A Roadblock

We have been travelling the famous Pacific Coast Highway for several days now and have been impressed with the way it was built – with bridges, tunnels, mountain passes, through settlements of all sizes, close to the sea, away from the sea, high above the sea. We have grown to love the 101.
 
Towards the end of our journey today, realising that we had been climbing and were now way up above the sea, we stopped at a viewpoint. That’s when it became clear that we had been climbing the slopes of Neahkahnie Mountain, one of the highest points on the Oregon coast.
 
The beach was the road along Oregon’s coast during the late 1800s. Horses and wagons travelled for miles along the firm, wet sand . . . until Neahkahnie Mountain. With no room to pass around the base, travellers braved the mountain’s dangerously steep slopes and loose rock on an Indian trail. This problem persisted well into the 20th century, until construction of the Pacific Coast Highway, which became Highway 101.
 
We also saw Gray Whales here. For several days now, Gordon has been trying, without much luck, to see them as they migrate northwards getting very close to the Oregon coast. And here he spotted five of them – we could see them way down below moving through the water.
  

We are now in Cannon Beach (moving steadily north ourselves) and currently with some very iffy wifi - I will catch up with everyone eventually.