North Bend & the Empire Lakes (Coos Bay) Revisited

It had been a while since I had made a trip to the coast, and I was in need of a quick getaway-slash-escape from the Valley. Just a day trip, or perhaps an over-nighter. No big whoop. I settled on a return to North Bend and Coos Bay's Empire Lakes, just across the line separating the two cities.

I made a trip to Oregon's Bay Area in June to cover a Special Olympics Oregon track meet. That trip would be a template for this one, except I now had a familiarity with the area. I do need to apologize that I am writing another post about visiting Coos Bay/North Bend. With a significant backlog of trips about which to write, and so few actually written up and posted to this very new blog, why a repeat? Because it is still very fresh in my mind, and every trip to the Oregon Coast offers something different.

Link Lane operates the route between Eugene and Florence, offering three round trips daily. I caught the morning run at 7:25 from the Eugene Amtrak Station to the coast. For five bucks, it's a bargain that cannot be beat. In addition to transfer points in Florence at Three Rivers Casino and the Grocery Outlet, the Eugene-Florence Connector offers a dropoff in Florence Old Town. But not a pickup. You'd have to look at the schedule for the Rhody Express, Florence's bus system, in order to get back to a transfer point for a return trip.

I got off at Three Rivers Casino to transfer to the Florence Express, Coos County Area Transit's route between Coos Bay and Florence. There is a 30-minute layover here, a perfect amount of time to use the restroom. A semingly trivial concern much of the time, a place to pee, or rather, the next available place to pee can become a distressingly urgent question when touring by bus. Bags aren't allowed in the casino, so I check mine with the valet. It's usually a $2 tip well worth the expenditure.

There are two trips daily between Coos Bay and Florence. It's a $6 fare to my stop at the North Bend VA Clinic. Take note: the CCAT bus is not equipped with seat belts. From here the "two good shoes" portion of this blog's title comes into play. I had 5 hours until check-in tile at my hotel, and there were things to do. Those "things to do" involved between six and seven miles on foot.

The first leg of my foot tour was a 2-plus mile hike to John Topits Park and the Empire Lakes. Walking directions don't get much simpler: from the bus stop, head west on Virginia for a couple blocks and turn left on Broadway. After an even mile on Broadway, turn right on Newmark for just over another mile and the sign for the park and the lakes will be on the right. Along the way, the path crosses from North Bend to Coos Bay. 

Middle Empire Lake

The entry into the park leads to a parking area, rest rooms, a playground and a dock. I used a picnic table to assemble a camera and lens. I wanted to get some shots of birds so I hauled my big 150-600 mm lens. I was hoping it would be worth it. There are paved trails around all three of the Empire Lakes, upper middle and lower. Some of them do cross private land, by permission. Hikers are asked to be respectful, and grateful for the access. The main trails are divided into inner and outer rings, with lots of connecting trails.

I stuck to the inner loop around primarily the lower lake. There are excellent maps available as well as information kiosks around the park. The trails are all marked very well, and are easy to understand. I planned to take my time and spend a couple hours to see what there was to see. I remembered the pair of ospreys I had seen here in June, dancing in the air along the tree line, just beyond the reach of the lens I had on that trip. 

Within ten minutes of setting out, I saw the red flash of a pileated woodpecker on a dead snag sticking out of the mud. There happened to be a bench, so I took a seat to help steady the lens. After a few minutes, it appeared. And I was ready.

Pileated Woodpecker

I got a few more shots as it flitted around the graveyard of trees. When it disappeared from view, it was my time to move on. I would have been better served had I switched to a wide angle lens at this point, but I didn't want to miss any cool birds. Landscape shots are not impossible with a zoom lens. A little further along the trail I passed a gentleman who wondered as he approached why I had a leaf blower, until he saw it was a camera lens.

I continued around Lower Empire Lake in a clockwise manner. Just past the northernmost point of the lake I came across a little path that led to a picnic table near the water. As I took my pack off for a break, I caught sight of a Great Egret off to the right. I made myself comfortable and used the table to help steady my lens.

Great Heron

It was time to head to the second stop on my whirlwind tour of North Bend. A mile back up Newmark Ave. is Off the Record, a record store established in 1984. I stumbled across it in June, but didn't have time to properly look around. I promised then that I would be back. I spent almost an hour and almost $100 in the store this time. I picked up 4 LPs, a 12" 45 and a t-shirt. And I still have more, a lot more, to look through the next time I visit.

Back at the intersection of Newmark and Virginia, barely a block up the road, on the opposite corner is Vinny's Smokin' Good Burgers & Sanwiches, my destination for lunch. Having perused the menu online, a lot, before the trip, I had settled on the loaded mac and cheese. There were two versions, the first of which was with brisket chili. The second, and the one I ordered, was topped with pulled pork, carmelized onions and barbecue sauce. There was exactly enough for lunch, and dinner. It was great that it was served in a take out carton. 

Loaded Macaroni & Cheese with Pulled Pork and Carmelized Onions

I had a reservation at the Quality Inn & Suites at Coos Bay. The mile-and-a-half walk felt good after eating half of the above picture. I was able to check in a little early, and get ready for the next excursion. I did have only the one day. The bus trip back home began early the next morning. The clock was ticking. 

The North Bend Boardwalk is at the end of Virginia Ave., a mere seven tenths of a mile away. I figured I'd take my big lens and look for more birds. 

A couple cormorants, a lot of pigeons and even more seagulls were all I found. Not quite a disappointment. Then there was a commotion in the mass of gulls and pigeons. I aimed my leaf blower lens and got lucky. An osprey had snatched a pigeon for dinner and was being harried by gulls as it hauled away its catch.

And then a harbor seal snorted at me.

I had one last item on my agenda, and it was an optional one. Ko-Kwel Casino was once called The Mill Casino. Until about a month ago. It's 1.5 miles from the hotel. I headed back to the hotel to drop off my gear. The walk back up Virginia Ave. was lovely. I wondered how I could get a good pinhole exposure of the North Bend Hotel.

Looking west up Virginia Ave.

The North Bend Hotel

I entered the casino with $60, and exited about an hour later with $80. My meal at Vinny's was $18.40, including tip, and the round-trip transportation cost of the trip was $22. Free lunch!

The walk back to my room took me past the Liberty Theatre, another cool building. It is still used for performing arts.

The Liberty Theatre

The northbound Florence Express left at 7:30 the next morning. I transferred to the Eugene-Florence Connector at the Grocery Outlet after a 20-minute layover for the trip to the Downtown Eugene stop. From there I crossed the street and caught the EmX home, just like I do every day of the week.