8/14 - Cape Perpetua

Having recovered from yesterday's traffic congestion (and laundry) with a good night's sleep, we had a great day exploring down the coast. Traffic south of Newport was much lighter than we thought it would be for a Sunday, although the pull-off parking lots were close to full.  

This was the kind of day we'd imagined for the Oregon coast with the exception of cold and wind. Don't know if this is the norm here for mid-August, but it was quite cool (mid 50's) and with 25 to 30 mph wind gusts it felt much colder. If we'd known before we left the RV we would have taken heavier coats.  As it was we wore everything we had with us when we went down to the beach at Cape Perpetua.  

Our first stop was at Seal Rock. It was named for the seals and sea lions that used to rest there, but apparently no longer do so. Cormorants and gulls were the only wildlife we spotted.

Our next destination was the visitor center at Cape Perpetua which is a rocky headland about 30 miles south of Newport. It was a very difficult area to traverse back in the 1800's when the journey from Washington to California took a month.  By 1897 a 3-foot trail had been cut around the cape but travel was still very tough. During ferocious winter storms mail carriers were reduced to crawling while holding onto their horses tails. That is true dedication.

A tunnel of trees as the highway starts around Cape Perpetua.

While looking for the visitor center we accidentally went up the 2-mile road to the Cape Perpetua overlook.  The view was fantastic....in between billows of fog....so it was a lucky wrong turn. This spot has what's reputed to be the best view in Oregon in clear weather....70 miles up and down the coast and 37 miles out to sea. Today certainly wasn't clear but it was well worth doing.  The view kept changing with the fog's movements.

A short trail to another view point ended at this rock shelter which was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930's. They built it during the winter when storms forced them to huddle around a fire under a lean-to until conditions improved.

Walking along the trail to the rock shelter took us through rain forests which were dripping wet from the heavy fog. It wasn't raining but the ground was wet and we were getting dripped on. The fog-drops can be easily seen on the epiphytes hanging on tree limbs in the picture.

When we got back down to sea level we headed for the picnic area at Neptune Beach State Park.  The wind was blowing so hard we decided to eat in the truck. We had the best parking spot in the place with this great view of the ocean (and the fog had lifted a little) so it was perfect.

What isn't really visible in the previous picture is the way the trees have flattened themselves out to conform to the shape of the hillside. The wind is such a constant force in their lives they take the easiest way out and practically lie down. Hwy 101 is also hiding in there somewhere. We never could figure out exactly where it was.  The tree tunnel picture (second from the top) was through an area like this....the road is invisible from the outside.

More wind-flattened trees behind the parking lot.

There are several well-known features in this area of the coast, but they all need to be seen at high tide. We didn't quite make it, being about two hours late by the time we got to Thor's Well. This morning's high tide wasn't a very high one, so even getting there on time might not have made a difference. Water was surging up through the hole in the rocks but wasn't pouring over the rocks into the hole which is what gave it the name and is so impressive.

We did make it down to the beach at Thor's Well, even if the well wasn't doing its thing. Waves were crashing on the rocks, some crashes being much bigger than others. Wind was flinging the spray everywhere.  One of the things I really wanted to do here was explore the tidal pools at low tide but, with waves and wind behaving as they were, it wasn't going to be possible. We'll have another chance at tidal pooling in another area before we leave on Thursday. Hopefully the wind will subside enough by then to get to the tidal pools.

There are signs all over the place saying "Do not turn your back on the ocean!" because of sneaker waves which attack without warning. A young couple was way too close to the edge and got drenched by one of these waves. They seemed to thing it was great fun. Even when we were teenagers we would not have enjoyed getting wet at 50+ degrees with 30 mph wind gusts.

We were wearing everything we took with us....sweatshirt hoodies and rain jackets with hoods....and we weren't exactly warm.  Wimps from the Great Sunny South.

Since the weather wasn't conducive to beach exploring, we decided to head back to Newport.  On our way I got this picture of the houses climbing the mountainside in Yachats.  There's not much room for these coastal communities to grow with so little level land between the ocean and the mountains. They can go north and south or up. This is part of the up option.

Waldport is another small town about eight miles north of Yachats.  This is the bridge across the Alsea River which empties into the Pacific to the left. This is just far enough to the east of the beach that the fog bank isn't sitting on it which gives a much brighter look to things.

And here is the Yaquina Bay Bridge again, looking much cheerier than it did yesterday in the fog.  There's still plenty of fog (all that white stuff is fog, not clouds) which has been blowing down the coast all day at a high rate of speed. This is the view from our back window with the exception of a row of RVs in the way. 

Tomorrow we're going to visit the Hatfield Marine Sciences Center which is just about within walking distance. They have a giant Pacific octopus which is fed at 1:00 pm on Mondays (and two other days).  We have to be there in time for the big event.  We'll see what else can be worked in around the octopus's dinner time.