Month: September 2018

Today we needed to get gas and, after a stop in Tillamook to refuel both car (gas) and people (food), we explored some random places.

Munson Creek Falls State Natural Area. It’s not often that my life arranges itself so I can notice a sign and then take a detour to explore what’s going on with that sign. But this was vacation and I could!  We took the turn and were rewarded with a short hike to this lovely viewpoint, which the state website tells me is 319 feet tall, and the tallest waterfall in the Coast Range.

It must be something to see after a good rainstorm. Look at all those trees piled up. This area is also a salmon spawning ground.

Self portrait at the falls.

Sitka Sedge State Natural Area was our next stop.  Here’s what the website says about this park: “Sitka Sedge State Natural Area is all about the views–of open water, tidal flats, saltwater marshes and forested wetlands of Sand Lake estuary; of the estuary animals, birds and plants; and for those willing to hike, beach views stretching from Haystack Rock to the south and north to Cape Lookout.”

We did indeed see all those views.  Here’s a tidal flat.

And a salt marsh.

I became less enamored of the trail when it turned to sand. I don’t love hiking in sand as I learned on this hike in Olympic National Park in 2016. 

However, we did make it to the beach, just in time to see this contraption fly by.

The signs alert to a Western Snowy Plover management area. There are a few areas along the coast where activities are restricted during the Snowy Plover nesting season. I was excited to lay eyes on these areas because I remembered the letters to the editor published when these regulations were put into place. There were angry feelings.  “Why can’t I let my dog run on the beach?!?”

This natural area had a very nice bathroom, and also many places to lock your bike, as well as a bicycle assistance station. Being right on the Oregon Coast Bike Route, it makes sense to have these amenities.

Our last stop was Clay Meyers State Natural Area at Whalen Island. Here we took another walk until we found the ocean. 

Cape Lookout, while being an excellent state park–the campground is right on the beach–also has an incredible hike called the Cape Lookout Hike.

And we saw a whale!!!!!!  This was the first whale I’ve ever seen in person. It was very exciting.

Many other people also stopped to take a picture of the whale. This dog wasn’t super interested in what we were looking at, but waited patiently for the humans to be done with their sightseeing.

Matt checks out the drop from the edge. (Of note: the black in the corners of this picture are because my lens cover was not fully retracting.)

The water was very sparkly in the sun.

Our view at the trail’s end.

What I thought was a buoy turned out to be a small boat. (You’re looking at a camera in maximum zoom.)

Self portrait at Cape Lookout.

Can you guess the color of the berries?

We hadn’t visited the Tillamook Creamery’s visitor center since they had done the renovation, and it was fun to see the improvements they made. It’s now even easier to buy things, from souvenirs to ice cream.

I really like the profile of the new building.

Which is immortalized on one of the new pressed penny designs. But also check out the one with the bus on it!

A friend recommended Tacos la Providencia for a meal and so we went. It turned out to be a food cart.

There was a covered area next to the food cart and also a building where one could eat inside if the weather was not very good.

We ate outside and had a delicious meal. It was one of those delightful post-hiking feasts where the food is amazing.

More gorgeous coast views.

I liked how each of the interpretive signs had bases that reflected their subject matter.  Way to bring it, interpretive signs.

This was also the location where I ran into Patrick, one of the lifeguards at the pool. He had come with his friends for a day hike.  I let him know I wouldn’t be swimming this week, due to vacation.

Having spent a comfortable night in our yurt at Cape Lookout, we drove north to Ecola State Park for some hiking. Ecola has some very good views.

Some might wonder why we drove a couple of hours from where we were staying, a place with many hikes, to another place for a different hike. This has to do with the fact that Tillmook Head is not in–or near–the city of Tillmook, or even in Tillamook County. I didn’t realize this when planning the vacation, and so a lengthy drive it was.  It’s okay. We got a lot of reading done from the read aloud books. (Matt read, I listened.)

Here we are with the ocean. Things you can’t see: the many tourists on either side of us, also looking at the ocean and taking photos.

The Oregon Coast is crazy beautiful, and we heard the people around us speaking all sorts of different languages.

We then drove a bit more to the Indian Beach trailhead area where we started a hike up to the Tillamook Lighthouse viewpoint.

At the beginning.

We hiked along quite nicely, and it was only when we got to the Hikers’ Shelter that I realized we’d already done this hike.  It was 2012 and you can refresh your memory here.  We had better weather this time.

The non-zoomed view of Tillamook Rock Lighthouse.

The zoomed view!  I’m quite glad I wasn’t the lighthouse keeper for this lighthouse.

Matt indicates this is our second go-round.

It’s vacation time!  We started our vacation by driving to Lincoln City so we could get a McMenamins Passport stamp.  Then we had some time to kill before we could check into our yurt at Cape Lookout State Park, so we did this hike, which was a good family-friendly hike as advertised.

After hiking a bit (and going off in the wrong direction for a bit) we arrived at the falls. But to see the falls we had to cross a suspension bridge!

What a great reward!  I love a good suspension bridge!

Then there was another half mile or so to hike down to the falls area.  We hiked down, but did not wander into the water as the children and dogs did.

Overall, this was a fun hike in an area where we would not normally hike.  Thanks Statesman Journal, for clueing me in.