Late Day Adventure at the Oregon Coast

JWise Photo of the Day, Rant, Travels

Depoe Bay, Oregon

Waking to rain this morning made our decision to lazy it up an easy one. Who wants to wander around at 5:30 in the morning when the sky is leaking? Plus, it’ll stop in a minute, right? By 8:00, still without having stepped a foot out of the house, Caroline went to her temporary office on the veranda while I grabbed an umbrella and headed up the road for some requisite shopping. It felt like we could afford to squander a day in which zero steps might be a reasonable goal. Heck, in our first week hanging at the Pacific, we’ve averaged more than 18,000 steps a day, or about 8.5 miles (14km). Regarding shopping, life on the coast in a small town had a particular reality crash into me this morning; unless you eat SAD (Standard American Diet), you are going to spend a good amount of time tracking down your groceries because there’s not one store where you can get everything you need if you enjoy a broad-spectrum diet influenced by other ethnicities. Two hours later, I was back in Depoe Bay, and while the rain had stopped, it was still cloudy. Caroline was working, so walking would have to wait. And then it happened: after dinner, flipping the coin to see if we should hit the trail and move the needle to at least a minimum of movement, we opted not to go full-on lazy. At the oceanfront, we turned right, but not before grabbing this photo of the silvery sea.

WARNING: The rest of the post is not really about the joy of being out here. It’s a rant and one that’s probably been said far too often on this blog. Skip the rest. Oh,  you can look at the photos and enjoy them. Allow the images to inspire you to visit the Oregon Coast, but leave the words unread. Grumpy old John was in lamenting mode.

Agnes Creek Open Space in Lincoln City, Oregon

Caroline identified the Agnes Creek Open Space up the road as somewhere we might want to take a short walk, and so without a better suggestion, it seemed as good as anything else. Except, it was a wonderful little enclave of nature being restored after having been clear-cut somewhere between the 1940s and 1960s. The date range is so wide because, apparently, nobody knows exactly when that was done. This brings up another opportunity for me to kvetch, this time about the nature of people and what we do in the name of progress and in the name of the lord. Inspired by the adage, “Idle hands are the devil’s tools,” Protestants and their industrious ideas of hard work having spiritual qualities created a kind of thinking that as long as a man was working, he was moving closer to God. But instead of honoring God’s creation, he’s been busy trying to scrape clean the Garden of Eden he’s been supplied.

Agnes Creek Open Space in Lincoln City, Oregon

We tear down nature to build churches and temples but end up destroying the safety net of Earth that sustains life. For at least 10,000 years, and up to possibly 20,000 years, the various Salish tribes, including the Tillamook, Siletz, Yaquina, Alsea, Siuslaw, and Coos people, lived here along the coast in all seasons without having to deforest the land, clear large areas so individuals could have palatial oceanfront mansions, and turn beautiful, wooded areas into golf courses. The idea that God imbued the land with a bounty for our taking is a manipulation that clears our consciousnesses of guilt for having such greed. It seems like self-evident truth that living in a balance of harmony with not only the land, sky, and water but also with the people who first called these places home would be in keeping with the alleged lessons of God, where in Genesis 2:15 of the Old Testament it says, “And the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.” It does not say to rape it, shit on it, and turn it into some de Sade-like pornographic horror of satisfying the whims of commerce, but that’s what we do.

Agnes Creek Open Space in Lincoln City, Oregon

By and large, it’s what we are doing to this day. Women in our country are free for all appearances, but 101 years after the Equal Rights Amendment was proposed, it is still not ratified. It was only in 1978 that the American Indian Religious Freedom Act allowed Native Americans to practice their traditional religions. And even here in the early 21st century, we had a recent president who rolled back laws that protected the climate, clean air, clean water, endangered species, and opened up more offshore drilling. That man was applauded for his actions by the religious right and captains of business who have everything to gain by employing their minions to keep taking more as long as it benefits the bank accounts of those who can never be satisfied.

Agnes Creek Open Space in Lincoln City, Oregon

Elon Musk stands in front of his phallic spaceships, Mark Zuckerberg flaunts international law to privately move his super yacht, and Larry Ellison buys the Hawaiian island of Lanai as the system of wealth grows exponentially for a few and the masses continue to toil for a relative pittance while doing the bidding of those who gather opulence while not giving a care if a wild mushroom still grows in a rain forest. I’m not against capitalism, I’m NOT for communism, I generally enjoy the way life is, but I also feel like we need to make concrete moves to restore vast parts of our landscapes, not just 54 acres like here at Agnes Creek Open Space or some other random number of acres in various locations across America.

Agnes Creek Open Space in Lincoln City, Oregon

With the help of maybe somewhat questionable artificial intelligence found in Claude, it seems that we set aside between 10% and 15% of the space in a city for parks and recreation sites. San Francisco seems to lead the pack, with 19% of its lands dedicated to parks and open spaces, and with the environmental awareness of California being what it is, I’m guessing that maintaining a healthy ecosystem within those lands is a paramount concern.

Agnes Creek Open Space in Lincoln City, Oregon

I’m considering the arguments that could be made with my post so far: my perceived anti-capitalist stance, the anti-God stance, not taking into account our insurmountable drug problems, affordable housing problems, poor job opportunities, lack of education, the strain that a growing population would put on resources and infrastructure that many would say are presently inadequate, but reading off the litany of issues is simply a smoke screen to mask that we are doing next to nothing on all fronts. Small blossoms of growth needn’t be denied due to larger, seemingly intractable problems that fall on the shoulders of the common person instead of being driven by those extracting the kind of wealth that can build $500 million yachts because they have the voices and audiences of those who want to watch and listen to their musings.

Agnes Creek Open Space in Lincoln City, Oregon

And we are two of the lucky people. Caroline and I have the means to put ourselves in these environments where they do exist. We are able to carve out the time and see firsthand what the natural spaces between represent of our past, away from where the majority now live. This weird emphasis on a personal, private space called the single-family home for many arrives with a bizarre sense of ultimate freedom that can only be had behind bolted doors, clutching a weapon, watching our theater size TV screen, with a garage full of stuff we’ll never use can only be characterized as a madness brought on by the mass-hysteria instilled by advertising-driven engines of non-stop consumption. Try to notice how you are never enticed to visit free places where things such as moss-covered forest beds grow vibrantly green, well, unless it were part of a resort, which obviously isn’t free.

Empty crab shell at Agnes Creek Open Space in Lincoln City, Oregon

Caroline collected the scattered parts of this crab that, for some peculiar reason, a seagull must have dragged into the nearby forest for its lunch. After putting the crab back together, she took a photo with her phone; I came up and took this one.

Caroline Wise at Nelscott Beach in Lincoln City, Oregon

This tiny pocket kite was likely the driving reason behind buying the other kite, which flies nicely indeed. This one, on the other hand, belongs in the trash and is a waste of resources. This is an instance when novelty and perceived convenience went awry in the design process, but the creators knew that suckers would buy the cute little kite with dreams of things taking to the skies like an underdog finding its mojo. Near the short trail we were just walking was a small beach access path to Nelscott Beach, where we were doing our best not only to get this kite to go aloft but also to catch up with our step deficit.

Nelscott Beach in Lincoln City, Oregon

We tried rescuing the mussels and their attached barnacles that had broken free of their moorings, but once on land, they seemed to want to remain on shore.

Nelscott Beach in Lincoln City, Oregon

Should you have gotten to the end of this post after being warned not to go further, and you are wondering what happened to the prose extolling love, beauty, passion, and the intensities of vacation-like days, that writing is being saved for my novel. This stuff, when need be, is the exorcising of demons to allow the catharsis of spirit to explore beautiful ideas and sentence structures. Writing this, I’m brought to thinking how the majority of my work on this novel I speak of is written in a coffee shop with no view, with no inherent special qualities; for that, I have to look deep into my mind and imagination, likely the place where our experiences in these environments live.

Sunday in the Coastal Woods of Oregon

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

Amanda's Trail in Yachats, Oregon

Before ever arriving in this lush coastal forest setting, Caroline and I left Depoe Bay this morning for Yachats to fetch a yummy seafood breakfast at the Drift Inn Restaurant. That almost went according to plan, except they didn’t have the Alaska Fish Scramble available, so I opted to have the razor clams as Caroline had ordered. Not a minute later, our server returned and regrettably informed us that those weren’t available either. Breakfast might not have been everything we’d hoped for, though it was A-Okay; what really worked out though, was our server’s endorsement of the nearby Amanda’s Trail, which is where this photo begins our strenuous day hiking up a mountain.

Amanda's Trail in Yachats, Oregon

Near the beginning of where we joined the trail, you’ll find a statue dedicated to a Native American Coos woman, one of many indigenous people who in the 1860s were force-marched to what, in effect, was a concentration camp. Reading up on the fate of the coastal tribes is a depressing story that largely feels unresolved here in 2024, which means that we are essentially carrying on the policy mistakes of our ancestors while simultaneously trying to blame long-dead people for these atrocities and absolve ourselves of taking responsibility for our ancestors. [Maybe I’m more hopeful here – I enjoyed reading about the Yachats community coming to terms with the shady past of this area. There have been apologies and attempts of atonement – Caroline]

Amanda's Trail in Yachats, Oregon

Walking away from that symbol of shame, the rest of the hike was amazing, enchanting, and spectacular. This poor attempt to describe a fraction of what we felt might be a reflection of my lack of writing skills; it may also be because it is past 9:00 p.m. on Sunday that I got around to trying to capture some of the sense of our forest encounter.

Salmonberry on Amanda's Trail in Yachats, Oregon

This is an unripe salmonberry during the last 15 seconds of its existence. It may maybe a tragedy that we picked and shared this somewhat sour berry, but it also represented the very first fresh salmonberry either of us has ever tried.

Fairy Inkcap Mushrooms on Amanda's Trail in Yachats, Oregon

These Fairy Inkcap Mushrooms are considered edible, but since we are no mycologists or even part-time mushroom foragers, the last thing we’d do is sample mushrooms we find along a trail. Photographically, I’ve never wanted to pass them up, but often, they are damaged by those who walk by and kick them over. Someone working at a park years ago told us of those who intentionally destroy other mushrooms, so they can spread spores of the varieties they want to wild cultivate because they have commercial value.

Amanda's Trail in Yachats, Oregon

While many mosses are considered edible, they are nutrient-poor, but what they lack in health benefits they more than make up in aesthetic benefits to the landscape. Please don’t go getting the idea that I walk through the forest looking at it as a grocery store, but I can’t help but think about what we don’t know or understand about the various plants that are supposed to grow wild across America and at one time helped sustain Native Americans who clearly had learned how to survive on these lands for 20,000 years before white colonialists arrived about 400 years ago.

Amanda's Trail in Yachats, Oregon

While out here, in addition to the wildlife you will see in my photos, we heard the songs of Stellar’s jays, hermit warblers, golden-crowned kinglets, and brown creepers. We also saw woodpeckers and chipmunks. Even later in the day, we saw a pair of bald eagles atop a tree and another flying somewhere unknown to us.

Sheathed Woodtuft Mushrooms on Amanda's Trail in Yachats, Oregon

These mushrooms might be the edible sheathed woodtufts, but they might also be Galerina marginata, commonly known as the funeral bell, deadly skullcap, or deadly galerina, which obviously refers to their highly poisonous characteristics.

Amanda's Trail in Yachats, Oregon

Starting the trail where we did, as opposed to driving to the top of Cape Perpetua and beginning the hike up there, nearly the entirety of the first part of this hike is uphill, to the tune of about 1,000 feet (305 meters) of elevation gain.

Amanda's Trail in Yachats, Oregon

Here we are at the halfway point of the hike up the mountain, crossing a very small stream cutting between the two ridges we were transversing.

Caroline Wise on Amanda's Trail in Yachats, Oregon

Things had been fairly dry along the trail to this point, not desert dry like the version we are more familiar with, but coastal dry. The stream we crossed is just behind Caroline, but this photo wasn’t shared for that reason. Caroline couldn’t believe the size of the leaves growing here, so I asked her to stand there in lieu of a banana for a size comparison.

Banana Slug on Amanda's Trail in Yachats, Oregon

Speaking of bananas, this slug happened by, but it would have taken forever to reach the stream crossing had we been able to coax it to come with us back down the trail, so Caroline had no choice but to be the stand-in banana.

Amanda's Trail in Yachats, Oregon

Stopping to gaze deeply into everything is a surefire way to extend the time required to hike a trail. Somehow, we were even able to tack on at least a couple of extra miles to the 5.7 miles (9km) the full trail is measured at.

Red-Sided Garter Snake on Amanda's Trail in Yachats, Oregon

With Caroline’s propensity to pick up beach and trail trash, when she saw the pattern of this red-sided garter snake draped over a log, she was busy trying to figure out what the thing was that caught her eye before realizing that she was looking at a snake. At the time, neither she nor I knew what kind of snake it was; we only knew that we were fortunate to have seen it.

Amanda's Trail in Yachats, Oregon

Pay attention here; that’s Caroline’s name on this photo; occasionally, we get fairly good results with our phones, and this is one of those times.

Amanda's Trail in Yachats, Oregon

So many things in bloom we never get to see during our November trips to Oregon, such as these candy flowers.

Amanda's Trail in Yachats, Oregon

Trees often grow strangely in rainforest terrains. More than a few times, we saw trees growing out of other long-gone remnants of those that preceded them. I tried photographing these kinds of parasite growths, but the level of abstraction was undecipherable, and the aesthetic sense one gleans when present is lost in the still image.

View south from Cape Perpetua in Yachats, Oregon

We finally made it after hiking up the equivalent of a 100-story building to the Cape Perpetua Overlook. What we are on top of is actually a 45 million-year-old oceanic shield volcano.

Cape Perpetua Stone Shelter via the Whispering Spruce Trail in Yachats, Oregon

From this Stone Shelter built in 1933, one can see 40 miles (64km) out to sea and look up and down the coast for 70 miles (113km), that’s on a clear day.

Amanda's Trail in Yachats, Oregon

Talk about being those people; when we left Depoe Bay for Yachats, the only certainty was where we were going for breakfast. Hence, we didn’t bring a seriously necessary item required on 4.5-hour hikes: water. Lucky us, a French-Canadian couple cooking their breakfast high up Cape Perpetua had water in their camper van and were willing to share with us. With no drinking fountain on the mountaintop, it felt stupid of us to have embarked on such a hike so ill-prepared. After a couple of large glasses of water, we were ready to start our downhill trek.

Amanda's Trail in Yachats, Oregon

Not an example of a tree upon tree growing, but something weird has happened here. Now try to imagine just how disorienting the other images are that didn’t make the cut for inclusion.

Amanda's Trail in Yachats, Oregon

During the last 10 minutes of the hike, the sun finally started peeking through the clouds.

Caroline Wise on Amanda's Trail in Yachats, Oregon

To Caroline’s right is the area where the Amanda statue stands, which is the namesake for the trail that has crushed our knees and left us aching.

Bridge in Waldport, Oregon

Leaving the trail, it was only minutes later that we once again pulled into Ona Restaurant’s parking lot, and although we thought we were stopping for their highly regarded burgers, we both ended up getting the rockfish and chips. With just enough time left, we were able to get back to Waldport, home of the Alsea Bay Bridge, and stop back in at Tidewater Creations for more yarn because one can never have enough yarn, or maybe because it dawned on Caroline that she needed some extra hand-dyed yarn for a particular friend. At the shop, we learned about the local JillyBeanz Ice Cream Shop, which sells candy and ice cream scoops but also was supposed to have a great tiramisu. A treat really felt in order, so we made the stop without regrets.

Alsea River Bay in Waldport, Oregon

This is the Alsea River, where it starts to form a bay upon meeting the Pacific Ocean.

Dutch Bros. in Newport, Oregon

Though it was 5:30 and typically later than we’d like to have coffee, we had to stop in at Dutch Bros in Newport to share a cold brew, as it felt like narcolepsy was visiting both of us. Getting back to Depoe Bay with more than three hours of daylight remaining, one could think that we’d head out for sunset, but no chance, our legs were just too tired. We even skipped dinner due to the large late lunch and sweet treats we had indulged in next to the bay, but we didn’t skip a visit to the hot tub to help soothe our achy limbs and sore feet.

A Thousand Miles of Oregon Coast

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

View from our kitchen window in Depoe Bay, Oregon

This is our view out of the kitchen window; in the distance is the ocean. What’s wrong with this picture? We’ve not yet been out at that ocean today because we opted to sleep in, and not only that, but we’ve also been too lazy to get moving. This actually is a common thing for us on Saturdays, though it shouldn’t be when our time on the coast is rather limited. Every moment in our little slice of paradise by the sea should be maximized, and in reality, they are, even when we go slow.

Nye Beach in Newport, Oregon

Our first stop today was not for a walk. Instead, we drove south for breakfast at the Newport Cafe in, you guessed it, Newport. It’s a funky little place we’ve been visiting since 2012 when we had our first 4-pound Ultimate Monster Burger when it cost $13.95. Today, that burger is $25, but we weren’t here for that at this time of day, though they’ll serve one up if you really want it. Nope, we were here for the Pacific Seafood Scramble, which includes crab, shrimp, scallops, and veggies. Even at $21, there’s enough seafood in this dish that it feels like a bargain.

This sculpture at Nye Beach in Newport was carved by a local artist, German-born Juergen Eckstein. It was made from a piece of redwood that washed up on a local beach. The piece is called “Absence of Emptiness.”

Nye Beach in Newport, Oregon

We are at Nye Beach to walk off our over-indulgent breakfast. If you can see the Yaquina Head Lighthouse in the distance, we are heading that way.

Caroline Wise on Nye Beach in Newport, Oregon

We couldn’t ask for a more beautiful day, and had we needed anything, Caroline likely had it with her in that bag. It may look smallish, but she carries a kite, binoculars, some knitting, hunting gear, an inflatable small raft, a change of clothes, and a fax machine, I swear.

Nye Beach in Newport, Oregon

Our form of beach combing also takes in finding random clumps of grass growing on the world’s smallest sand dune.

Yaquina Head Lighthouse seen from Nye Beach in Newport, Oregon

Getting closer to the lighthouse.

Sand dollar at Nye Beach in Newport, Oregon

One of the best specimens of sand dollars we’ve found yet, it’s coming home with us if it doesn’t crumble before we get there.

Penis sand art on Nye Beach in Newport, Oregon

I’ve seen a lot of beach penis in my lifetime, but this is a capital specimen that I can get behind, and I assure you, it was just as amazing in person as your imagination is telling you it is. Just look at its joyous smile.

Yaquina Head from Nye Beach in Newport, Oregon

The map says it’s a 2.5-mile (4km) walk from Nye Beach to Yaquina Head. although through our zigzagging, we turned it into a 3.5-mile (5.6km) walk, but we couldn’t have asked for better weather. It was just beautiful out there.

Nye Beach in Newport, Oregon

This is the edge of a streambed crossing the beach between us and the cliffside of Yaquina Head that we thought we’d reach out and touch before turning around, but in the end, believing we had another 7,500 steps (3.5 miles) back to our car, it wasn’t all that important.

Nye Beach in Newport, Oregon

Off in the distance is where we need to be.

Approaching rain on Nye Beach in Newport, Oregon

Out of nowhere, a tempest started moving in from offshore, but I was certain it was no threat. That was until it started raining on us. Good thing Caroline carries rain jackets, umbrellas, and a waterproof case for my camera in that bag on her shoulder. “Excuse me, what do you mean you didn’t pack those today, wife?” I asked in disbelief. At 9:00 p.m., when I was writing this post, my fleece was still wet.

Bread & Roses Bakery in Yachats, Oregon

Twenty-five miles south and the sun was out, as was good fortune. An hour before Bread & Roses in Yachats was closing, they still had a few things on hand that grabbed our attention, such as this Celestial Snail Danish that was made more interesting by its name due to the connection to Caroline’s childhood nickname, Schnecke, the German word for “snail”. Around the corner and across the street we visited the Green Salmon Coffee Company and picked up three pounds of Ethiopian Yirgacheffe coffee beans, with one of them set to be a gift to our friend Brinn, who happened through Yachats about a decade ago.

Caroline Wise at Ona Restaurant in Yachats, Oregon

Next up was a stop at Ona Restaurant, also in Yachats. While we had a reservation for 6:30 this evening, we opted to have lunch here instead. Originally, the idea was that we might take a room further south to have a weekend at another coastal location, but with our digs in Depoe Bay being as perfect as they are, we are quite happy to stay right there. Plus, the weekend rates of lodging at this time of year are way out of hand. With a photo of our main dish just below, I have to describe our appetizer, which we have had before and is half of the reason we are back. It is the Rainforest Maitake Mushroom Pâté with marinated onions, arugula, olive tapenade, and feta. It is Wunderbar.

Seafood pasta from Ona Restaurant in Yachats, Oregon

This is the Ona Pasta featuring wild Mexican prawns, scallops, clams, rockfish, halibut, and baby spinach in a saffron cream sauce. It is as great today as it was a couple of years ago when we first tried this dish.

Caroline Wise at Tidewater Creations in Waldport, Oregon

Five days was a long time for Caroline to be on the Oregon coast without having the opportunity to buy yarn, but here she is, happy as a clam to have this chance to shop for the fibery reason of her existence. The shop is called Tidewater Creations in Waldport and is also the home of Twisted Tidewater, the owner’s own brand of beautiful hand-dyed yarns and spinning fiber. Caroline was able to pick up some mushroom-dyed yarn as well as pretty batts for spinning while I carefully selected a colorful skein of sock yarn.

Lost Creek in Newport, Oregon

What started as the need for the restroom here at the Lost Creek State Recreation Site turned into another 90-minute walk down the shoreline. Gotta get the steps in to fight against the heavy carb indulgences.

Keyhole limpet from Lost Creek in Newport, Oregon

We didn’t know what shells these were while out on the beach; it turns out that they are keyhole limpets. Their name shouldn’t fool you, though; while they are a species of sea snail, they are not, in fact, true limpets. What’s a limpet, you ask? Sorry, I’m not going to copy and paste every Wikipedia article I read. While I was in research mode, I also confirmed the identity of these tiny jumping things that we keep seeing on the beach, especially near rotting plants. They are beach hoppers, better known as sand fleas, though they are in no way related to fleas. They are related to crabs and shrimps, tiny versions of them, and are on the beach to help clean up organic matter; it is the lowly beach hopper that is responsible for the tiny holes on the shore as waves recede.

Lost Creek in Newport, Oregon

Need a beach to yourself? Visit Oregon in the summer.

After our drive back to Depoe Bay, getting through the photos and the majority of writing this post, we turned on the disco ball and lights at the hot tub before falling into the characters of Professors Roger and Virginia Clarvin at the Welshly Arms discussing the eating of succulent and juicy capons. If you don’t know the Rachel Dratch and Will Ferrell sketch from Saturday Night Live, this joke won’t work for you.

A Simple Friday on the Oregon Coast

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

Boiler Bay in Depoe Bay, Oregon

A funny thing happened on the way to our walk at Gleneden Beach: the sun poking over the forest was so attractive that we were easily distracted and had to pull over at Boiler Bay to take in the scene. If you are astute, you’ll ask, “What’s so funny about that? Aren’t you two easily distracted by just about anything in nature?” Should that be what first comes to your mind, you likely know us well. Now, if you are truly aware, you might have noticed that the sun is already over the horizon. Well, on this Friday morning, it just might have been a wee bit difficult to get moving.

As I already noted, we were going to Gleneden Beach, just as we did a couple of days ago. The idea was to try minimizing the inclination to photograph everything all over again.

Gleneden Beach State Recreation Site in Oregon

Blah, blah, blah surf, blah blah. I’m trying to keep this short so I can move on to other tasks, such as working on my novel because, after an extended morning walk from we didn’t return to our car until 7:45, making a hot breakfast, starting laundry, and then putting a pot of peruano beans on to simmer over the day, it was already kind of late when I turned to prepping these meager six photos which are standing in to represent our morning. Sometimes, laziness fits the bill, though getting 3 miles of walking in before everything else tends to make the rest that much better.

Gleneden Beach State Recreation Site in Oregon

The other day, we looked in this direction but opted to walk south. Today, the path along the shore took us north, and to our surprise, we connected with the southern end of the Salishan Beach Trail we had discovered on Tuesday. If you read that post, you’d know of the two skull pieces, one disconnected from the seal’s body it came from. Now, three days later, the carcass has moved farther south down the beach, and little of the seal remains. We persist, though, so that’s good.

Gleneden Beach State Recreation Site in Oregon

The sun is moving; it is rising to warm this cold morning. Caroline and I had been talking about the weather and the season, and the number of people we expected to see out on the coast hasn’t materialized. Maybe they’ll show up this weekend? Something has to justify the high cost of lodging up here at this time of year, but then again, the cool weather might be keeping visitors away. So, I just checked on the highs and lows regarding the temperatures, and at least here in Depoe Bay, August is the hottest month, with an average high of 68 degrees (20 Celsius) or a solid 40 degrees (22 Celsius) cooler than Phoenix, Arizona. It probably doesn’t help that the water temperature is only 51 degrees (11 Celsius) today compared to 71 degrees (22 Celsius) in Hawaii.

A starfish at Gleneden Beach State Recreation Site in Oregon

Outside of the sea is not the place for a starfish, no matter how strong it flexes. Dude was a pretty buff specimen, but not so tough to resist being chucked right back into the drink from which it escaped. That was about the extent of our morning, and now, between this photo and the next, a normal routine day will take place until Caroline finishes with happy hour later this afternoon, and we again head into a coastal adventure.

Salmon River near Cascade Head in Otis, Oregon

For the fifth day in a row, Caroline’s desk/work setup has remained on the enclosed deck/sunroom, where we had unpacked her things on Monday after we arrived. Though her day begins with a chilly start in the low 50s (11 Celsius), she’s chosen to muscle through it as the birds’ songs are nearer. The squirrel in the tree to her left gets her attention, she watched a deer walking down the driveway earlier, and as the sun comes up over the trees to warm her right cheek, the room can become a toasty 80 degrees (26 Celsius) until midday when the trees behind her cast shadows and the room cools – we open the sliding door for more airflow. As for me, it suits my situation well to sit inside trying to avoid even more distractions from blogging, working on the photos, making three fresh meals a day, and trying to finagle my way into my novel. With all of those things and the work week behind us, it is time to start the weekend, which we thought would start here near Cascade Head on the right. Instead, we found ourselves at the Salmon River in Otis at the end of the road and not the trailhead that would have taken us to the overlook up high. Time and cloud cover suggested the three hours required for the hike would have us returning to the car at 10:00 p.m., so we’re saving it for another day.

D River State Recreation Site in Lincoln City, Oregon

Now wishy-washy about what to do next, we made a brief stop at the D River State Recreation Site in Lincoln City, home of the world’s shortest river, and realized that people were streaming in for the weekend, as evidenced by the number of people on the beach. I get that you might not see it due to me intentionally taking this photo as a silhouette, but we are on a wall overlooking the beach and well over the heads of the majority of people out there. We’re not interested in putting ourselves out there among the throngs. Okay, it’s not like this was Huntington Beach in Southern California kind of busy, but it was busy enough for us that we moved on.

Millport Slough in Lincoln City, Oregon

You know those signs on bridges that tell drivers not to stop on them? Well, this bridge doesn’t have those signs, and I felt there was just enough room on the right to throw on the hazard lights and jump out of the car to try and grab a photo of the Siletz River flowing into the Millport Slough.

Fishing Rock State Recreation Site in Depoe Bay, Oregon

Our final walk of the day was out to Fishing Rock.

Fishing Rock State Recreation Site in Depoe Bay, Oregon

I’d like to have been able to fully appreciate the romantic moment shared by a young couple if only it weren’t while they stood on top of what looked like a wildly dangerous place to be experiencing the last minutes of the day and possibly the last minutes of their lives. Pragmatism and a healthy sense of avoiding the most precarious of risks seem like solid thinking on our part; then again, we also feel rather wimpy due to the anxiety and burst of fear in witnessing such acts of bravery/stupidity. All the same, it does put smiles on our faces when we see people in love.

Fossils on the Oregon Coast

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

Caroline Wise at Wade Creek Beach in Newport, Oregon

This example of a still-mobile older woman walking down the beach proves that human fossils still have a life after 50 years of age. Not only is she capable of getting outside of her routine, here at the cusp of summer on the Oregon coast where it was a brisk 48 degrees (9 Celsius) (though with the wind chill factored in, it felt like 40 degrees (4.5 Celsius)), this fine example of womanhood girded her loins and showed the male of the species how being tough is done. What she forgets is that her mate is at an advanced age of 61 and that has likely mastered the art of the whine, not so much for effect but for the sake of annoying the female, who has shown the kind of thin skin that lets her cringe every time he opens his mouth.

Fossils at Wade Creek Beach in Newport, Oregon

Oops, I wasn’t supposed to start this post speaking of our own fossilized natures and humor. I was supposed to save that for describing the awesome seashells encased in rock here on Wade Creek Beach.

Bald eagle at Wade Creek Beach in Newport, Oregon

In a flash, a bald eagle soared overhead, marking the first time Caroline and I had ever seen one of these majestic birds in Oregon.

Fossils at Wade Creek Beach in Newport, Oregon

Initially, my own half-fossilized brain had more questions than answers when looking at these ancient artifacts from distant times, such as: will I see fish or marine mammal skeletal remains, or why have all of those fossil remnants fallen out of the cliffside that’s overhead? Excitement clouds the brain, or in keeping with the getting old jokes, the elderly mind is clouded by its aged state. Anyway, there are simple, easy answers.

Columnar jointed lava at Wade Creek Beach in Newport, Oregon

And part of that answer starts right here with the fossilized dinosaur skin. Just kidding, this is what’s known as columnar jointing and can occur from cooling andesite magma. Sorry but I’m not going into a full science lesson to describe it all.

Columnar jointed lava at Wade Creek Beach in Newport, Oregon

In a nutshell, as lava was flowing to the sea, there were times when ash, mud, or lava was reaching the shore and, at times, further into the ocean. While I’m no expert on such matters, these jointed columns likely used to lie under the sea or being eroded by waves due to their smooth surfaces.

Fossils at Wade Creek Beach in Newport, Oregon

The reason we’re only seeing shellfish would be that as the ash and mud were flowing into the nearby waters, they were rolling over the clams, scallops, snails, mussels, and barnacles that couldn’t move out of the way. As for the plant life that would have been covered in such a grave, I do not know why there is no visual record of their previous existence. Maybe if I looked closer and took a moment from being so enchanted by the largest, most obvious finds, I’d start to see the plant fossils.

Wade Creek Beach in Newport, Oregon

And then there’s the matter of plate tectonics and continental drift, which shoves massive parts of the earth around, such as uplifting the Pacific Coast where the obvious recipient of these herculean efforts of nature are witnessed as mountains, but even at the seashore, there’s no reason to doubt that at times, these lands are uplifted as well. So, this explains why all this stuff is now overhead instead of deep below our feet. About this blue rock, it’s actually clay that was once volcanic ash that might be deficient in iron and aluminum. (I wrote about that during a visit to Moolack Beach six years ago.) As for the separating bands of different materials responsible for the strange patterns, I’m going to guess that those were sediments that had the chance to accumulate between ash flows.

Wade Creek Beach in Newport, Oregon

And this concludes our exciting morning walk at Wade Creek Beach. My next check-in will be after 5:00, when Caroline and I take off for another grand coastal adventure here in Oregon.

This just in: family circumstances, being the fluid things they are, have created a situation where our hosts, June and Marvin, have had to cancel their trip to France. Obviously, the right thing to do was for me to offer them their home back, as they are now down in the super-hot Valley of the Sun baking themselves instead of enjoying the smell of freshly baked croissants on the streets of France. While we’ve been reassured that we do not have to bail out on our work/vacation stay here in Oregon, it was a quick lesson in how attached we’d already become to this luxury at the seashore. It’s also a great reminder not to get too attached to things, as nothing is permanent. Be grateful for every moment and celebrate those times because you never know what tomorrow brings.

Fogarty Creek Beach in Depoe Bay, Oregon

The workday finally came to an end, and a quick dinner was shared before our five-minute drive north to Fogarty Creek Beach. With only minutes past high tide, we were limited on how far we could walk here, so we aimed for a turnoff a minute north across the street from the Chester Market to see if there was beach access over there.

Lincoln Beach in Depoe Bay, Oregon

Lincoln Beach, still in Depoe Bay, is a nice sandy affair, but maybe it’s too clean, according to Caroline. There will be no beachcombing at a place without rocks, shells, trash, or cliffside fossils. Nothing left to do but bring out Happy McKiteface.

Caroline Wise at Lincoln Beach in Depoe Bay, Oregon

We were surprised at how easily the kite went aloft even though the wind was a light affair. Maybe it was just a breeze, but up the kite went, as did the smile on my wife’s face.

Caroline Wise and John Wise at Lincoln Beach in Depoe Bay, Oregon

There’s a serious joy had by Caroline when she’s flying a kite. I asked her about it, and she equates it to taking a dog for a walk where it tugs and pulls at its lead, which, in a way, animates both the kite and the sky above us. I probably took close to 40 photos of us trying to get one that worked. In portrait mode, I kept slicing off half of my head, and in landscape mode, the Caroline’s kite was out of the frame, or we were too dark, cut off, only heads without shoulders and a ton of sky above us, or some other mishap of lacking photographic skills that denied us a selfie with our pet kite. Remember, we are using a DSLR instead of a phone, so I cannot see the screen. However, while the camera has a screen, I find it too distracting, and end up looking at it instead of the center of the lens.

Caroline Wise at Lincoln Beach in Depoe Bay, Oregon

While there were not as many photos to share today as other days, don’t think for an instant that it was any less spectacular. Not only did we spend every minute near each other, but after we returned to the house, we finally took advantage of the hot tub bubbling away at a toasty 105 degrees (44.5 Celsius). Next time, we’ll plug in the spotlight that points at a disco ball that we only saw after we took our seats in the tub. Seriously perfect.

Solitude on the Oregon Coast

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

Gleneden Beach State Recreation Site in Lincoln Beach, Oregon

Very little has changed from our routines in Phoenix, aside from the scenery and the foods we’re eating. We wake at 5:00 a.m., futz around on the computer as we shake off drowsiness, and check the temperature here in Depoe Bay, which was a chilly 45 degrees this morning (7 Celsius) compared to the heat advisory affecting the Phoenix area, where it was 80 degrees before 6:00 a.m., already (26.5 Celsius). With a push for some momentum, we got in the car for a 7-minute drive north to Gleneden Beach State Recreation Site in Lincoln Beach.

Gleneden Beach State Recreation Site in Lincoln Beach, Oregon

Other than a couple of campers still in their tents, there was nobody else to be seen out here this morning. Maybe the marine layer was obscuring them, but to our senses, we were alone in the solitude of having the coast to ourselves.

Caroline Wise at Gleneden Beach State Recreation Site in Lincoln Beach, Oregon

This idea that it will be 112 degrees in Phoenix today (44 Celsius), yet we were able to sleep under our comforter here on the coast, and that in the early morning, we need our wool base layer and fleece along with a beanie still feels unreal. With Caroline needing to be “at work” by 8:00, there is no time for fun and games, hence, her hands are in her pockets instead of holding and guiding Happy McKiteface.

Gleneden Beach State Recreation Site in Lincoln Beach, Oregon

This kind of start to the day arrives with its own issues. I’m compelled to capture these reminders of our time out here, but I should try to keep things to a minimum as if I could, when presented with scenes such as this.

Gleneden Beach State Recreation Site in Lincoln Beach, Oregon

What you are not seeing in all of this beauty is that the original “road” that you could once drive down to the beach is gone. Eroded and broken off, the asphalt just dead ends into thin air, hanging over nothing and waiting to disappear even further back. All along the cliffside, there are signs of desperate measures to reinforce land that is being dragged into the sea. But while they last, these perches towering over the beach must be amazing; too bad they seem mostly empty as the owners must call somewhere else home, and these are simply getaway locations.

Gleneden Beach State Recreation Site in Lincoln Beach, Oregon

Without being in the water to capture the real churn and size of the waves, photos have never really done justice to demonstrate the power of what we are gawking at.

Gleneden Beach State Recreation Site in Lincoln Beach, Oregon

Gotta say, gawking at the sea is always tough when such magnificent god rays are present.

Caroline Wise on a small nature trail in Depoe Bay, Oregon

Later in the day, we enjoyed an amazing lunch of elote, which is Mexican-style grilled corn. The grilled ears of corn are easy to understand, the interesting part is they are smeared with a mixture of crema Oaxaqueña, mayonnaise, garlic powder, cotija (cheese), and Tajin (chili, lime, and salt mixture). Following that, we took the small trail next to the house down to a nearby park. Yet again, we must note the incredible scents we encounter when walking through coastal forests.

The tiny harbor of Depoe Bay, Oregon

It turns out that the harbor at Depoe Bay is also the path used by salmon, with the South Depoe Bay Creek and its tributaries being the ancestral homes of these fish. Another interesting note regarding the harbor: Jack Nicholson, in One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, commandeered a fishing boat arriving here for a scene from the movie.

Caroline Wise riding a wild whale in Depoe Bay, Oregon

Speaking of a cuckoo’s nest and some of the characters from the film, this one has been back here in the park since 1975, riding the springy whale. That’s why she was never seen in the movie.

WeBe Coffee and a French Press in Depoe Bay, Oregon

Time for a commercial break from our sponsor. When the need for an afternoon coffee sounds like the pick-me-up that will help you muscle through the day, consider brewing a pot of WeBe’s Rwanda Kivubelt People’s Farm coffee. They’ll even grind it for free, just as they did for our Le Creuset French Press, another great sponsor of today’s blog post. So kick back, but not so far that you fall into a nap, and enjoy a hot cup of WeBe coffee. Buy a bag today, and you, too, can have a happy life on the Oregon Coast, just like John and Caroline Wise.

Rocky Creek State Scenic Viewpoint in Depoe Bay, Oregon

The workday is done, and as much as we’d like to head right out, the matter of our evening meal must be dealt with since convenience down the road is not an option. With leftover smoked fish chowder reheating on the stove reheating, I’m over on my computer updating this next paragraph, which will be followed by whatever photo will be shared next in sequence. As for my own productivity, it has taken me more time than I’d like to jump back into my novel, though I didn’t expect it to be all that easy, considering the month interlude. So far, it has been but a small step of two new paragraphs, but it is a continuation, so I should be happy. Hopefully, tomorrow, I’ll be turning to it a lot earlier than today, hence all this effort to work on this post before the end of the day. This trail is at the Rocky Creek State Scenic Viewpoint in Depoe Bay on the way to the Whale Cove Overlook.

Rocky Creek State Scenic Viewpoint in Depoe Bay, Oregon

I must have a subconscious delusional secret fantasy when we leave for our evening activities that somehow everything will be so familiar, seen, and experienced before that I’ll be happy to forsake taking more photos, thus saving me from the need to write even more, but no, that’s not the way it works. It’s like everything is new again and requires photographing everything just in case these photos are the best ever.

Huckleberry blossoms at Rocky Creek State Scenic Viewpoint in Depoe Bay, Oregon

This one and only time, I’m admitting that more than a few times, I’m inspired to take a photo of something Caroline felt inspired to take a photo of. Believe it or not, there are times when her sense of the aesthetic kicks in before mine, and I have to follow her lead. Good thing we have two pairs of eyes working to explore our environment.

Otter Crest Loop in Otter Rock, Oregon

We are traveling south, collecting steps and sights as we go. This stop is on the Otter Crest Loop in Otter Rock.

Otter Crest looking at Cape Foulweather in Otter Rock, Oregon

A stretch of the Otter Crest Loop is a narrow one-way road prone to induce involuntary sphincter-pulsing due to its proximity to some rather steep precarious cliffsides. The white building on the hillside is the Lookout; more about it in a moment.

Escallonia at Cape Foulweather in Otter Rock, Oregon

I likely took about 50 photos of this scene or one very similar, as bumblebees were buzzing around the blossoms, and though I gave it my best effort, not one of those photos turned out very well. The plant is called escallonia or redclaws by its common name.

Cape Foulweather in Otter Rock, Oregon

Originally a coffee shop operated by Wilbur S. and Florence Badley, the Lookout became a gift shop due to popular demand back in the 1920s and 30s. By 1928, the couple had gifted the state the adjoining land; in 2013, the state acquired the gift shop too. This area of the coast is known as Cape Foulweather and was named by Captain James Cook on March 7, 1778. This is the guy who, a year later, was killed while attempting to kidnap the King of Hawaii, Kalaniʻōpuʻu.

Looking south from Otter Crest in Otter Rock, Oregon

About midway down the coast in this photo, jutting into the ocean, is the Devils Punchbowl Arch, and in the distance, you might see a spit of land; that’s where the Yaquina Head Lighthouse stands.

Otter Rock Marine Garden in Otter Rock, Oregon

Look closely, and you might see a small speck of light near the water level in the shadows on the cliff left of center; that is one of the arches that make up the Devils Punchbowl Arch. A collapsed cave is what the Punchbowl is named after, and during low tide, you can walk down this very beach into the formation. However, right now, it’s full of water and extremely dangerous. The trail we’ve taken brought us down to the Otter Rock Marine Garden.

Otter Rock Marine Garden in Otter Rock, Oregon

With the tide high, there wasn’t very far we could walk, so our time was brief out here but well worth the visit.

Japanese honeysuckle at Otter Rock Marine Garden in Otter Rock, Oregon

I must have been oblivious or tired because it was Caroline stepping up into some plants, which triggered me to see what she was looking at. How could I have missed this? How could she inspire me twice in one day to see what I was blind from seeing? Well, here it is, the Japanese honeysuckle flower.

Sunset from Devils Punchbowl Arch in Otter Rock, Oregon

We had two more stops to make before driving back to Depoe Bay: the first was up at Devils Punchbowl, where the sun was already too low to get an adequate photo into the churning chasm below, and the last stop was in the town of Newport to pick up a couple of things at the grocery store. It was almost 9:30 p.m. when we got back, and passed out shortly thereafter.