Olympic Peninsula and Pacific Coast
September 29, 2018
Tonight we are inland from the Oregon
coast and will not be sleeping to the sound of ocean surf for the
first time in eight nights. After visiting the northern part of
Olympic National Park, we headed to the coastal sections of the park.
We passed through the town of Forks (a nod to any fans of the
Twilight book series out there) to Rialto and Ruby Beaches and
our first view of the ocean and seastacks.
seastacks off Rialto Beach, Olympic NP
huge driftwood logs on Rialto Beach
Ruby Beach, Olympic NP
low tide at Ruby Beach, Olympic NP
We had to bypass the drive into the Hoh
Rain Forest because of road repairs and Kalaloch campground (it was
full) and ended up spending a rainy night at South Beach Campground.
Not a very scenic campsite but we could see and hear the waves from
our beds. On the road before daybreak in the morning to visit
Quinault Rain Forest in the rain! We did manage a short hike
between rain showers to visit the world's largest Sitka spruce tree.
camping on soggy South Beach, Olympic NP
Kris standing above ground level on root of world's largest Sitka spruce - 191 feet tall, 59 feet circumference, about 1,000 years old; Quinault Rain Forest, Olympic NP
Our last night in Washington state was
at Cape Disappointment State Park near the lovely town of Long Beach,
location of the World Kite Museum and the world's largest frying pan.
There are miles of clean sand and nice trails in the area.
Kites - all sizes, shapes, and from around the world
Long Beach, Washington - 28 miles of beach sand
_
Cape Disappointment at the mouth of the Columbia River - you can see a light-colored horizontal line across the river that is the south jetty on Clatsop Spit in Oregon.
Cape Disappointment, Washington
Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center
Next up: Oregon
We crossed the magnificent Columbia
River to Astoria on the south side. We have crossed and followed the
Columbia from the ice fields of Alberta, Canada and into British
Columbia; camped next to it behind Grand Coulee Dam on Lake
Roosevelt, seen the confluence with the Snake River in Washington
State, and followed it through the Gorge between Washington and
Oregon on this and previous trips. I have been wanting to visit the
Astoria Column and nearby Lewis and Clark National Historical Park
where the Corps of Discovery spent the winter after reaching the
Pacific. (Note: I highly recommend reading Stephen Ambrose's book Undaunted Courage about the Lewis and Clark Expedition. It is truly amazing what they accomplished.)
We camped at Fort Stevens State Park opposite its
counterpart at Cape Disappointment. In the morning we explored the
north end of Clatsop Spit and visited the shipwreck of the Peter
Iredale at low tide.
Astoria Column with spiraling frieze depicting significant historical events
Our picnic site below the Astoria Column overlooking the Columbia River -
Cape Disappointment, Washington is directly across the river
After climbing the 164 steps to the top of the column, we took these panorama photos
to show the view in all directions.
Reconstruction of the winter quarters of the Corps of Discovery
Wreck of the Peter Iredale, Fort Stevens State Park, Oregon
We chose this site for our 25,000th geocaching milestone.
We drove through beautiful Tillamook
State Forest but the campgrounds in the area were already closed for
the season. We ended up at Sand Beach Recreation Area (part of
Suislaw National Forest) surrounded by campers there for the off-road
action on the beaches. We fell asleep listening to coyotes after the
ATVs were shut down for the night.
Early morning at Cape Kiwanda near Pacific City - you can see our shadows to the right of center.
Drift Creek Covered Bridge - found while geocaching
This bridge was going to be demolished by the county but a family rescued the
remnants and restored/reconstructed it on their own property.
Munson Creek Falls, Tillamook County - 319 feet tall
early morning on the beach near our campsite at Cape Lookout State Park
Brian's shadow while taking photo of Kris
We explored Tillamook County along U.S.
Highway 101 and some back roads, stopping at covered bridges and
waterfalls before visiting Tillamook Creamery. Boy, have things
changed since we were there in 1980. A brand new Visitor Center with
galleries overlooking the automated cheese production line and a gift
shop. On our last visit, they were still making cheese by hand and
we could see the actual curds and whey being processed. Now it is
all in enclosed stainless steel tanks and all you see is the final
product being packaged. Progress!
(Sorry, don't know what happened to the photos of the creamery.)
Cape Lookout State Park was on my to-do
list so we enjoyed a stay in their nice campground on the beach. In
the morning we took on the challenge of the Cape Trail to the end of
Cape Lookout.
5 miles round trip with an elevation loss of almost
500 feet (and the same elevation gain coming back up) and it took us
almost 4 hours. Back at the trailhead I wondered out loud about how
much longer we will be able to do these hikes. My calf muscles hurt
for the next three days. Later in the day we visited Cape Meares
State Park to see the lighthouse and a Sitka spruce nicknamed the
Octopus Tree . . . more hiking, but short treks.
looking down on Pirate Cove from Cape Lookout Trail
View from the end of the trail - Cape Lookout
This is a crowded place to be during whale migration season we were told.
Cape Meares - shortest lighthouse in Oregon
looking south from Cape Meares to Three Arch Rocks National Wildlife Refuge
largest Sitka spruce in Oregon, Cape Meares
For two more days we traveled U.S. 101
and saw more capes and lighthouses, unusual seastacks and geological
features, and gray whales. We went as far south as Cape Blanco
before returning to Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area for a
second night. Spotted a gray fox in the campground after sunset.
Devil's Punch Bowl - roof of a sea cave collapsed here.
There is a whale out there, I promise.
This is where we made our first sighting of resident gray whales off the central Oregon coast.
I caught sight of two whales swimming side-by-side.
Yaquina Head lighthouse in the far distance.
an attempt at a photo of a gray whale
Yaquina Head Lighthouse, we saw more gray whales from here.
Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area - Suislaw National Forest
Cape Blanco lighthouse on a rather gray and dreary day -oldest operational
lighthouse on the Oregon coast, first lit in 1870
spiral stairs inside the lighthouse - looking down from the top
Fresnel lens with electric lamp inside
view looking south from the lantern level of the lighthouse
cranberry bog
We are now inland to make a short visit
with my nephew, John and his new family – Kym and James – in
Salem. We will see them in Houston at Christmas, but don't want to
leave Oregon without seeing them.
Now that we are a week past the autumnal equinox and sunrise/sunset is less than 12 hours apart, we have the challenge of shorter days, longer nights, and campgrounds closing down for the season so we need to head southward – route to be determined soon. October is just around the next 'curve in the road.'
Now that's a huge log!
Forks, Washington
slugs at two consecutive geocaches - each about 4 inches long
Wildcat Bridge, Lane County, Oregon
