examples occur along our section of the coast. It’s a common phenomenon yet it invariably leads people to ask, “Where did the beach go?”

Indeed, if you visit the beach this time of year, it looks as if it’s been scoured clean of sand from the ocean waterline to the first row of sand dunes, also called a berm or foredune. Quite the contrast with the pillowy, loose sand of summer.

How does this happen? First,a few facts. According to the 1994 Scientific American reference book “The Evolving Coast” by Richard Davis, “sand” is not a thing, but a size. Smaller bits are “silt” and larger bits are “gravel.” The sand on Oregon’s beaches is primarily mineral sand, with most grains being a crystal or tiny chunk of rock eroded from Cascade Range and Coast Range sources.

The distinctly different seasonal beach profiles are attributed to the frequency and duration of energetic storms. During the winter, long-lasting storms with large breaking waves tend to sweep sand away and deposit it offshore in sandbars. By March, after four months of scouring by winter storm waves, most sandy beaches on the South Coast are flattened and seriously depleted of sand. Winter waves have carried most of the sand offshore to form extensive underwater sand bars. As winter storms become less frequent, these sand bars start to migrate back toward the beach, marching slowly across the sea floor like underwater sand dunes.

The process of sand bars moving ashore and rebuilding the beach continues sporadically throughout the spring and summer, but can be reversed any time, if late storms bring large, steep waves that sweep the sand back offshore.

Although the strong northwest winds of spring sometimes create wind waves that erode the beaches, these same winds also carry beach sand to the back of the beach, out of reach of all but the largest storm waves. In this way, the spring winds help build up dunes that may have been eroded by winter storms.

What are the origins of all this sand? Most is delivered by rivers that carry and collect sediment throughout their course and finally dump it in the ocean because the energy of river flow gets exhausted at this stage. The sediment load (mostly fine sand) is pushed back and forth towards the shore under the influence of rip currents, which flow at an angle to the shore and are spread along the shore by what’s called long shore current (Ocean current which flows parallel to the shore). In this way, new load of sands are delivered and spread by ocean currents, resulting in the creation of beach.

The scouring of the top layers of sand has another predictable yet interesting effect, and that’s to “unbury” shipwrecks. The most famous is the Sujameco, grounded at Horsfall Beach in the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area north of Coos Bay

Constructed in 1920, the steamship Sujameco was a regular part of the lumber trade. On March 1, 1929, Captain JF Carlson was leading the Sujameco and its 35-man crew to Marshfield (as Coos Bay was called then) for the first time. Heavy fog hit. Carlson became confused, and later admitted he miscalculated his position.

Everything of value was eventually recovered and the wreck was salvaged several times, including during World War II for scrap metal. Since it sits so close to shore, it’s become a fun destination for visitors.

Yet not a trace is visible most of the year, so go soon if you want to see this season’s “show.”

Getting There

From North Bend and Coos Bay, head north on US 101, crossing McCullough Bridge. In just under 1 mile turn left (W) on TransPacific Parkway. Cross a causeway, small bridge and two sets of railroad tracks. Just past those, turn right (N) into the Horsfall Beach access road to the Oregon Dunes. Follow it to its terminus with the Pacific Ocean at Horsfall Beach. A $5 day use permit or seasonal pass is required.

(Shopper columnist Tom Baake is author of local guidebooks.)