Blue Goose ~ Day 37

July 7, 2014 ~ Gold Beach, OR to Medford, OR

After working a couple of hours this morning. I debated whether to go to Humboldt NWR in CA or not...back and forth, carrying on the "inner dialogue" but fog was the decisive factor. It rolled in significantly near the border, although as soon as 101 turned inland at all, the sky was a clear rich blue. I did decide, though, to try for Castle Rock NWR in Crescent City, CA. Perhaps, it all would clear by then. The coast between Gold Beach and Crescent City was incredible before the fog obscured everything. 

Southern Oregon coast

WWW.SLATE.COM

Since 1933, 31 tsunamis have been observed in Crescent City. Four of those caused damage, and one of them, in March 1964, remains the "largest and most destructive recorded tsunami to ever strike the United States Pacific Coast,"according to the University of Southern California's Tsunami Research Center. The 1964 tsunami killed 17 people on the West Coast, 11 of them in Crescent City.

The 1964 tsunami was caused by the largest earthquake ever recorded in North America, and the second-largest ever recorded anywhere. The so-called Good Friday Earthquake, whose epicenter was just north of Alaska's Prince William Sound, registered 9.2 on the Richter scale and killed 115 Alaskans, inflicting its worst damage on Anchorage...After Alaska, California, where the tsunami hit a little before midnight, was the state worst-hit by the 1964 wave. Total property damage there was $17 million (Oregon and Washington each sustained less than $1 million), of which fully $15 million occurred in Crescent City. According to Dennis M. Powers' 2005 account of the 1964 tsunami,The Raging Sea, in Crescent City "the disaster exceeded the combined effects of all previous death and destruction totals caused by tsunamis on the United States mainland and the greatest fatalities, injuries, and destruction ever reported on the West Coast." Although the earthquake killed many more people in Alaska than in Crescent City, the property damage per block ended up, weirdly, being greater in Crescent City.

Why is Crescent City so vulnerable to tsunamis? Apparently the main culprit is the Mendocino Fracture Zone, an underwater elevation extending westward that guides tsunamis into deeper water, where they pick up speed as they approach the mainland. The West Coast's topography around Crescent City curves inland, which intensifies a tsunami's effect, and the shoreline of Crescent City itself is (as the name suggests) a curve within that curve. The town's name is also, of course, the nickname of New Orleans, itself devastated by flood during 2005's Hurricane Katrina. 

I had remembered this about Crescent City from reading it somewhere, sometime...just not the details. But there was only fog this afternoon. I had to google and research and peer out off the coast to find Castle Rock, but finally did, and intermittently could almost see bird and animal shapes, especially the larger pinnipeds.

Castle Rock NWR - Crescent City, CA

A few of the massive honey-colored Steller sea lions looked like polar bears as they lumbered about on flippers and threw their heads back and roared. There were other species also, but the distance was just too far to identify them for an inexperienced seal person like me.

I didn't want to drive another couple of hours with the chance of fog in Eureka (nearest town to Humboldt NWR) and will leave that for next spring (possibly). So I spent the afternoon driving a very scenic road over the coastal range, first through redwoods and then the Smith River Canyon (crossing both Patrick Creek and Elliott Creek along the way). Far below the road, at nearly every pullout, people were frolicking in the river. Since the temperature went from 65 degrees at the coast to 102 by the time I reached Grants Pass, it was a good day for river frolicking, and although hot, it wasn't humid, and I didn't use the AC. Maybe tomorrow as the predictions in parts of Oregon are as high as 108!

I stayed in Medford in another "upscale" Walmart (relative but still...) and watched the surreptitious way other vehicles crept in for the night. Two guys in my vicinity in separate vans met and then discussed if they thought they would get towed, as there were signs up: "Customer Parking Only." One had a bike next to his car. I read a long time on a caffeine jag with the windows wide open, catching whatever breezes blew through. As the sun set, it cooled but only slightly until well into the night. There were trees though and it  was very quiet...UNTIL some time in the early morning when the dreaded Walmart parking lot sweeping machine went back and forth over every square inch of blacktop, certainly waking anyone with half a mile. But who were we to complain....

There are many more vagabond / wanderers out here than in other parts of the country....usually thin men with packs and deeply tanned faces and longish grey hair who must be good at finding sleeping places also but without the shelter and safety of a vehicle. I finally rolled up the windows most of the way and slept fitfully. I was again sticky; the lights were bright; and it was hot. I tried rummaged around (unsuccessfully) trying to find my makeshift window covering. I was laughing at myself....and really not overly bothered or fretful. We shall see if the heat continues how long and how well I tolerate this lifestyle at 100+ degrees.

Southern Oregon