Tag: cascade head

Cascade Head to Hart’s Cove – 10/01/2022

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date October 3, 2022
1 Comment on Cascade Head to Hart’s Cove – 10/01/2022

With Heather sidelined for at least a few weeks due to an injury I made some changes to this years remaining hikes so that she might not miss out on places we hadn’t hike yet. I looked through the hikes I had in the works for future years and pulled some of the more challenging seeming outings forward for this October. First up on that list was a hike combining Cascade Head (post) and Hart’s Cove (post). It seemed like a good time to try this hike since the seasonal closure (Jan 1 – July 15) which had kept us from attempting it in 2019 wasn’t in effect and Forest Road 1861 which provides access to both the Hart’s Cove Trailhead and the Nature Conservancy Trailhead is closed. The road closure meant no cars on the road walk between the two trailheads as well as the likelihood of few other hikers on the Hart’s Cove Trail. The downside was the landslide that closed FR 1861 in November 2021 meant that the Hart’s Cove Trail had likely not seen much, if any, maintenance this year and there was limited emergency response capabilities should anything go wrong.

I started from Knights County Park (The same place we’d started on our previous two hikes to Cascade Head) just before 7am.
It seems this time of year I (we) are always a little ahead of the sunlight which does nothing for photos.

Heather had told me that this was probably the time when I would finally see some of the elk that inhabit Cascade Head since she wasn’t going to be there. She hit the nail on the head. Just after crossing Three Rocks Road (less than a quarter mile into the hike) I spotted several elk grazing in a field.
Coming up on the road crossing.

After crossing Three Rocks Road the trail climbs through the trees along Savage Road before crossing it at the half mile mark. Just before crossing Savage Road I spotted another elk, this time a lone young bull.
Cascade Head from the trail with the elk at the end of the grass to the right.

Fuzzy (low light) photo of the elk.

Crossing Savage Road with the first view of the Pacific.

I recrossed the road a tenth of a mile later at a big trailhead sign where there is no parking.

From the no parking trailhead the trail climbs (steeply at first) through the forest before leaving the trees behind after three quarters of a mile.

View from one of five metal footbridges along this section.

Signboard and donation box at the start of The Nature Conservancy owned land.

First direct sunlight of the morning.

Out of the trees and into the meadows.

Looking uphill

The trail traverses the open hillside for approximately 0.4 miles before turning more steeply uphill along a ridge.

Snacks

Salmon River Estuary

A snail and lupine leaves.

A small viewpoint just before the trail turns uphill.

Going up

The trail gains views as it gains elevation.

The trail through the meadow below.

This knoll looks like the high point as you climb, but it’s a trick.

The high point is actually marked by a post. (Near the right end of the photo).

The high point is approximately 2.5 miles from the trailhead at Knights County Park. From there the trail drops slightly and enters the forest after a tenth of a mile.

The transition from open meadow to lush green forest here is probably the most abrupt and starkest contrast that we’ve encountered on trail. This was my third time crossing this boundary and it was just as impressive and impactful as the first.

The trail was now nearly level as it followed an old road bed another 0.9 miles to the Nature Conservancy Trailhead.

Wooden arch over the old roadbed.

Nearing the upper trailhead.

I turned left onto FR 1861 and followed it downhill for 0.8 miles to the Hart’s Cove Trailhead.
When they do reopen the road there will be a few trees to deal with.

The Hart’s Cove Trail begins with a steep descent via several switchbacks before easing at the 0.6-mile mark.

There were around 18 trees such as this one across the trail from the trailhead to Cliff Creek.

I arrived at Cliff Creek at the 0.8-mile mark without any issues, all of the trees that were down were easily stepped over or around.
This large chunk of tree trunk has done some damage to the bridge, but it was still passable.

Cliff Creek

Shortly beyond the crossing I came to the first tricky obstacle.

It was obvious that others had made their way through it and with some careful climbing and ducking I soon found myself on the other side.

A second tricky downed tree was just a bit further along the trail.

I wondered if this was a sign of things to come over the remaining two miles but after making my way through this second obstacle the trail conditions improved and the remaining obstacles were easily avoided.

At the 1.6-mile mark I entered the Neskowin Crest Research Natural Area

Just beyond the signs the trail rounds a ridge to a bench above Hart’s Cove (still a mile away) with a limited view due to trees.

Sign near the bench.

Beyond the bench the trail turns inland to cross Chitwood Creek then heads back towards the Pacific Ocean.
Big sitka spruce trunk.

Approaching the Chitwood Creek crossing.

Chitwood Creek

Heading back toward the ocean.

Someone stuck some feathers in this mushroom.

The trail eventually left the forest entering another meadow and descending to a viewpoint.

There was a large number of noisy sea lions on the shaded rocks below Cascade Head. Even though they were quite far away they were loud.

Seagull hanging out on a sea rock.

Sea lion heading for its buddies.

To the north Cape Lookout (post) along with Haystack Rock and Cape Kiwanda (post) were visible.

While the ocean views were great, my timing had resulted in the view into Hart’s Cove leaving something to be desired.
A combination of the position of the Sun and the presence of haze made it very difficult to make out the waterfall on Chitwood Creek. I don’t know if the haze was smoke or just the usual coastal haze. (There was a fairly good east wind blowing steadily all morning.)

I tried several different viewpoints with no luck for the waterfall although I did find a nice one looking out of the mouth of the cove.

After exhausting the potential viewpoints I headed back the way I’d come. I passed two other hikers on their way to Hart’s Cove, one at Chitwood Creek and the second just before the bench viewpoint. I stopped at the bench and changed into some dry socks as my feet had gotten a little wet in the damp, muddy area around Chitwood Creek before continuing on.
Sparrow in the meadow at Hart’s Cove.

Pearly everlasting

Varied thrush

A reminder of Spring, a trillium that bloomed months ago.

img src=”https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52398212269_2dca5370f2_3k.jpg” width=”3072″ height=”2304″ alt=”IMG_2949″>Back at the Hart’s Cove Trailhead.

I retraced my steps to Cascade Head and was a bit surprised when I reached the post at the high point without having seen anyone but the two hikers on the Hart’s Cove Trail.
A monkeyflower along FR 1861.

Back at the upper trailhead.

Candyflower

Mushrooms on a log.

The Thumb, aka God’s Thumb (post)

Heading for the high point.

Descending Cascade Head

There were quite a few of these (an aster?) blooming along the trail.

Not sure what type of bird this is.

Sulphur butterfly

Wooly bear caterpillar, there were many of these on the trail.

When I had a better view of the trail below I could see that I would soon be passing a number of other hikers working their way up Cascade Head.

Looking back up at one of the first hikers I’d passed.

The remainder of the hike included a lot of pauses as I stepped aside to let the uphill traffic pass. One woman asked if I’d happened to have made it to Hart’s Cove as she was also hoping to make it there. I also spoke briefly with a volunteer from The Nature Conservancy.

Pretty moth on a bush.

View to the east of the Coastal Range.

Heading for the tree line.

Back where I’d seen the bull elk in the morning.

Cars parked along Three Rocks Road, the parking area at Knights County Park was full when I got back to the car a little before 1pm.

My Garmin showed this to be a 14.5-mile hike with over 2700′ of elevation gain.

It had been quite a bit warmer than I’d hoped for an October hike with the temperature being well over 70 degrees back at the trailhead. Despite that it had been a good hike with good views save for the waterfall at Hart’s Cove. It was pretty strange not having Heather there but given how warm it was this was a good one for her to miss. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Cascade Head to Hart’s Cove

Tags cascade head, elk, Hart's Cove Trailhead, Harts Cove, hiking, Knights County Park, Oregon, The Nature Conservancy, The Nature Conservancy Trailhead

Central Coast Hiking Oregon Oregon Coast

Alder Island, God’s Thumb & Roads End – 3/13/2021

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date March 14, 2021
6 Comments on Alder Island, God’s Thumb & Roads End – 3/13/2021

We were hoping for some nicer weather on the Saturday before the dreaded “Spring forward” which always seems to be the harder of the two time changes to adjust to. In addition to adjusting to the struggle, adjusting to the change springing forward also meant losing an hour of light in the morning when we like to do our hiking. We got our nice weather so we headed out to Lincoln City to explore some of the nearby trails and cross off another of Sullivan’s featured hikes at Roads End Beach. The hike at Roads End (#35 in the 3rd edition “100 Hikes/Travel Guide Oregon Coast & Coast Range) was one nine remaining featured hikes in his third edition which we reverted back to this year due to not knowing when (if) the final featured hike in his 4th edition, the Salmonberry Railroad, will reopen to hikers (post).

The Roads End hike is a roughly 2.8 mile out and back along Roads End Beach at the north end of Lincoln City which gave us an opportunity to add some mileage to our day and check out two other nearby destinations. The first of which was a quick stop at the Siletz Bay National Wildlife Refuge just south of Lincoln City. With the time change not yet happening we were able to arrive early and start hiking by 6:30am and more importantly drive through Lincoln City without any traffic to speak of.

The refuge offers a single trail, a short lollipop loop (just under a mile) around Alder Island. Canoeing and kayaking is a popular activity here. It was in the mid 30’s as we set off from the small parking area so there were no human paddlers out yet but the frosty temperature didn’t dissuade others.
Mallard pair

Canada geese

Goose and a mallard in the channels.

While the Sun wasn’t quite above the Coast Range great blue herons were already busy working on building a nest in some trees across a channel.

It wasn’t just the bigger birds that were busy. A ruby-crowned kinglet was busy in the brush.

Approximately .2 miles north of the parking area we made a hard right turn crossing over some water to Alder Island and the start of the short loop.
Several interpretive signs were placed along the loop.

A reminder that COVID-19 is still an issue.

The trail passed through stands of alder as it followed a small branch of the Siletz River for .3 miles before reaching a bench facing the main branch of the river. There were a number of ducks a geese in the channel but the highlight came when Heather spotted something heading down to the water on the far side ahead of us. It was a river otter! This had been one of, if not the, most wanted animal sightings on our list of critters we’d yet to see while hiking (or driving to a hike). Unfortunately the otter was too quick and far enough away in the low morning light to get more than a blurry photo of it swimming across the channel.
The larger muddy area along the bank ahead on the right is where Heather spotted the otter.

Alder lined trail.

Blurry photo of a non-breeding male hooded merganser.

The blurry river otter.

Another mallard

Canada geese

Siletz River

The bench might have been a nice place to sit for awhile had it been a little warmer but we needed to keep moving so we continued on the loop which led us back along the main river channel,
Western grebe

Goose and a bufflehead (the duck not the post)

Bufflehead

Spring is coming!

We completed the loop and headed back to the car just as the Sun was cresting the foothills.

We then drove back through Lincoln City (still with very little traffic) and made our way to the parking lot at the Roads End Recreation Site.
Sentry at the Roads End entrance.

We weren’t quite ready to head out along the beach though. Before doing the featured hike we planned on visiting the increasingly popular God’s Thumb. We were hoping that 7:30am was still early enough to avoid the crowds that were sure to show up later in the day. While there are two closer trailheads (The Villages and the Sal La Sea Trailhead), parking at Roads End meant having access to bathrooms and not having to move the car again.

God’s Thumb (arrow) from the Roads End parking Area

We followed the Oregon Hikers Field Guide directions (see link for God’s Thumb above) to make our way up through the neighborhood between Roads End and the Sal La Sea Trailhead.
There weren’t any people but the neighborhood was fairly active.

We passed a single car parked at the trailhead as we continued on by a gate across an old roadbed.

We had walked up some steep hills through the neighborhood and that theme continued on the old road bed for .4 miles before leveling out at a ridge top junction.
It’s hard to tell just how much uphill this is. Fortunately it wasn’t very muddy.

A little easier to see the uphill here, this was near the top.

The junction.

We turned left at the junction following the ridge out to The Knoll, an open space overlooking Lincoln City to the south.

The Roads End parking area is the open green space in the center along the ocean.

The Pacific Ocean.

Roads End Point jutting out to the north.

The Knoll

We returned to the junction and continued straight following the ridge north.

Snow queen

More signs of Spring, salmonberry blossom and buds.

Sitka spruce and ferns along the ridge.

At the far end of the ridge (after approx 1/3 of a mile) we came to another junction with a trail coming up from the trailhead at The Villages.

Here we turned left and began a short descent that looked to be in some doubt due to several large downed trees.
The downed trees ahead in the distance.

As it turned out there was just one tree to duck under while the rest looked to have been recently taken care of.
The last of the tree fall.

The trail then dipped into an open meadow before rising again on the far side.
Mud had begun to be a bit of an annoyance at this point.

After reaching the top of the hill the trail briefly continued north before turning left in a grassy meadow.

Busy woodpecker

The trail getting nearing the turn left.

Lone tree in the meadow.

Lone robin in the lone tree.

From the meadow there was a view of Cascade Head (post) to the north and to God’s Thumb jutting out into the Pacific to the west.

The trail to God’s Thumb crosses a narrow saddle before climbing steeply to the top of the thumb. We were thankful that it hadn’t rained for a few days which eliminated any issues that mud might have made with footing. We were also pleased that we didn’t see any other hikers in the area that we might have to pass on the way there.
Heather crossing the saddle (left of the big bush)

Cascade Head from the saddle.

Final pitch up to the top.

The view of Cascade Head was great from the thumb and we were able to enjoy it by ourselves.
Not quite to ourselves, we shared the space briefly with some chestnut backed chickadees.

Cascade Head and the mouth of the Salmon River.

Roads End Point and Lincoln City

Rocks below God’s Thumb

We did actually see another hiker but he wasn’t coming down the trail to God’s Thumb, he was heading down to the ocean in the cove north of us.

After enjoying the view for a bit we headed back. We finally passed some other hikers just as we started down into the valley before climbing back up to the junction at the ridge end. It was beginning to be a fairly steady stream of hikers as we reached the junction where we forked left to make a loop out of the middle of the hike. The old road bed on this side of the ridge was much muddier than what we’d come up, but we also spotted quite a few yellow violets and a single toothwort along this route.
A reasonable representation of the wet/muddy conditions on this part of the hike.

Toothwort

A mile and a half from the junction we arrived at the very crowded trailhead at The Villages. Here we turned left on a little path which quickly joined another old roadbed.

Less than a half mile later we were passing another gate along Sal La Sea Drive.
The gate and Sal La Sea Drive in the distance.

It’s not a hike at the coast without some skunk cabbage.

At Sal La Sea Drive I suggested turning left as it looked like the road would take us back downhill almost directly to the Roads End Recreation Site but Heather wasn’t sold on that. (She was sure there was a hidden uphill that would be worse than what we were facing to get back to the Sal La Sea Trailhead.) Never one to pass up a climb we turned right and headed up Sal La Sea Drive. It was a little over 3/4 of a mile back to that trailhead (where there were now 9 cars) and somewhere in there Heather realized she had chosen poorly. We then retraced our path from earlier back down to Roads End. Along the way we saw over a half dozen more deer among the houses which we found humorous, in the woods we saw no deer and a bunch of people and in the neighborhood we saw no people and a bunch of deer.

While our plan to avoid people had worked well at Alder Island and for our visits to The Knoll and God’s Thumb there was no chance for privacy along the beach at Roads End. While it was busy it was a nice walk along the beach for almost a mile and a half to Roads End Point where continuing is only possible during low tides.

Coltsfoot

An immature bald eagle flew overhead at one point.

Little waterfall along the beach.

Roads End Point

Not going around that today.

We headed back saying one last goodbye to God’s Thumb and The Knoll before driving back home to Salem.

God’s Thumb on the right.

Hikers on The Knoll

Our mileage for the day was right around ten with a mile coming at Alder Island, two and three quarters at Roads End and the remaining six and a quarter being The Knoll and God’s Thumb. There was 1420′ of elevation gain all of which was during the portion from Roads End to God’s Thumb and back. While we’ve had good weather for all three of our hikes thus far in 2021 this hike was the first to truly feel like Winter is coming to an end. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Alder Island, God’s Thumb & Roads End

Tags beach, cascade head, deer, God's Thumb, hiking, Oregon, pacific ocean, River Otter, Roads End, Siletz Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Siletz River, The Knoll, The Villages

Central Coast Hiking Oregon Oregon Coast

Cascade Head Rainforest Trail – 9/28/2019

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date September 30, 2019
1 Comment on Cascade Head Rainforest Trail – 9/28/2019

With the weather forecast for the Cascades calling for a mix of snow and rain we decided to dial up another coastal hike where a chance of showers was a bit more appealing. While hiking in a little snow can be a lot of fun the snow/rain combo is much less so. We decided it might be a good time to check out the Rainforest Trail at Cascade Head.

Earlier this year we had hiked to the meadows on Cascade Head (post) hoping for some nice views and flowers but spent most of the time in the fog with a little rain thrown in. We thought we might be in for more of the same when we did a final weather check before leaving in the morning and saw that the 40% chance of showers/mostly sunny forecast had been replaced by a 90% chance of showers decreasing to 40% later in the day. At least this time there weren’t going to be any viewpoints and rain almost seemed fitting since we would be on the Rainforest Trail.

We arrived at the Cascade Head Trail – South Trailhead a little too early and had to sit for about 20 minutes waiting for enough light to start hiking. We’d driven through a few showers through the coastal range but there was no precipitation falling as we set off on the Rainforest Trail, which is also part of the official route of the Oregon Coast Trail.

The trail set off uphill following an old logging road that was crowded with vegetation.

The trail was a little muddy and slick in spots but given the recent rain we’d had it wasn’t as muddy as we had expected. It also wasn’t nearly as cloudy as we’d expected with a few breaks visible to the west.

There are no real viewpoints and no trail junctions over the first 3.5 miles, just the rain forest which transitioned to a more open forest with some mature trees toward the latter end. The most obvious marker along the way was a boardwalk over the headwaters of Calkins Creek approximately 2.7 miles from the trailhead.

Ferns on a tree trunk.

Lichen overhanging the trail.

The boardwalk

Nursery stump

Spider finishing its morning web.

About 3.7 miles (and 1200′) from the trailhead we arrived at Forest Road 1861.

Up until 2008 the trail continued 2.4 miles on the far side of this road and descended to Highway 101 near Neskowin (post) but storm damage that year prompted the Forest Service to abandon that section forcing Oregon Coast Trail hikers to follow FR 1861 1.2 miles to Highway 101 and follow its shoulder into Neskowin. In March of this year volunteers from Trail Keepers of Oregon (TKO) began work to reopen the abandoned trail. We had heard that completion of the repairs should take place by 2020 so we thought we would check on the progress.

Pink flagging marked a path on the far side of the road so we began following it.

There is a flag in there.

This path led us to a junction at an old sign near the road.

A better path was coming up from the road here. (If we had turned right on FR 1861 for a short distance we’d have found it.)

We weren’t sure how far we’d be able to go and kept our eyes out for an sign of closure but we found the trail to be in good shape. Flagging was present in many areas and the time and effort of the TKO trail crews was evident.

Flagging along the trail.

Elk had obviously been on the trail recently.

Fern covered hillside.

There was a brief break in the trees along the way which gave us a view of Cascade Head’s high point.

There were also some impressive fungi along the section.

A mile and a half from FR 1861 the trail began a steeper descent via some switchbacks as it approached Fall Creek. There was evidence of quite a bit of tree fall in the area.

Near the bottom of the switchbacks we spotted a TKO crew.

They were a bit surprised to see actual hikers since the trail hadn’t officially been reopened (they said we were more than welcome there though). They indicated that the final .7 miles of trail was still pretty rough as they had done work on that section yet. We thanked them for their hard work and let them know that the upper section that they had worked on was probably in better shape than parts of the trail that hadn’t been abandoned. We turned around and headed back up to FR 1861 and then dropped back down to our car enjoying the forest along the way.

We never did have a shower pass over and actually wound up under a mostly sunny sky after all. The 10.4 mile hike gained approximately 2000′ total but most of that was gradual. It was an enjoyable hike even though there wasn’t much in the way of viewpoints or other “features”. It was also fun to see the trail crew doing their thing. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Cascade Head Rainforest Trail

Tags Calkins Creek, cascade head, Cascade Head Rainforest Trail, hiking, Neskowin, Oregon, Oregon Coast, Rain Forest, TKO, Trail Keepers of Oregon

Central Coast Hiking Oregon Oregon Coast Trip report

Cascade Head, Whalen Island, and Sitka Sedge – 6/25/2019

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date June 29, 2019
4 Comments on Cascade Head, Whalen Island, and Sitka Sedge – 6/25/2019

As we finished up a four day stretch of hiking to start a week of vacation we were looking for the best chance of decent weather which brought us to the Oregon Coast for our second visit to Cascade Head. I had originally had a grandiose plan to hike from the lower trailhead all the way over to Harts Cove (post) but I hadn’t paid close enough attention to detail and we wound up going with a plan B.

We started the morning at Knight County Park.

Salmon River at Knight County Park

It had rained throughout most of our drive through the Coast Range but we were pleased to have been able to see the meadows on Cascade Head as we drove to the trailhead. We set off on the Nature Conservancy Trail which quickly crossed Three Rocks Road.

The trail climbed through the forest along Savage Road popping out of the trees at a field where we could see that the meadows were not nearly as clear as they had been just a bit earlier.

The fact that we could see the ocean was a bit encouraging though.

After crossing to the other side of the road the trail passed an active slide and recrossed to the original trailhead.

The trail continued to climb through the forest before leveling out for a bit as it crossed a series of overgrown streams on footbridges.

One of the bridges.

Overgrown stream

When we finally popped out of the trees around the mile and a half mark we found ourselves in some pretty thick fog.

We had hoped to see some of the elk herd that lives on Cascade Head but we couldn’t see much of anything, although we did spot a few birds.
White crowned sparrow

One of three hummingbirds

Another white crowned sparrow

There were just a few flowers scattered about as we made our way through and up the grassy meadow.
Checkerbloom

Monkeyflower

Yarrow

Field chickweed

Lupine

Parsley-leaf Lovage

Foxglove with a spider web

Clovers

Iris

Self-heal

With no views from the meadows when we finally reached the upper viewpoint we headed into the forest.

When we came to Siuslaw National Forest boundary my lack of attention to detail became apparent. I had seen where the road to the Upper Trailhead was closed annually from January 1st through July 15th, but I hadn’t noticed that the entire area starting at the boundary was closed to all traffic during that time period.

So much for that plan. We gathered under the awning over the Nature Conservancy signboard and mulled over our options. We decided that it might be a decent time to check out a couple of other nearby hikes – Whalen Island and Sitka Sedge. These two hikes would be just a little less mileage than our original plan with quite a bit less elevation gain, plus they were close to Pacific City which gave us a great excuse to have lunch at the Pelican Brewing Company.

With a new plan we headed back to the upper viewpoint where the conditions had improved slightly. We could make out the trees and even a bit of the ocean in the distance through the fog.

The problem seemed to be that the clouds/fog wasn’t coming in from the Pacific but was instead coming from inland up the Salmon River. We paused for a moment wondering if the view might clear up. While we were watching we spotted a doe walking along the tree line.
Look for the head to the right of the tall foxglove stalk.

We decided to keep descending figuring that we would still have a good view if the fog did happen to lift.

As we were headed in the direction of the Salmon River the fog did indeed clear in a span of just over a minute.

It was a remarkable change. As we were admiring the new, clearer view we noticed a pair of deer feeding in a gully far below us.

As we continued downhill we were encourage to see an actual pocket of blue sky.

We stopped to take in the view from the lower viewpoint.

From the lower viewpoint the trail turned back inland where things were taking another turn. It was now beginning to rain.

It was a fairly quick, damp, descent back to the car. We were briefly followed by a young fawn who quickly ran the other way when we turned around and spotted it. We had heard a couple of odd noises which caused Heather to turn and notice it. Were aren’t sure what prompted it to follow but hopefully it got back to it’s bed and mother.

The rain had ended by the time we arrived back at Knight Park and we headed north along Highway 101 for 12.7 miles to a sign for Pacific City and Sand Lake where we turned left. This was Brooten Rd. which we followed for 3.5 miles before turning left onto a bridge across the Nestucca River and into Woods. After 2.3 miles on what was now Sandlake Rd. we turned right at a T-shaped junction remaining on Sandlake Rd. for 2.9 more miles to the Clay Myers State Natural Area at Whalen Island on the left.

It was overcast here but not raining or foggy so that was a plus. We began our loop hike here by taking a trail near the southern end of the parking area.

The 1.5 mile loop here passes several viewpoints of Sand Lake and the Lillian Parker Craft wetland. Near the first viewpoint we spotted a rabbit.

The trail was nice and there were a few flowers along with the views.

Lupine

White crowned sparrow

Cape Lookout (post)

Beach morning glory

At the wetlands a curious hummingbird came to check us out.

Groundcone

Tiger lily

After completing this short loop we drove back south along Sandlake Rd a mile and turned right into the Sitka Sedge State Natural Area. Purchased by the State in 2014 this is a relatively new hiking area offering a couple of loop options.

We followed the Beltz Dike Trail to the start of the loops.

With water and wetlands on both sides of the dike we were a bit surprised by the lack of wildlife which was basically just a few ducks, some crows, and a number of smaller birds.

There appeared to have been quite a display of roses a bit earlier in the year.

On the far end of the dike we turned right onto the Estuary View Loop.

This trail passed through a typical coast forest and climbed to a viewpoint above the Sand Lake Estuary.

We scanned the estuary for any interesting wildlife but didn’t spot anything so we continued on. As the trail looped around and began heading south it became quite a bit sandier requiring a little extra effort.

At a rise in the trail there was a view south to Cape Kiwanda and Haystack Rock (post).

We missed the the pointer for beach access where the Woods and Estuary View Loops met and continued south on what was now the Kinnikinnik Woods Loop.

This section was much less sandy which made it easier to walk on.

At the next trail sign we did follow the beach access pointer but we mistook it on the map for the one we had already passed.

This path was a slightly longer route to the beach as it first paralleled it for nearly two tenths of a mile before a short spur trail to the right led out to it.

Cape Lookout lay to the north while Cape Kiwanda and Haystack Rock were to the south.

When we left the beach we turned right thinking that this was still the Kinnikinnik Woods Loop but a quick look at the Garmin showed that we were quickly approaching the outskirts of Pacific City so we promptly turned around and headed back to the junction and got ourselves back on the correct path.

We took a final short detour at the pointer for the Elk Knoll Trail.

This 500′ long path led to a bench atop a small knoll, there were no elk present.

After sitting briefly on the bench we completed the loop but not before Heather did one of the craziest dances I’d ever seen as we were walking along the trail. She had suddenly seen something right in front of her and thought it was some kind of big insect coming for her. It wasn’t.
Obstacle hanging over the trail.

We both got quite a laugh out of her fancy moves and chuckled all the way back to the trailhead. Despite our detour the hike here was still under 4 miles bringing the days total to 11.1 miles.

After a quick change we drove into Pacific City and stopped at the Pelican Brewery before heading back to Salem. The food and drink were a nice way to end four days of hikes. With more rain in the forecast over the next couple of days we’ll see when and where our next hike takes us. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Cascade Head, Whalen Island, and Stika Sedge

Tags cascade head, Clay Myers Natural Area, deer, Estuary View Loop, hiking, Kinnikinnik Wood Loop, Oregon, Oregon Coast, pacific city, pacific ocean, pelican pub & brewery, Sand Lake, Sand Lake Estuary, Sitka Sedge, Sitka Sedge State Natural Area, Whalen Island

Central Coast Hiking Oregon Oregon Coast Throwback Thursday Trip report

Throwback Thursday – Cascade Head

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date March 15, 2018
1 Comment on Throwback Thursday – Cascade Head

This Throwback Thursday hike was the first of what has become a tradition of hiking at the coast on the morning of family reunion in August. The festivities typically begin somewhere between noon and 1pm which give us plenty of time to get a short hike in beforehand.

In 2010 the hike we chose was at Cascade Head just north of Lincoln City. We started our hike at the lower trailhead at Knights Park.

The Nature Conservancy manages the Cascade Head Preserve and does not permit dogs, horses, bicycles, hunting or camping at the preserve.

The trail sets off from Knights Park through a typical coastal forest crossing Three Rocks Road after .4 miles then climbing through more forest for 1.1 miles (and crossing the road two more times) to an open meadow.

It was a cloudy day so the views were a bit limited but we could see Gods Thumb to the south of the mouth of the Salmon River.

The trail then traversed the meadow steepening to an upper viewpoint in another .6 miles.

We followed the Nature Conservancy Trail another mile through a damp mossy forest to the upper trailhead.

After reaching the upper trailhead we returned the way we’d come. We had hoped to see some of the elk that frequent the area but that didn’t happen. We did however see a decent variety of insects along the way.

The hike was approximately 6.5 miles with 1300′ of elevation gain. We hope to get back someday when the skies are clearer and the elk are present. We will likely try earlier in the year too when the meadow hasn’t been subjected to the summer heat yet. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Cascade Head

Tags cascade head, Cascade Head Preserve, God's Thumb, hiking, Knights Park, lincoln city, Oregon, Oregon Coast, The Nature Conservancy, The Nature Conservancy Trail

Central Coast Coastal Range Hiking Oregon Oregon Coast Trip report

Niagara Falls and Neskowin

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date February 13, 2017
2 Comments on Niagara Falls and Neskowin

We took advantage of a favorable forecast and headed out for our February hike to visit a pair of coastal waterfalls and then the beach near Neskowin. We’ve had a lot of snow and rain this winter making it a good time to catch the waterfalls assuming you can reach them. The storms have left their mark on some of the trails and roads so we weren’t sure what to expect as we prepared to head out, but a quick check of the Forest Service website listed the Niagara Falls Trailhead as open so we were optimistic.

The Niagara Falls Trailhead is located east of Mt. Hebo in the Siuslaw National Forest. There was good signage along the route which took us 5 miles east of Blaine, OR on Upper Nestucca Road (Forest Road 85) where we turned right onto Niagara Road (Forest Road 8533). A small herd of elk were grazing in the field at this turn.

We followed this gravel road for 4.3 miles. The road was in pretty good shape and had obviously been cleared recently. At the 4.3 mile mark we forked right following signs for the trail for another .7 miles to the trailhead.

The mile long Niagara Falls Trail led downhill through a fern filled forest crossing a small creek three times on footbridges.

This small creek was flowing well enough to create its own decent, albeit hard to see little fall.

As the trail leveled out along Pheasant Creek the first fall to come into view was Niagara Falls.

As the trail neared Niagara Falls an opening to the left revealed Pheasant Falls.

A footbridge below Pheasant Falls brought us to a picnic table at the end of the Niagara Falls Trail.

We returned the way we’d come. The 2 mile hike had been a nice warm up and now we were headed back to Highway 101 and then south to Neskowin.

We stared our second hike of the day at the Winema Road Beach Access which is located near the Wi-Ne-Ma Christian Camp. The beach access can be reached by driving .6 miles on Winema Road which is 4 miles north of Neskowin along Highway 101.

From the beach the view south extended to Cascade Head and to the north to Cape Lookout beyond Haystack Rock.

Our timing wasn’t great as it was a little before 10am when we started and high tide would be just after 12:30 so it was already coming in. This meant we would not be getting to a couple of places that would have been accessible at lower tide. We headed north first for .4 miles to some rocks jutting out onto the beach. Along the way we passed a small waterfall that we had not been expecting.

At low tide it is possible to continue .6 miles to the mouth of the Nestucca River across from Bob Straub State Park but the waves were already reaching the rocks and we knew if we continued we’d be stuck until the tide went back out so after playing around on the rocks for a minute we turned around and headed south.

We hadn’t gone too far to the south when we reached the outlet creek of Daley Lake which wasn’t mentioned in our guidebook. The only way across was to ford the creek, but luckily it was only ankle deep and not too cold.

On the other side of creek was a picnic table that seemed really out of place. Heather noted that it appeared to be close enough that the ocean would reach it, although it wasn’t very close at that time. The rest of the sights were pretty typical of a beach walk. Driftwood, rocks, pieces of shells, seaweed, boats, sea birds, and lots of washed up garbage.

There was something we couldn’t recall seeing before though. Large numbers of pickle shaped jelly fish looking things of various sizes.

A little under 2.5 miles from the Winema Beach Access the beach became impassable due to the tide reaching the rock wall protecting the houses at Neskowin. Luckily the Mt. Angel St. access was located at the north end of the rock wall so we left the beach and walked inland to Breakers Blvd.

We turned right on the paved street and walked for .7 miles to Carlton Ave. where we turned left toward the Proposal Rock Inn which was on the far side of Neskowin Creek. At the creek we turned right and followed it to Proposal Rock.

Our guidebook indicated it was possible to continue another .6 miles south to Cascade Head but the creek was far too swollen for us to ford it. Likewise we were unable to reach Proposal Rock due to it’s being surrounded by water.

With the tide in we couldn’t walk back along the beach from there so we took the paved streets of Neskowin once again back to the Mt. Angle St. access. We then hiked back along the beach where we discovered that Heather had been right about the ocean reaching that odd picnic table.

You just never know what you’re going to see along the Oregon Coast. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Niagara Falls & Neskowin

Tags cascade head, haystack rock, hiking, Neskowin, Niagara Falls, Niagara Falls Trail, Oregon, Oregon Coast, Pheasant creek, Pheasant Falls, Proposal Rock

Central Coast Hiking Oregon Oregon Coast Trip report

Harts Cove & Drift Creek Falls

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date December 8, 2014
3 Comments on Harts Cove & Drift Creek Falls

It has become a tradition to finish off our hiking year either on the Oregon Coast or in the coast range. This year we targeted a pair of shorter hikes to keep the tradition alive. For the first of these two hikes we traveled to Cascade Head just north of Lincoln City in order to visit Harts Cove where a waterfall spills into the Pacific Ocean. We parked at the Cascade Head Upper Trailhead along road 1861 at a sign post for the Nature Conservancy Trail. A trail here led off for a mile to Cascade Head’s upper viewpoint which we had visited before. In order to find the Harts Cove Trailhead we walked another .9miles down road 1861 where a large parking area with plenty of signs marked the start of the trail. We could have driven here but were contemplating hiking to the upper viewpoint later if the sky cleared so we decided to park at the upper trailhead.

One of the signs warned of difficult hiking conditions on the trail which piqued our interest.

The trail started out by diving fairly steeply downhill through the forest for the first half mile then descended more gradually to a bridge across Cliff Creek.

After crossing the creek the trail turned back toward the ocean along a ridge. We could hear a number of sea lions on the rocks below but could only get small glimpses of them across the water through the trees.

As the trail wound around the ridge end there was a bench that offered an obstructed view across Harts Cove to a meadow which was where the trail would end. The trail then bent back leading us around the cove. We crossed Chitwood Creek which appeared to have once had a bridge but it was now in pieces further down the creek.

We had been in clouds and fog for most of the hike but as we came out of the forest into the meadow we could see clearer skies out over the ocean. The trail was steep here also and muddy making it a bit slick.
Looking down the trail:

Looking up from below:

North toward Cape Lookout:

South toward Cascade Head:

The sea lions could still be heard across the way below Cascade Head, and now we could see them better.

We followed the trail down and around to the left toward Harts Cove so that we could get a view of Chitwood Creek’s waterfall. We were surprised to find a handful of flowers in bloom including a number of Salal bushes.

The waterfall turned out to be very picturesque as it fell down into the surging ocean.

There was a nice open spot below a tree where we stopped for a snack and to remove some of the unnecessary layers of clothes we had on. While we were resting there Heather spotted a hummingbird that was interested in my orange jacket. It was zipping about, landing occasionally and then darting back into the air. I was snapping pictures frantically trying to get some sort of picture before the hummingbird disappeared. I wasn’t sure if I’d managed to get anything until we got home, but I wound up getting lucky with a single shot.

As we headed back up the steep trail we noticed that Haystack Rock near Pacific City was shinning in full sunlight.

We returned the way we’d come and decided to skip the upper viewpoint because it still appeared to be enveloped in the clouds. This hike had been 7.6 miles which included the unnecessary 1.8 miles due to parking at the upper trailhead.

Our next stop was Drift Creek Falls which is located in the Siuslaw National Forest between Hwy 18 & Hwy 101 along Drift Creek Camp Road (Road 17). There was a good sized parking area and restrooms at the trailhead.

The trail leads down through the forest crossing two creeks on footbridges.

At the .7 mile mark the trail forks at a sign for the North Loop, a longer loop option which we planned to take on the way back from the falls. A third of a mile later we came to the other end of the North Loop.

Just a short distance later we arrived at the suspension bridge over Drift Creek.

The bridge passes over the creek very close to the falls allowing for some nice views.

The trail continues on the far side of the bridge down to Drift Creek where we could get a different perspective.

After enjoying the falls for a bit we headed back, this time taking the North Loop which would add about .7 miles to the return trip. This 1 mile section of trail climbed up and wound back through the forest. Aside from the trees and a few mushrooms there wasn’t much to see, but the trail was nice and good for a little extra exercise if wanted.

By taking the North Loop back we wound up with a total of 3.9 miles showing on the Garmin. These two trails were close enough (30 minute drive) and short enough to do in a day but they were also nice enough to stand on their own. As far as the cautions at the Harts Cove Trail we didn’t experience anything that we found too hard or scary but some of that is subjective and the trial was steep in places and the wet conditions caused a lot of mud which was slick at times. We will most likely be back to the coast sometime next month to kick off our 2015 hikes, but until then Happy Trails!

flickr:https://www.flickr.com/photos/9319235@N02/sets/72157649223220159/
facebook:https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10205640025507123.1073741919.1448521051&type=1

Tags cascade head, chitwood creek, cliff creek, Drift Creek, Drift Creek Falls, Harts Cove, hiking, Oregon, Oregon Coast, Sea lions, siuslaw national forest, Suspension Bridge, Waterfall