Since we leave Florence tomorrow we figured we should go visit the largest expanse of coastal sand dunes in North America this morning. We drove about five miles from the campground, past all the ATVers that were getting set up to ride the dunes, all the way to the end of Jetty Road which took us into the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area.  Here we turned around as if we’d gone any further we’d have ended up in the Siuslaw River or the ocean, and drove back to a car park that had access to the Dunes. This is the north end of the dunes, which begin at North Bend. They cover 32,000 acres, and are made up of 40 miles of sand that average 250 feet in height. They can reach up to 500 feet in height – just ask Mike and he’ll tell you that he climbed at least that high this morning!
After we parked we started what looked like a short and relatively easy climb up the dunes; it turned out to be a little harder than it looked. The sand was really loose and we sank into it, and the climb seemed to go on forever. It was worth the climb though as the view of the ocean and the extent of the dunes was amazing, and going down the other side was lots of fun and so much easier than getting to the top. We walked along the beach for a while and it was really peaceful and very beautiful, then we started the climb back to the top of the ‘hill’. It wasn’t too bad once we got into a rhythm, and going up diagonally definitely helped, although Mike still needed a breather before reaching the top!

Mike: Becc, it seemed like you were breathing a little hard also!

I just need a quick breath