Thursday June 29, 25.8mi/41.5km

Bluebill Campground (264.5/33ft) to Seven Devils State Recreation Site (290.0/23ft) (OR) +0.3mi campsite searching

It was a nice quiet night at the campground, and I left at 7am and hiked for an hour down the access road. When I got closer to the highway, the views opened up and I could see across the bay.

The road went across a short causeway, which was a neat experience on foot. Water in all directions!

After I rejoined Highway 101, I got to walk across the McCullough bridge, a mile-long span over Coos Bay.

It climbed up, pretty soon I was 200 feet above the water.

It was in impressive feet of engineering, and I enjoyed checking out all the trusses and supports.

On the other side of the bridge there was a small interpretive display explaining its history and designer, Conde McCullough. All these bridges by the ocean are being slowly damaged by salt water corrosion, so ODOT has developed a clever system to spray them with a zinc coating to act as a sacrificial anode. Chemistry in action!

Pretty soon after the bridge I arrived in the town of North Bend.

Which apparently is a logging town.

It had a neat little downtown, and I was tempted to stop at one of the many cafes, but I already was carrying too much food in my backpack.

For a couple of hours I walked through lots of different neighborhoods. This sign says I entered Coos Bay, but I could not tell the difference. It was all one long strip of development.

I attempted to stop at a Subway, to buy a sandwich for lunch and use some Wi-Fi. When I asked for the Wi-Fi password, the manager said they purposely don’t have it, and they even turn off all the outlets so people don’t hang out. Huh?! (Every other business has learned that the longer people stay, the more food they will continue to buy.) So I hiked a little further through town, and went to a local sandwich shop, which was delicious. On my way out of town I passed the cool house. Geodesic domes are my second favorite type of dome!

I passed through one more tiny town, Charleston. It was on the harbor, and definitely a fishing town.

It was, as I have come to expect, very foggy. It seems like the Pacific ocean is foggy 22 hours a day.

I then left civilization to walk up the rural Seven Devils Road. It climbed 500 feet up and over 7 Devils Head, which started off foggy….

… But pretty soon cleared up to a nice blue sky.

It was a rather pleasant road, and I saw only a dozen cars in the two hours that I walked it.

Eventually it turned to a dirt road, and then I saw zero cars.

At the end of the day I came to 7 Devils State Recreation site.

It was right on the ocean and had amazing views of the sunset.

My map showed that there was supposed to be camping here, as well as water spigots, picnic tables, and bathrooms. It had only 2 out of the 4 things, as it lacked water and official camping. But it was 8pm, so I could go no further. I asked a nice couple, Darryl and Kindred, for some water and they graciously offered me a whole gallon! (I only needed a liter). They were fun to talk with, and I enjoyed ending my day on a positive note! I made dinner at one of the picnic tables, and after everybody else had left the park, I setup my tent behind some bushes.

I thought it was very well hidden.

Once I got into my tent, I realized how cold and windy it had been outside. I’m glad I’m tucked under these trees and bushes where it’s nice and warm!