Category: Southern Coast

Samuel H. Boardman State Scenic Corridor South and Wheeler Ridge Bomb Site

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date May 27, 2016
5 Comments on Samuel H. Boardman State Scenic Corridor South and Wheeler Ridge Bomb Site

On Thursday we headed for another State Park south of Gold Beach. The Samuel H. Boardman State Scenic Corridor covers a 12 mile long stretch along the Pacific Ocean. Numerous day use areas and trails including the Oregon Coast Trail make the area very easy to explore. We planned on spending two days hiking in the park starting near the southern end at the Lone Ranch Picnic Area.

From the parking area we headed north on a paved path toward Cape Ferelo.

The Oregon Coast Trail crossed Lone Ranch Creek and headed up through the meadows of Cape Ferello before reaching the beach. We opted to visit the beach and take a different path up to Cape Ferrelo. We walked along the creek crossing on some drift wood nearer to the ocean.

We found the path leading up and followed it along the cape’s edge.

The open meadow allowed for great views to both the north and south and wildflowers dotted the grassy hillsides.

Lupine

sticky monkey-flower

Violets

Possibly a ragwort

Coastal manroot

Clover

Catchfly

The path we were following rejoined the Oregon Coast Trail on Cape Ferrelo which then brought us to the Cape Ferrelo Viewpoint.

From that parking area, the Oregon Coast Trail passed through a more forested section of the park.

The views opened up again as we approached the House Rock Viewpoint (We never were sure which was House Rock).

Continuing from the House Rock Viewpoint the next .9 miles of the Oregon Coast Trail passed through a surprising variety of forest scenery.

The trail then split with a sign pointing us to the right.

We suspected that the left fork led down to the beach which we planned on walking along on our return trip so we made a mental note to see if this was indeed the spot where we would rejoin the Oregon Coast Trail later. A little further along was a sign for a “Waterfall Loop”.

We like waterfalls so we turned onto the loop trail. The first fall we passed was a bit hard to see from the trail but we wondered if we would have a better view when we were down on the beach.

The next waterfall was actually a series of three small cascades. These were more visible from a short side trail.

Next up was Whaleshead Viewpoint where an amazing field of foxglove was blooming.

From this viewpoint the trail dropped steeply down .2 miles to Whaleshead Beach.

We kept heading north passing through the Whaleshead Beach Picnic Area in .3 miles, crossing the entrance road to the picnic area in another .2 miles, and finally stopping at a viewpoint overlooking Whaleshead Island.
Buttercups in the picnic area.

Approaching the entrance road crossing.

The viewpoint.

Sea thrift and paintbrush

Looking north from the viewpoint.

Whaleshead island and sea figs

We headed back to Whaleshead Beach and headed south through the sand.

There were several highlights on the beach walk starting with a small opening passing through some rocks.

Then we followed Bowman Creek along the beach.

The first fork of the creek coming out of the forest was where the smaller cascades were located. We couldn’t see them from the beach but it looked like a more determined person could have hiked up the creek to a view.

At the second fork the larger waterfall that we hadn’t had a good view of was clearly visible.

The beach ended shortly after the third creek coming down to the ocean.

There were a bunch of oyster catchers on a rock here.

A post on the hillside on the far side of this creek marked the trail that would take us back up to the Oregon Coast Trail.

We hiked up the creek a bit to pick up the faint overgrown trail.

We just kept aiming for the posts as we passed some pretty wildflower displays.

We did wind up back on the Oregon Coast Trail at the junction we had suspected earlier and headed back toward Cape Ferrelo. This time we followed the Oregon Coast Trail over the cape. This led us to another viewpoint with a bench and some flowers we hadn’t seen along the other portion of trail.

Bachelor button

brodiaea

We had a little trouble finding the correct route through the vegetation near Lone Ranch Creek and wound up popping out in between the Oregon Coast Trail and the route we had taken that morning.

After returning to the car we drove into Brookings and headed for our second hike of the day at the site of a WWII bomb dropped by a Japanese pilot on Wheeler Ridge. To reach the trailhead we took South Bank Road for 5.2 miles and turned right following a pointer on Mt. Emily Road (road 1205) for 3.7 miles forking left at that point to stay on road 1205 until we reached the signed trailhead.

The trail is only a mile long but the interesting history behind the site makes the trip well worth it. The pilot, Nobou Fujita, took off from a Japanese submarine on September 9th, 1942 and flew inland to drop two bombs in hopes of starting a forest fire. One of the bombs did start a small fire that was spotted by the lookout,Howard Gardner, stationed on nearby Mt. Emily. He and a couple of other forest service staff located the fire and extinguished it finding the bomb crater and remnants of the ordinance.

Nobou Fujita traveled to Brookings in 1962 for the town’s Azalea Festival and presented his family’s samurai sword to the citizens as a token of peace. In 1992 he returned to plant a redwood seedling which unfortunately did not survive due to trampling by visitors. After his death a group of Japanese naval veterans planted a second tree at the site which still survives today.

The highlight of the trail was the bomb site and interpretive signs but there were also some big redwoods and a nice set of candysticks along the trail.

When we got back to Brookings we stopped for dinner at Kuhn Thai. We really enjoyed the food here once we finally settled on some choices. Another tasty end to a day. Happy Trails!

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/9319235@N02/albums/72157666232501494

Tags cape ferrelo, foxglove, hiking, House rock viewpoint, kihn thai, lone ranch creek, lone ranch picnic area, Nobou Fujita, Oregon, oregon coast trail, redwood, Samuel H. Boardman state scenic corridor, whaleshead beach, whaleshead island, wheeler ridge bomb site

Hiking Oregon Oregon Coast Southern Coast Trip report

Cape Sebastian

After our slow, bumpy drive to the Kalmiopsis Wilderness on Tuesday, Wednesdays hike was only about five minutes from our hotel in Gold Beach. We would be following a section of the Oregon Coast Trail through Cape Sebastian State Park. We began our hike at a gravel parking lot just off Highway 101 along Bellview Lane. A gate and sign for the Oregon Coast Trail were located just across Bellview Lane from the parking area.

The trail was a grass and flower covered roadbed with some of the best salmonberries ever along the sides.

This section of the Oregon Coast Trail was well signed (we would discover later in the week this wasn’t the case for other sections).

This side path led 1.1 miles to a beach that we would visit on our way back.

At the 2.3 mile mark a sign directed us to our first viewpoint.

Beyond the viewpoint the Oregon Coast Trail climbed for .8 miles through the trees to a parking lot in Cape Sebastian State Park.

A 0.4 mile trail connected this parking lot with an upper parking lot with a better view, although we arrived just as a cloud was passing over. There was a small patch of poison oak marked with a stake along this stretch.

From this second viewpoint the trail passed through a windswept meadow then into a forest following an interesting ridge that ran parallel to the Pacific Ocean.

There was a viewpoint along they way with lichen covered rocks.

After .6 miles the trail began to descend through more open woods where a good number of flowers were blooming. Along with the flowers came a fair amount of poison oak.
Wild iris

Bridges’ brodiaea and poison oak

Paintbrush

Blueblossom

Columbian lily

Another lily

More Bridges’ brodiaea

There were also some nice views along this 1.3 mile section of the trail.

The trail eventually arrived at Hunters Beach but the final drop down to the actual beach was down a steep slope. Much of it had been worn away by the elements and a rope had been set up for assistance. To complicate the descent there was poison oak on both sides of the trail.

We made it down to the sandy beach where we joined a pair of deer, some birds, lizards, and a millipede.

Hunters Island dominated the view from the beach.

We returned the way we’d come being careful to avoid the poison oak retracting our steps all the way to the 1.1 mile side trail to a beach just a half mile from Bellview Lane. This path was along another old road that led down to an overgrown meadow.

A faint path led through the vegetation to a post on the beach.

On this beach we found several new types of flowers.
yellow sand-verbena

silky beach pea

beach morning-glory

It was pretty windy and there wasn’t much cover to be found so after a brief stay we headed back up to Bellview Lane and our car. We picked this as our evening to find a local restaurant to try and picked the Barnacle Bistro in Gold Beach. The food was great and we each enjoyed a beer from Arch Rock Brewing Company. I had the Pistol River Pale while Heather tried the State of Jefferson Porter. It was a great cap to the day. Happy Trails!

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/9319235@N02/sets/72157666235841743

Tags Arch Rock Brewing Company, Barnacle Bistro, beach morning-glory, cape sebastian, hiking, hunters beach, hunters island, Oregon, Oregon Coast, oregon coast trail, Pistol River Pale, salmonberries, State of Jefferson Porter, yellow sand-verbena

Hiking Oregon Oregon Coast Southern Coast Trip report

Humbug Mountain, Sisters Rock, and Otter Point

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date May 25, 2016
2 Comments on Humbug Mountain, Sisters Rock, and Otter Point

With our vacation plans changed due to the potential for rain in SE Oregon we had returned home after hiking in the Oregon Badlands Wilderness to regroup. We swapped guide books and some or our supplies and headed for Gold Beach on the southern Oregon coast on Monday morning. We took our first set of hikes on the way down Highway 101 starting with a climb up Humbug Mountain.

The Humbug Mountain Trail begins at the signed Humbug Mountain Trailhead across from the state park campground.

The trail promptly crosses a creek then climbs through the forest for a mile to a split in the trail.

Rhododendron

Wild iris

Hedge nettle

Wild iris

Two routes led to the summit, the 1.4 mile West Trail and the 1.9 mile East Trail, allowing for a loop. We took the shorter West Trail to the right which offered limited ocean views.

When the trails rejoined we took the short .1 mile trail to the right up to the small meadow at the summit of Humbug Mountain.

A few flowers dotted the meadow which was mostly filled with bracken ferns and trees obscured much of the view.

Common catchfly

Elegant brodiaea

We took the East Trail down completing the loop and returning to the trailhead. The 5.5 mile hike was nice enough and a good climb, but the lack of views was a little disappointing albeit fitting for a mountain named Humbug.

From Humbug Mountain we continued driving south on HWY 101 to our next stop, Sisters Rock State Park. If not for our guide book describing the pullout between milepost 314 & 315 we would likely have driven right by. There was no sign for the park prior to the little pullout along the highway and the sign at the park was set back off the road making it difficult to spot while driving.

The wind was really strong whenever we were exposed to the north but the half-mile path down to the Sisters Rocks was full of views and flowers. Humbug Mountain was visible to the north and to the south was scenic Franklin Beach.

Scarlet pimpernel

Cows clover

Lupine

We headed for the largest of the rocks where a trail brought us to the mouth of a sea cave.

We found a spot on the rocks between the largest Sisters Rocks where we were protected from the wind. Here there were more caves and some small tide pools.

We then made our way to Franklin Beach which we shared with a lizard.

Our final stop for the day was at Otter Point State Park. This was another somewhat hidden park located along Old Coast Road 3 miles north of Gold Beach. Again signage was lacking for the park until we were at the entrance which took us some time to locate. It was worth the effort to find this little gem though. The parking area was lined with azaleas and wild roses and the trail to Otter Point had big views.

In addition to the views several types of flowers were present.
Sea Figs

Seaside daisy

Wild iris

Sea thrift

We were pleasantly surprised by both Sisters Rock and Otter Point and were glad we took the time to stop and check them out. These were short hikes (1.4 & 0.7 miles receptively)that really paid off. It was a nice start to the vacation and they set the bar for the rest of the weeks hikes. Happy Trails!

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/9319235@N02/albums

Tags Gold Beach, Highway 101, hiking, Humbug Mountain, Humbug Mountain State Park, Oregon, Oregon Coast, Otter Point, Otter Point State Park, scarlet pimpernel, Sea Cave, Sea Fig, Sea Thrift, Seaside Daisy, Sisters Rock, Sisters Rock State Park, Tide pool

Hiking Oregon Oregon Coast Southern Coast Trip report

Oregon & Tahkenitch Dunes

Happy New Year. It didn’t take us long to get our first hike of 2015 in. We had planned on visiting the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area later this month, but a day off from work and a forecast for clear skies on New Years Day was too tempting to pass up. The Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area is nearly 40 miles of dunes, creeks, lakes, and forest along the Oregon Coast between the cities of Florence and Coos Bay.

The area offers numerous hikes, most of which are fairly short. Our plan was to combine three of these shorter hikes into a longer trek. We started off from the Oregon Dunes Day Use Area 10 miles south of Florence.

The sun had just risen in the east as we set off creating a colorful scene from the dunes overlook.

A .3 mile descent brought us to the dunes where we followed footprints and posts toward the ocean.

Between the dunes and the ocean the trail passed through the deflation plain, an area created by a non-native beachgrass introduced in the early 1900s which has cut off the supply of sand to the dunes. In the deflation plain marshes and a forest have formed.

After crossing the plain we arrived at the foredune where the European beachgrass gives way to the beach.

We turned south and headed down the beach. The beach was quite except for the sound of the ocean waves. We were the only people on the beach as far as we could see. Snowy Plovers and gulls were the only company we had.

There was quite a bit of debris on this section of beach. There were plenty of the usual pieces of shell and sand dollars along with many items that may have been washed up from the 2011 tsunami that hit Japan.

Our original plan was to hike the beach to Tahkenitch Creek then cross the creek and pick up another network of trails on the other side. These other trails would take us on a loop past Threemile Lake, through the Tahkenitch Dunes and back across Tahkenitch Creek further inland where we would then finish the Oregon Dunes Loop. We abandoned that plan upon arriving at Tahkenitch Creek. It was wider and deeper than I had anticipated and neither of us were willing to wade across with the temperatures hovering around freezing.

We turned to Plan B which was to backtrack to the continuation of the Oregon Dunes Loop, return to the car and then drive to the Tahkenitch Dunes Trailhead. We turned around and made our way back up the beach to a hiker sign marking the loop.

This section of trail passed by a bend in Tahkenitch Creek before returning to the dunes and completing the loop.

We had wound up hiking a little over 8 miles by the time we reached our car (We didn’t realize we had gone that far until later when I reviewed the GPS information.) and were glad for a short rest while we drove the 3 miles to the next trailhead.

The trail here started in a nice forest leading .2 miles to the start of our next loop.

We went right at the junction and headed for the dunes.

The trail passed over the dunes and then through a more substantial forest before reaching Tahkenitch Creek near the ocean.

The trail led down to the beach where we again turned south for a mile (the final few tenths of beach are open to vehicles) to another sign marking the loop. The sign was a bit hard to spot as it was back away from the foredune a bit. The beach on this side of the creek was much less cluttered.

After heading inland for half a mile we arrived at an overlook of Threemile Lake. The lake was 200 feet below us and we decided not to head down the sandy hill to visit it because neither of us felt like climbing back up that much sand. We opted to take a short snack break above the lake before continuing on our loop.

The loop continued for 2.7 miles passing through an impressive forest before arriving back at the junction .2 miles from the car.

It had been a beautiful day on the beach despite the cold temperatures so we were surprised to have only seen a total of three other people during the day. Two were just heading down on the Oregon Dunes Trail as we finished that loop and the other had driven his pickup down onto the beach south of Tahkenitch Creek. We couldn’t have asked for a better way to start our 2015 hikes. Happy Trails!

flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/9319235@N02/sets/72157650068860795/

Tags beach, coos bay, florence, gull, hiking, Oregon, oregon dunes, oregon dunes national recreation area, pacific ocean, snowy plover, tahkenitch creek, tahkenitch dunes, Threemile lake