Yaquina Head

Quaint little Newport was a busy place during our visit. Turned out the population of little Newport had tripled overnight because of  the Seafood and Wine Festival. Presumably enough wine was drunk to stave off the effects of ciguatera (an illness caused by eating bad seafood), or at least it looked that way, judging by the overly boisterous and festive patrons in the restaurant we ate in. And Newport should be a happy place what with all the good food, good wine, and totally awesome scenery abounding in the Newport area. 

Yaquina Head Outstanding Lighthouse

And speaking of totally awesome scenery, Dollie and I got an early morning start at Yaquina Head. Amusingly, the official name for the head is not the Yaquina Head Natural Area but the Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area. Seriously, that's what the natural area is called. What's next: Crater Lake Super Dooper National Park? Boulder Creek Totally Awesome Wilderness?

Who made these tracks?

The track-making culprit

Over-the-top name aside, the scenery really is outstanding at Yaquina Head. Initially we had the entire place to ourselves, which might have been attributable to the wine portion of the Seafood and Wine Festival. We began our exploration of the Outstanding area by grabbing a very civilized paved and railed path down to Quarry Cove. Scooped out of the head, the quarry has been reclaimed by the sea and the rocks provided some great tide pools to explore.

Small cove on the head

There is an upper quarry above Quarry Cove which the visitor center now occupies. The scenery was sort of otherworldly with the modern building at the bottom of a sparsely vegetated, treeless and rocky bowl. The sea was hidden from view and it felt like we were on Mars. We grabbed another paved path that crossed under the roadway and returned us to Planet Oregon.

Great view with some surfer dudes in it

As we walked, views were awesome and expansive, the Oregon coast arcs gracefully past Newport to the Yaquina River, the rock jetty seemingly frail and delicate off in the distance. The bay was full of surfer dudes plying their passion as the waves marched in one after another.

Architectural detail 

A the end of the head sits the iconic Yaquina Head Lighthouse and it quickly became obvious this is where all the visitors go. A short path loops around the lighthouse and provided views of Moolack Beach stretching out all the way to Cape Foulweather (one of my favorite place names). At the foot of the head was a rock arch with the sea pulsing through it.

Stairway to the loud rocks

Below the lighthouse was a small beach comprised of round golf ball sized basalt rocks, the stones looking like a gigantic pile of fossilized rabbit poop. The sound the rocks made when people walked on them was something else, a loud clacking sound that reverberated from about a 15 foot radius from my boots. I wish they would have had these rocks on a couple of backpack trips I'd been on as the deer could never stealthily sneak into camp to steal hiking poles.

The slowest jailbreak ever

The main attraction at this little beach is not the noisy round rocks but the world class tide pools. It's a fairly civilized exploration of the pools as there are signs denoting walking boundaries and there is a nearby ranger posted to make sure nobody thinks the signs are dares. It sure was embarrassing when she yelled at me.

Nature's way of discouraging barefoot wading

The pools were filled with mussel beds and large starfish of various shades of orange and red were sprawled on top of the beds enjoying their own little Seafood Festival. Starfish eat by pushing their stomach out and then returning it back to the proper body cavity after getting sated. Now there's a new idea for a horror movie! Not as creepy but just as visually interesting, spiny purple sea urchins congregated, looking like a pincushion store's inventory before the big sale.

Women and children, be careful
Men, you are on your own!

The weather was beginning to turn a bit belligerent and cold but Salal Hill was calling my name. Dollie did not hear her name being called so she headed back to the car while I took the short side trip up a trail that switchbacked to and fro through the low growing salal. After a short stretch of trail on a narrow and exposed ridge, views were predictably spectacular from the summit.

Outstanding!

On the way down, the rain started and it was a wet drive home to Winston. Back to normal, sigh. For more pictures of this spectacular Outstanding natural area, please visit the Flickr album.

Newport weekend

Come visit the Oregon coast!

One late November, thirteen years ago, Dollie and I got married. In hindsight, we should have gotten married in the summer as it can be difficult to stoke the fires of love when on an anniversary campout on the coast with all that "wonderful" November weather.

Surf's up!

But camping stupid is what we do, so we piled into the car and negotiated all the mudslides, floods, and fallen trees that makes driving to the coast so interesting. The weather was awful what with gale force winds and heavy rain prompting the National Weather Service to issue a weather alert and flood warning inland with a high surf and a high wind advisory called for the coast.

Normally, this is the sandy Yachats Beach

As we approached Yachats on the way to our Beverly Beach yurt rental, we stopped to take some pictures of a very rambunctious ocean at Yachats Beach. Normally there is a sandy little beach here but on this day, the beach was entirely submerged by the heavy surf. We literally were staggering like losing boxers as we took pictures while getting cuffed around by the wind.

At least the wind blew the clouds away

At Beverly Beach Campground, just north of Newport, we attempted (and failed) to get a good night's sleep while 60 mph winds shrieked like a school of rabid banshees and the rain pattered on the canvas walls of the yurt like overly caffeinated rodents. Since the campground was set in the forest, I was cringing all night long at the thought of falling trees.

There's no place like foam

However, no trees fell and the rain stopped, the wind eased up a bit, and the following morn dawned sunny and clear. It still was blustery and cold so armed with windbreakers, Dollie and I set off for an early morning hike on Beverly Beach.

When in foam, do as the foamans do

Unfortunately, we didn't get very far as the tide was still pretty high and large waves were chasing us all the way to the cliffs lining the beach.  The ocean had been churned to a froth and the wind was blowing the foam probably all the way to Astoria. Also unfortunately, another storm system arrived by the time we returned to the yurt with the wind shrieking loudly all over again.

Stormy day at Devils Punchbowl

Having most of the day to kill, we hopped in the car and did some sightseeing on the coast to the north with the first stop being Devils Punchbowl State Park. By now the storm had arrived with a vengeance and once again we were trying our best to admire the view while battling the wind.

View to Yaquina Head in foul weather

Not staying outdoors for too long a time, we quickly sought shelter in the car.  It was fitting that we drove up to the appropriately named Cape Foulweather. There were impressive views all the way to Yaquina Head underneath gray skies. We went into the souvenir shop and I muttered something to clerk about the nasty conditions outside and he dryly noted "Yes, it is foul weather". I bet he says that a lot.

Dollie, celebrating our anniversary

South of Depoe Bay, we stopped at the Rock Creek Wayside near Whale Cove to take pictures and videos of the waves crashing on the rocks. We were standing on cliffs about 50 feet above the surf yet the grass we were standing on was covered with sea foam in testament to the wind's fury.

Marina, at Depoe Bay

At touristy Depoe Bay, the wind finally let up and allowed for a short walk along the beach promenade. There are a couple of spouting horns below the promenade and they were in full spouting glory due to the tempestuous conditions. Crowds of tourists gawked at the spray of water emanating from the horns, although I noticed none stayed very long.  

W-w-welc-c-come t-to N-n-ewport...it was c-c-cold!

Returning to Newport in the evening, we walked downtown on rainy streets while the car tires hissed on the wet pavement. There were piers and docks in between all the waterfront shops and restaurants, we went to go stand and shiver on wet planks for the next hour or so. Why? To see the Christmas boats of course!

The Coast Guard entry

The gaily lit boats circled around Yaquina Bay, most had a party and a drenched Santa on board to wave and  yell out "Merry Christmas" to poor people like us standing on the cold and rain-soaked docks with chattering teeth. We were glad to return to our heated and dry yurt, I think I even slept through the howling pack of wild demons that were the night's windstorm.

Newport, on a rainy night

We cut the trip a bit short and returned back home a half-day earlier than planned. Lest any of you readers think that I was committing wife-abuse by making Dollie go camping in such adverse conditions, I will point out the trip was her idea; I'm just the victim here.

For more pictures of this wet and wild weekend, visit the Flickr album.