Another day on the Oregon coast, and the
sun is still shining! If it took half of the day yesterday to
hit our stride and find the coastal beauty that we seeked
(suck?), today the majesty of the Pacific was on us from the
start. Even the inland portions of today's tourism was
impressive, starting with the Munson Creek Waterfall just south
of Tillamook. At 319 feet, it's the tallest waterfall in the
coastal range. Somehow, we just don't seem to be getting bored
with the waterfalls...
Gorgeous rocky-cliff coastline covered with
redwood, sitka spruce and Douglas fir (like we know our trees
all of a sudden). Today we didn't feel like wasting our time
eating, so we lunched quickly on delicious Subway brand
sandwiches (Subway, eat fresh!) on an obstructed view bench in
what would otherwise be picturesque Depoe Bay.
It's been a week or so since we were on the
wildlife spotting beat, but our next couple of stops, Seal Rock
and Strawberry Hill State Parks, are known for their ability to get close up
to the sea lions and tide pools, and also see gray whales
cavorting off shore. Seal Rock was first, and seemed pretty
cool until we stopped off at Strawberry Hill. Having seen a few
in the past couple of weeks, we didn't think that we'd ever be
mesmerized by tide pools - but these were really cool. There
were dozens of sea lions hanging out on a nearby rock, but we
were too taken with the tide pool creatures to pay them much
mind. Brightly colored sea stars (star fish), anemones,
urchins, as well as stuff EVEN WE are unable to identify filled
each of the large pools. Luckily, we accidentally arrived at
low tide to take advantage. Still no sign of sea horses (or sea
monkeys for that matter), but we were impressed all the same.
The next wildlife watching spot is most
notable for being the only non-food/drink/lodging/gas
expenditure on this trip that we spent money on - Sea Lion
Caves. We forked over our $9 each to descend in an elevator
down into the cliff where the sea lions lounge and frolic in the
largest sea cave in the world. We had to do much imagining,
however, since the sea lions apparently don't really go into the
cave during the summer months. There was one sea lion, probably
sickly, that you could just make out. Otherwise, you can go to
their 'viewing platform' to see the rest of them hanging on some
rocks outside the cave, several hundred feet away from the
platform. We got a much better show about 15 minutes earlier,
where, 1/4 mile up the highway there was a roadside pullout
which had a great view of a group of much more active sea lions
playing in the surf and lounging on much closer rocks. See if
we spend any more money on tourist attractions!
As dusk was settling in, we quickly checked
into the Ocean Breeze Motel in Florence before heading back out
to get some last sightseeing in for the day. Our innkeeper gave us the
skinny on where to go for the best scenic overlooks of the
nearby Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area. We're becoming
quite the dune-o-philes, as this area is at least the fourth
dunes area managed by the national parks service that we've
visited. Pretty coastal dunes here, reminding us much more of
the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore of Michigan than the
White Sands dunes of New Mexico or Colorado's Great Sand Dunes National Park.
The first 'official' scenic overlook was nice…and easy. The
innkeeper's secret overlook, however, involved a climb up about
80 feet of extremely steep, soft sand (as steep as a windblown
pile of sand can get). Your payoff? 40 mph winds relentlessly
whip stinging sand at you in a full frontal attack to knock you
off of the dune. If you can open your eyes long enough, the
view makes you feel very much like you're suddenly in the Sahara
Desert in the middle of a sandstorm. These dunes are popular
with people who like to ride dirtbikes and 4-wheelers… while
wearing goggles.
You might be thinking, "What a chock-full
day! Surely they must be heading to bed by now!". But alas, we
had one more important stop on this, our wildlife-watching day.
Just 20 miles south of the Ocean Breeze Motel in Florence is the
Dean Creek Elk Viewing Area, part of the Watchable Wildlife
program. It was well worth the drive. There are no enclosures
here; it's just been designated as a viewing area since elk are
often seen here. There were at least a dozen elk nearby. The
bulls (males), with their huge racks, were very close; grazing,
drinking from a stream, and banging antlers, while the females
stayed further back. It's just amazing to see these animals up
so close!
Getting hungry, we headed back to Florence
and stopped off at the Aztlan restaurant for some Mexican food.
Mediocre food, attentive but impersonal service, tacky décor… it
was just like we were back in some of the touristy restaurants
of Mexico - muy auténtico.
Another very busy but extremely satisfying
day, we've got an even busier day planned for tomorrow when we
leave the coast!
Caroline checks out the hot sea lion action at Strawberry Hill
Somewhere on the Oregon coast
Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area
Dean Creek Elk Viewing Area - watching the Watchable Wildlife |
Downstream from Munson Creek Falls
Shoreline at Seal Rock
Caroline gets some sand off of her feet - photo op!
Sea lions lounge offshore at Strawberry Hill
Some of the supercool tide pool creatures at Strawberry Hill
Heceta Head lighthouse and lighthousekeeper's house at Devil's
Elbow in Oregon
Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area
Dean Creek Elk Viewing Area - watching the Watchable Wildlife |