Hello everyone!
I had a lovely weekend at the beach. My friend Mark has a beach house in Newport, on the Central Oregon coast. He’s renting it out for the summer but sent me a key and told me to use it as much as I wanted between now and June 1st. Thank you very much!
I got off work early on Friday so I could beat traffic and make it to the beach with time to relax and then see the sunset on the water. I unloaded my car then hung out at the house for a bit before heading to the beach. I went to Yaquina Bay State Park, just minutes from the house. There’s a great view of the Yaquina Bay Bridge and a huge beautiful beach. It was freakishly windy but the sun was out and I knew I could get some great photos. I put on my hat and was lucky enough to have gloves in my backpack (for riding my bike) and I headed down to the beach with my camera. I was the only person crazy enough to be out there. It was incredibly windy. Every single object on the beach (driftwood, shells, rocks) had amazing sand sculptures behind them, formed from the strong winds. I took tons of photos and watched the sun turn the sky red and drop below the horizon. Any day I see the sun set on the ocean is a good day. I went back to the house amazed by the things I’d seen. I showered and made myself some dinner and watched a movie (Blood Diamond) before reading my book and going to bed.
Saturday I woke up and made myself some coffee and eggs and toast. I packed up my backpack for the day and headed south. For the first time since Greta’s last visit (March 2003) I was going to take the bridge south. I was so excited to explore this area again as Greta and I were blown away by the things we’d seen. My first stop was Devils Churn in the Cape Perpetua Scenic Area. This is an inlet of the ocean along the rocky cliffs of Cape Perpetua. There is no beach at this spot, just lava rock down to the salty sea. The inlet is a crazy frothing, boiling pot of water. The insanity continues where the rock wall opens to a narrow slot. Here the water continues back into what used to be a long, skinny sea cave. The roof collapsed making the waves smashing into the rocks now visible. I watched this area for a long time before hiking out to the very end of the slot. I was having a heart attack while standing there as I was between three cliff walls and the water. I knew the tide was going out and I saw no waves come even close to the height where I was standing but I knew a sneaker wave would do me in. It was exhilarating to watch the waves rush up the narrow cavern of black basalt rock. I will never forget this place. Ever.
From there I drove just a short ways down the road to Cape Perpetua. This is an incredible cliff of basalt that juts out into the ocean. Along the water’s edge there are tons of tidepools. I hiked to them along the Captain Cook trail (he named the cape in 1778 after his ship got stuck in a storm and they saw the same headland for 5 days). The trail goes through a bit of forest which was impossibly thick. It was midday but it was dark in the woods with the tiniest bits of light sneaking through the thick trees. I made it down by the water’s edge. I watched the waves crashing in Cook’s Chasm, another crazy frothing inlet of water against the black rocks. I hiked around for some time then ate my lunch (pb & j on hazelnut bread) on a huge log.
I drove south just a few more miles to get to Heceta Head. There’s a beautiful little beach called Devil’s Elbow next to the headland with the lighthouse looming up above. I checked out the tidepools and walked along the little creek that flows into the ocean there. I drove just a short ways down the road get a good aerial view of the Heceta Head lighthouse before beginning to work my way north again, towards Newport.
My final stop would be at Strawberry Hill, an area with crazy tidepools. As I was crawling over the big black rocks I suddenly had the distinct feeling that I was being watched. It was even odder because my back was to the ocean. I turned towards the water and there out on the last big rocks before the open water were dozens of harbor seals, silently staring at me. I watched them scooting on the sharp rocks, covered in sharper barnacles and mussels (ouch) and took some photos of them while they continued to gawk at me. I left the rocky area and walked down a huge beach, the only person there. The tide was starting to come back in and I was feeling tired from my long day of exploring so I finally got back in my car and drove Hwy 101 back to Newport. At the house I showered and made dinner before watching a movie. Ganhdi, the perfect beach movie! Seriously though I hadn’t seen it in ages and it really is an excellent movie, plus I had plenty of time to watch such a long film. I read my book and slept like a log.
Sunday morning I packed up my stuff and got ready to leave Newport pretty early. I’d done lots of exploring in that area and decided I wanted to take a different route home. I tried to call my mom for a Mother’s Day chat but there was no answer. I headed north on hwy 101. I stopped at the beach at Lincoln City and considered doing a little hike towards some sea stacks but the beach there was quite crowded and windy. I continued north where I veered off Hwy 101 which goes inland for a bit and instead took the Three Capes Scenic Route. My first stop was Cape Kiwanda with 327 foot Haystack Rock, a huge chunk of basalt just off shore and covered with birds. From there I went on to Cape Lookout where I pulled over to enjoy some of the view and the increasing sun and decreasing clouds. My last stop was Cape Meares. I hiked the short trail down to the lighthouse. It was very strange to be above a lighthouse. It’s only 37 feet tall but sits atop a huge cliff on the cape. It was beautiful and warm there. I tried to call my mom from one of the viewpoints but I couldn’t get enough service. I did the short walk to the Octopus Tree, a crazy sitka spruce whose branches have grown out candelabra style rather then straight up. The branches are huge and strange looking.
I left Cape Meares and drove along Tillamook Bay and into the town of Tillamook. I finally just pulled over in downtown Tillamook and called my mom from there. We chatted for over an hour before I had to head back to Portland. It was a nice drive over the Coast Range back home. Later that night I would hang out with Elaine and Gina. Their backyard is the place to hang out not with fires in the chiminea and rhodies all in bloom.
So that was my weekend. Sorry my posting is so long but I did and saw a lot of stuff, it’s hard to leave it out. Please let me know how you are and what you’ve been up to.
xo,
carolyn
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