Adventures in Oregon: Newport to Yachats

March 23, 2018Jeff

Yaquina Head Lighthouse ,Newport, OR

Lighthouses have often had a romantic and storied aura about them and they remain just as alluring today as they have in our nation’s past. Although numerous lighthouses are no longer in use, they still draw visitors to the edge of the oceans and nearby cliffs.

The Yaquina Head Lighthouse is located north of Newport, at Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area. If you are a photographer, plan to stop several times during the approach to the main parking lot as the views are excellent from a variety of vantage points.

If the day is busy, it will be a challenge to take photos without numbers of tourists in and around the lighthouse, but careful framing can keep the focus on the lighthouse itself.

Ocean views provide their own beauty!

The lighthouse isn’t the only photo-worthy subject as the ocean cliffs and rock formations against the grassy bluffs provide another form of beauty!

Just a short 20-plus minutes south brought us to another noted stop, Seal Rock. It was a pretty ocean front park with several magnificent rock formations. We didn’t see any seals this day, but the sunlight was most welcome.

Seal Rock Recreation Site with the morning sun breaking through

While the seals were not present this morning…

the Cormorants and Seagulls were enjoying the warmth of the sun!

I enjoy unique and different buildings and Yachats had a historic church that was hewn from local timbers erected in the shape of a cross in 1930. The church was not open for visitors when we arrived, but I took a photograph to record the stop.

Just north of the Cape Perpetua Visitor’s Center, we stopped to investigate the Devil’s Churn. With a name like that, who could resist? This inlet is noted for the rushing, churning waters.

One area that we found worthy of longer exploration was Cape Perpetua.

The power of the Pacific at Cape Perpetua

The Power of the Pacific could be felt at Cape Perpetua

There were numerous tide pools and basins for the curious!

One intriguing, highly touted attraction was Thor’s Well (below). The depression is best seen during higher tides, but was interesting enough for us as water gushed up from beneath the hole in the rocky formation. At higher tides, the water spills into the hole creating an interesting visual effect – see photos HERE.

We also spent time exploring the tide pools and enjoying the beautiful creatures that live within. These anemones were a deep emerald green color!

A closeup of the anemones in a nearby tide pool

It was time to check our itinerary and head to our next stop; the Heceta Head Lighthouse.

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Read previous posts about our adventures hiking and exploring in Oregon:

Exploring Astoria, Oregon – Part 1

Exploring Astoria, Oregon – Part 2

Exploring Astoria, Oregon – Part 3

Adventures in Oregon: Warrenton to Seaside

Adventures in Oregon: Hiking at Indian Beach

Adventures in Oregon: Views from Ecola Point

Adventures in Oregon: Movin’ On Down the Road

Adventures in Oregon: Garibaldi’s Graces and Pier

Adventures in Oregon: Tillamook – Cape Meares Lighthouse

Adventures in Oregon: Pacific City, Neskowin & Lincoln City

Adventures in Oregon: Cascade Head and Hart’s Cove in Lincoln City

Adventures in Oregon: Cape Foulweather & Drift Creek Falls

Read more Hiking and Exploration posts HERE

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©Jeffrey B. Ross – 2018 – JBRish.com

Adventures in Oregon: Cascade Head and Hart’s Cove in Lincoln City

February 7, 2018February 16, 2018Jeff

We were anxious to travel to Lincoln City, OR as we had read so many intriguing reviews of the areas we chose for hiking. The Cascade Head Preserve seemed especially promising. It is a coastal headland with two trails one of which is much longer; 4.2 miles. The upper trail leads to the most scenic views and brings hikers to the top of the hills overlooking the ocean and nearby shore. This was really a no-brainer for us.

We opted for the shorter upper trail which was a relatively flat mile-long hike. We had been hiking for several days already and planned to continue hiking once we arrived at Crater Lake National Park so this seemed prudent.

It was difficult to find the correct forest road (Cascade Head Road 1861) which is more of a cut out along the highway than anything else. We persevered and finally wound up at the trailhead ready to go.

The first part of the hike looked like a pathway in Jurassic Park with the fungi and mosses covering the tree branches.

Jungle-like growth at the start of the trail

After hiking for a a bit more than twenty minutes, we reached the meadow viewpoints. The vista was stunning.

The meadow and ocean revealed themselves

As we moved closer to the descending side of the hill, we could watch hikers arriving from the lower trail.

Hikers were arriving from the lower trail

The contrast of the golden meadow, the green trees and shrubs against the blue ocean was a superb display of nature’s palette.

A contrast of colors

The craggy rock outcroppings were also very dramatic.

I couldn’t resist taking a panorama from this expansive vantage point with such a remarkable view.

A panorama taken form the top of the meadow

Feeling self-satisfied, we decided to attempt the trek to Hart’s Cove and drove to that trailhead. We were somewhat daunted by the steepness of the trail heading down as we knew it would be uphill coming back. One rule of hiking when there is no loop is that for every down, there is an up!

We asked some ascending hikers what their thoughts were and after some encouragement, we began the descent. It was indeed downhill!

The first part of the hike takes trekkers through forests of hemlock and Sitka spruce. We then arrived at the open trail to the grassy meadow with anticipation of seeing the cove.

Finally, the path to the cove

We were careful with our footing and made our way to an area where we could have lunch and enjoy the view of the cove.

A scenic backdrop

Although we couldn’t see the sea lions, we could hear them barking in the distance.

A wonderful spot to enjoy lunch

We lingered for a time taking in the view and enjoying the best this area had to offer. Although we faced a strenuous (for us) return trip, the memories will remain long after our muscles have recovered.

A final view of the cove before we headed back

For more information, you can refer to this web page: Cascade Head and Hart’s Cove

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Read previous posts about our adventures hiking and exploring in Oregon:

Exploring Astoria, Oregon – Part 1

Exploring Astoria, Oregon – Part 2

Exploring Astoria, Oregon – Part 3

Adventures in Oregon: Warrenton to Seaside

Adventures in Oregon: Hiking at Indian Beach

Adventures in Oregon: Views from Ecola Point

Adventures in Oregon: Movin’ On Down the Road

Adventures in Oregon: Garibaldi’s Graces and Pier

Adventures in Oregon: Tillamook – Cape Meares Lighthouse

Adventures in Oregon: Pacific City, Neskowin & Lincoln City

Read more Hiking and Exploration posts HERE

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Adventures in Oregon: Tillamook – Cape Meares Lighthouse

December 27, 2017Jeff

I knew little about Tillamook, OR except that it was a dairy town and I only knew that because our grocery stores have Tillamook cheeses and ice cream. The town of Tillamook itself wasn’t a major stop on our itinerary, but served more as a jump off point for the hiking areas relatively nearby.

Our first adventure outside of Tillamook was to the Cape Meares Lighthouse.

As you can see in the picture below, there is a clear path from the parking lot to the lighthouse area. It was a dreary day, but the seaside’s dramatic ambience was enticing. Ocean storms can be dramatic!

The top of the Tillamook Lighthouse seen from the walking path

I hadn’t appreciated the fact that lighthouses have lights with different color patterns. The red and clear glass created a “signal” to let captains know that this is Cape Meares. Not only are there different color patterns, but the duration that each color is visible is very precise.

Color glass pattern of the lighthouse lens

Clear and Red glass create the signal that this is Cape Meares

Before taking the lighthouse tour, we walked to the edge of the visiting area to capture a few stormy photographs of the picturesque rock formations and the choppy waters of the Pacific.

The rocky coastline was stormy this day

Here’s a closer view…

A closer view of the rock formations offshore

The lighouse was near the edge of the cliff overlooking the ocean and therefore did not have to be too tall for the sake of visibility.

Tillamook Lighthouse is located on the edge of a cliff

The roofline to the right helps point to the short stature of the lighthouse

From the inside, visitors can appreciate the lens arrangement and all of the mechanisms required to operate and maintain a lighthouse

Colorful glass seen inside the lighthouse

The colorful glass seen against the dark metal provide visual appeal

The polished gears gave evidence to the excellent condition of this lighthouse and the machinery needed to operate the turret.

Gears used to rotate the turret

This picture gives a good representation of the size of the main tower of the lighthouse.

The vertical portion of the lighthouse

The tour was very interesting and the docent was very knowledgeable about lighthouses in general and of the Cape Meares structure specifically.

There were a few more stops we could have made in the park, but the weather was not conducive so we decided to head back to town. On the return path, we came across a very large Banana Slug (Ariolimax columbianus). I placed a quarter next to it to help viewers understand the size of this animal; impressive for a slug.